Notes, Quotes from Curt Cignetti's Radio Show Before Indiana Football Season Opener

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — When Indiana coach Curt Cignetti entered Hoosier Hank's for his weekly radio show Thursday night, he received a warm welcome. Fans in the restaurant's main seating area clapped, to which Cignetti lifted his hand, smiled and offered a reminder Indiana hasn't won anything yet.

Over the next half-hour, Cignetti and host Don Fischer discussed Indiana's offseason, preparing for the Week 1 matchup with Old Dominion, naming a starter at right tackle and more.

Here's a rundown of Cignetti's appearance Thursday night, which he ended by signing autographs on his way out of the restaurant.

Cignetti 'anxious' to see Indiana's performance Saturday

Reflecting on the Hoosiers' success in 2024, Cignetti said there were "a lot of firsts," and the fanbase played a central part in that. He knew if he built a winning program, fans would come, and he's hoping for a sell-out Saturday.

Cignetti noted Indiana has close-to-perfect continuity on its coaching staff, as the Hoosiers lost only one on-field assistant — quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri took a promotion to be UCLA's offensive coordinator.

But the Hoosiers have over 40 newcomers on their roster, and Cignetti wants his new-look team to form its own legacy. Really, it has no other choice.

"Last year is over, and part of creating a winning culture is turning the page. And we've turned the page with a lot of new guys," Cignetti said. "I've seen a lot of progress. Now, it'll be interesting to see what we've got. The first week of the season, the urgency in terms of the workload, the preparation, the detail, really picks up quite a bit.

"We've got so many new guys, so really have tried to do a great job this week in terms of setting the standards in everything we do. And anxious to see how we play Saturday."

Teams can't carry momentum between the white lines from one year to the next, Cignetti said. Though he sported his College Football Playoff quarter zip Thursday night, Indiana's success from last season won't directly influence Saturday's season opener.

"You've kind of got to start over," Cignetti said. "You're building a new house, so to speak. It starts with the foundation, and then you build it. So, it's go time."

Indiana 'pretty close' off the field

The root of Indiana's team bonding started in January, during the team's strength and conditioning program. Though the team splits into different groups and thus works out at different times, they grow close over the challenges the work presents.

It carries onto the field for spring practice and into the summer training program, and by the time fall camp arrives, Cignetti said Indiana's freshmen and transfers were acclimated — thanks, in part, to the Hoosiers' leaders.

"We have such great guys on our team that returned, they embraced these transfers and make them feel at home," Cignetti said. "I think we’ve got a pretty close team. We’ve got some great leaders on this team. There’s nothing that helps culture like winning."

Cignetti sees progress, concerned about depth at 'some spots'

Whether Cignetti has seen what he'd hoped from his team is two-sided. He likes the progress Indiana has made from the start of the offseason to game week, but he's hoping the Hoosiers won't fall victim to the injury bug at specific positions.

"I thought we got better as a football team at the end of spring. All the reports were we had a really good summer, and I saw progress at fall camp," Cignetti said. "Now, that doesn't mean -- I've got a lot of concerns. We've got a lot of nice pieces out there. We're deeper at some spots than others.

"There's some spots we’re going to have to stay healthy, because we don’t have the depth at every single unit that you would like. As a coach, you can never have enough depth. But we do have some areas we’re really thin."

Collectively, Cignetti likes Indiana's mentality entering Saturday.

"Right now, I think the team’s focus, their commitment, their discipline, their work ethic, is good," Cignetti said. "And we've got to keep building and getting better."

Cignetti worked 16-and-a-half hours Wednesday

Cignetti noted the NCAA limits teams to 20 hours per week with their players, and no more than four hours per day. And between practice and close to two hours of meetings, much of the onus falls on the players.

As such, the players who see significant snaps, he said, often watch film on their own at night.

"The one thing about our organization is we're efficient," Cignetti said. "We don't waste time. It's kind of all business when we're in there, and when we're done, hit the bricks."

Cignetti tells his coaches they can go home once their work is done after practice. Most don't, he said, but he doesn't require his assistants to stay in the office for 15 hours each day.

On Wednesday, Cignetti said he arrived at his office at 5:30 a.m. and left at 10 p.m. He's spent considerable time watching film, not only because he has 12 games to watch of Old Dominion from last season but also due to the unique schematic challenges the Monarchs pose on both sides of the ball.

"For me, that's a long day," Cignetti said. "But it's the first week, and I had things I (had) to get done."

New team, same cliches

Winning aside, Cignetti wants to see Indiana play to its identity — the same cliche-driven one as last season — Saturday.

"What I'm looking for is, we go out there (from) the opening kickoff until the very last play of the game, we got 11 guys flying around, doing their job," Cignetti said. "Fast, physical, relentless; smart, disciplined, poised. Snap-to-whistle, one play at a time, every play's got a life and history of its own. And then onto the next play.

"Not satisfied until they go in the locker room. And be able to sustain that mental and physical intensity throughout the football game, and not have those peaks and valleys."

Perhaps a bigger challenge? Getting a new unit to think alike. It's a week-to-week process, but Cignetti is intrigued to see where Indiana stands after eight months of team building.

"You have a brand of ball — you know the things you emphasize, the priorities," Cignetti said. "To see how well we do that in the first game — and we didn't accomplish that in the first game last season — I'll be real curious to see how we play from the beginning to the end."

Offensive line set

Cignetti announced Kahlil Benson, who started 12 games at right tackle in 2023 before transferring to Colorado in 2024 and returning to Indiana last winter, will be the Hoosiers' starting right tackle Saturday.

Benson beat out Ohio State transfer Zen Michalski for the starting job.

"Kahlil Benson started at right tackle the year before I was hired here, and then when I got hired, he was in the portal already," Cignetti said. "Went to Colorado and heard such great things about the 'new Indiana,' he wanted to come back with his buddy Louis Moore. So, right now, he's the starting right tackle.

"We've got Zen from Ohio State, (who) will be backing up the guard and tackle positions going into this game."

The rest of Indiana's offensive line remains as expected. Redshirt junior Carter Smith is entering Year 3 as a starter, and Cignetti said he has pro potential. Senior center Pat Coogan started the past two seasons at Notre Dame and has ascended into a team leader. Both starting guards, left guard Drew Evans and right guard Bray Lynch, are back in the fold.

Indiana and Old Dominion will kick off at 2:30 p.m. Saturday on Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.

Cignetti 'anxious' to see Indiana's performance Saturday

New team, same cliches

Offensive line set

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