Summer Brings ‘Confidence’ in Football Hoosiers
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Curt Cignetti is a practical man, a seasoned coach, a relentless teacher. He understands that sometimes in the ruthlessly competitive world of college football, adding by subtraction can make all the difference.
Seven months into his run as Indiana’s head football coach, and Cignetti has rebuilt the roster to suit a style that has never produced a losing season, one that was developed from a father (Frank Cignetti Sr.) who had been a successful college coach, from Nick Saban, arguably the best college football coach in history, and from the younger Cignetti’s own sense of what has worked during a 41-year career. It has, after all, produced a 119-35 head-coaching record over 13 seasons.
What will that mean for Cignetti’s Hoosiers debut?
Summer workouts have begun, and nothing is certain except the season begins with the Aug. 31 opener against Florida International.
“We’re not there yet,” Cignetti says. “Nobody in the country is there yet. In this day and age, everybody is dealing with a lot of new faces. I like where we are starting the summer. I have a lot of confidence in our team.”
Confidence comes, in part, from impressive transfer portal success.
"All those guys were two-three starters from winning programs,” Cignetti said.
Ask him about his biggest achievement so far and Cignetti doesn’t hesitate.
“We flipped the roster right off the bat.”
Cignetti arrived in late November to a wave of transfers. Ten players, a combination of offense and defense, wanted out in the transition from Tom Allen to Cignetti.
“We kept about half the people we wanted to keep,” Cignetti says. “I knew we had to bring a lot of faces in.”
Twenty-two transfers were added in December. Nine were from James Madison, Cignetti’s former school.
“That wasn’t the plan when I took this job,” he says. “It just happened.”
It happened because winning is a culture, a state of mind, as much as it is on-field results. Under Cignetti, James Madison went 52-9 in five seasons, 11-1 last year. The Dukes knew how to win. The Hoosiers, after three-straight losing seasons, seek to duplicate that.
“We’re talking about building a championship culture where people think the way you want them to think,” Cignetti says. “We kept the right guys in the program from last year’s team. We got rid of maybe some dead wood. Some guys we needed to. The new guys assimilated quickly.”
New guys include high school recruits. Despite the transfer-portal impact, Cignetti will continue bringing in young players he can develop over four and five years.
IU has made significant progress for the Class of 2025, and beyond. That includes getting visits from prominent prep prospects.
“Why shouldn’t we be in that position?” Cignetti says. “We’re a state school. The Big Ten and SEC are calling all the shots in college football. With the proper commitment, any team in the Big Ten, especially ones with the state name, can be successful.
“People look at our track record and see what we’ve done in the past. We have some strong recruiting ties out there. You’ve still got to get them. It doesn’t count when they just visit. You have to get them.”
An impressive spring practice showcased the possibilities once the Hoosiers do get them.
“Coming out of spring ball, our wide receiver core looked deep, our running back core looked deep,” Cignetti says. “We have seven to eight offensive linemen we feel good about. We need to develop a few more of them.
“The offense was ahead of the defense in the spring only because four to five key defensive guys were out. They were guys we think will be key guys. They will be back with us in fall camp.”
The quarterback competition gets much of the attention. While a starter won’t be named until fall camp, Ohio University transfer Kurtis Rourke has the edge with veteran Tayven Jackson and true freshman Tyler Cherry behind him.
Over five seasons and 33 games at Ohio, Rourke totaled 8,470 career all-purpose yards with 50 passing touchdowns and 11 rushing TDs.
“There’s competition at every position,” Cignetti said. “It makes you better. Kurtis is new to the program, but I have a lot of confidence in him. He’s played a lot of games, executed a lot of two-minute drives. He’s thrown a lot of critical touchdown passes. He knows how to throw the ball away when he’s in a bad spot to get us back to manageable down and distance. He’s an older guy.
“Tayven made strides in the spring. He has some areas we’re confident he’ll progress, and then we’ve got the young guys.
“Everybody has to improve.”
The summer is crucial for that.
“Now it’s time to put it all together,” Cignetti says. “We have to have a great summer. Guys have to commit. We normally do a great job there with Derek Owens, our strength and conditioning coordinator. I know we’ll make great strides and progress, have a good fall camp and keep everyone healthy, develop, operate, and play.”