FB: Curt Cignetti Media Availability (7/31/24)
7/31/2024 12:30:00 PM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––– As fall practice opened for the Indiana football program, head coach Curt Cignetti met with the media to give an update on the program on the first day of fall camp on Wednesday (July 31) inside Memorial Stadium.
Below is the full transcript of the press conference, while video of the full media session can be found on the right sidebar at IUHoosiers.com
Curt Cignetti | Head Coach
Opening Statement
CC: Day one's in the books. We want to develop players, develop more consistency in performance day in, day out; play in, play out. It's the second time through the offense, defense, special teams now. Guys ought to be playing faster, thinking less. And we want to promote competition.
So, the weather cooperated today. It was really humid and hot. It was a lot different than the first day of spring practice, where it was about 45 degrees and everybody felt great being out there. It forced us to think and play football on day one. So that was good. Day one's in the books, and day two tomorrow.
On the young linemen and the depth…
CC: Kidwell was out there. It was good to see. He was one of the best 2 linemen in the Sun Belt had he stayed healthy last year. And then, yeah, we're looking for depth on the offensive line. And we've got some guys returning -- Drew Evans, Bray Lynch and Tyler Stephens -- and we'll see if any of those young guys are kind of ready to provide some depth as well.
On how Amare Ferrell's strong spring carries over to the fall…
CC: Solid spring, big future, expect big things from him. And looks like he's picked up where he left off. So excited about him.
On what he wants to see in retention this fall…
CC: I think we want to get these guys playing football like the way we want them to play. We have a certain style -- smart, disciplined poised. Always been one of the least penalized team in the league. Number one in turnover ratio and very highly ranked in key statistical categories which lead to success.
And kind of develop that relentless mindset and resilience where you're not affected by the circumstances of practice or a game by a good play or a bad play, or you're down 14 points. In the second quarter you're not affected or up 14 points.
It's like our first conference game at JMU. We went to the Sun Belt to play (indiscernible) the year they beat A&M about a week or two later. They're perennial champs. We're down 28-3 down there. Nobody flinched. Came away with a win. Two, three weeks later, happened again.
So it's kind of a mindset and an identity, those intangibles that we want to develop in camp as well.
On differences in practice structure in the fall…
CC: I mean, we're getting ready to play games. So the first eight to 12 are similar structure, practice structure. There may be some schematic tweaks based on our summer study. And then as we get closer to the opponent, some game-specific type of things.
On Cedarius Doss and identifying traits that translate from FCS and JUCO to the Big Ten…
CC: He's a real competitive guy. He's impressed our strength and conditioning staff this summer with his competitiveness. And he's one of those guys out there getting reps, and we'll see how the dust settles and where he fits in terms of defense and special teams.
On how CJ West is looking at the start of fall camp…
CC: Well, I mean, this is the first practice. I haven't seen the tape. He was a good player at Kent State. We're excited to have him.
And if he's having a good year, that means he's doing what he's coached to do, with great effort and tenacity, and we're freeing him up to make plays.
On what he is looking for out of the receiver room…
CC: Separation from defenders, making plays.
On Derek Owings and the job he has done with the players in the weight room…
CC: He's a guy I have a lot of trust in. He's got a lot of knowledge. He's got a great work ethic. Fully committed. He's always working to improve. The players like what he does. They respect him.
But the big takeaway today is, you know, you can't replicate football. No matter what you do in the summer, football is just a set of different movements. A lot of start/stop, and then you throw the heat in there and it was a real test and a challenge. So we've got to get into football shape now.
We took off weight. We put on good weight. We got stronger, quicker, faster, cut down on body fat, all that good stuff. Now we've got to get into football shape.
On what stood out to him when rewatching spring ball film…
CC: I think, yeah, because what happens is, you end spring, you jump right into recruiting. And then you get the staff back mid-July, late July, before camp, and it gives you another perspective of what happened in the spring. It's a great evaluation tool, and I think we all learned a lot from it.
On anything else that maybe you didn't see…
CC: I think the big thing -- it's one of my primary goals, is we have to improve in our consistency of performance. Play in play out, rep in, rep out, day in, day out, week in, week out, getting 11 guys doing what they're supposed to do at a high level, every single play. And now the second time through this we can start to coach the little fine details in the finishing a little bit more than in the spring when we were introducing a lot of concepts.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
Below is the full transcript of the press conference, while video of the full media session can be found on the right sidebar at IUHoosiers.com
Curt Cignetti | Head Coach
Opening Statement
CC: Day one's in the books. We want to develop players, develop more consistency in performance day in, day out; play in, play out. It's the second time through the offense, defense, special teams now. Guys ought to be playing faster, thinking less. And we want to promote competition.
So, the weather cooperated today. It was really humid and hot. It was a lot different than the first day of spring practice, where it was about 45 degrees and everybody felt great being out there. It forced us to think and play football on day one. So that was good. Day one's in the books, and day two tomorrow.
On the young linemen and the depth…
CC: Kidwell was out there. It was good to see. He was one of the best 2 linemen in the Sun Belt had he stayed healthy last year. And then, yeah, we're looking for depth on the offensive line. And we've got some guys returning -- Drew Evans, Bray Lynch and Tyler Stephens -- and we'll see if any of those young guys are kind of ready to provide some depth as well.
On how Amare Ferrell's strong spring carries over to the fall…
CC: Solid spring, big future, expect big things from him. And looks like he's picked up where he left off. So excited about him.
On what he wants to see in retention this fall…
CC: I think we want to get these guys playing football like the way we want them to play. We have a certain style -- smart, disciplined poised. Always been one of the least penalized team in the league. Number one in turnover ratio and very highly ranked in key statistical categories which lead to success.
And kind of develop that relentless mindset and resilience where you're not affected by the circumstances of practice or a game by a good play or a bad play, or you're down 14 points. In the second quarter you're not affected or up 14 points.
It's like our first conference game at JMU. We went to the Sun Belt to play (indiscernible) the year they beat A&M about a week or two later. They're perennial champs. We're down 28-3 down there. Nobody flinched. Came away with a win. Two, three weeks later, happened again.
So it's kind of a mindset and an identity, those intangibles that we want to develop in camp as well.
On differences in practice structure in the fall…
CC: I mean, we're getting ready to play games. So the first eight to 12 are similar structure, practice structure. There may be some schematic tweaks based on our summer study. And then as we get closer to the opponent, some game-specific type of things.
On Cedarius Doss and identifying traits that translate from FCS and JUCO to the Big Ten…
CC: He's a real competitive guy. He's impressed our strength and conditioning staff this summer with his competitiveness. And he's one of those guys out there getting reps, and we'll see how the dust settles and where he fits in terms of defense and special teams.
On how CJ West is looking at the start of fall camp…
CC: Well, I mean, this is the first practice. I haven't seen the tape. He was a good player at Kent State. We're excited to have him.
And if he's having a good year, that means he's doing what he's coached to do, with great effort and tenacity, and we're freeing him up to make plays.
On what he is looking for out of the receiver room…
CC: Separation from defenders, making plays.
On Derek Owings and the job he has done with the players in the weight room…
CC: He's a guy I have a lot of trust in. He's got a lot of knowledge. He's got a great work ethic. Fully committed. He's always working to improve. The players like what he does. They respect him.
But the big takeaway today is, you know, you can't replicate football. No matter what you do in the summer, football is just a set of different movements. A lot of start/stop, and then you throw the heat in there and it was a real test and a challenge. So we've got to get into football shape now.
We took off weight. We put on good weight. We got stronger, quicker, faster, cut down on body fat, all that good stuff. Now we've got to get into football shape.
On what stood out to him when rewatching spring ball film…
CC: I think, yeah, because what happens is, you end spring, you jump right into recruiting. And then you get the staff back mid-July, late July, before camp, and it gives you another perspective of what happened in the spring. It's a great evaluation tool, and I think we all learned a lot from it.
On anything else that maybe you didn't see…
CC: I think the big thing -- it's one of my primary goals, is we have to improve in our consistency of performance. Play in play out, rep in, rep out, day in, day out, week in, week out, getting 11 guys doing what they're supposed to do at a high level, every single play. And now the second time through this we can start to coach the little fine details in the finishing a little bit more than in the spring when we were introducing a lot of concepts.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
Players Mentioned
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