Indiana University Athletics
Media Monday: Pre-Rose Bowl Game Virtual Teleconference
12/22/2025 8:00:00 PM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––– Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti addressed the media on the teleconference for the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl presented by Prudential Head Coach Virtual Media Availability on Monday (Dec. 22).
Below is a full transcript of the press conference, while video of the media session can be found on the right sidebar at IUHoosiers.com.
Curt Cignetti | Head Coach
Opening Statement
CC: Two days into our prep, obviously, need to have a great two weeks of preparation against a great Alabama football team. The team's excited about it, but folks going through the process.
Got a lot of respect for Alabama, Coach DeBoer. I've been following his program for a long time. He kind of started out lower level like I did. Ever since he went to Washington, have really studied his offense. And I think he's a great coach.
On what makes Elijah Sarratt and Omar Cooper Jr. elite receivers…
CC: Sarratt and Cooper have both been starters for two years. Now, when you look at the core, you've got to include E.J. Williams and Charlie Becker in that group as well who have made a lot of big plays for us this season, Becker, particularly, the last four games.
And Sarratt is a guy that just loves football. He's a football guy. He's got great hands. He's really good at contested catches. He's an extremely intelligent football player. He's got good size and made a lot of big plays for us. Started out at the Division I-AA, or FCS, level, and then joined us at JMU and then came with us to Indiana.
Cooper, Omar Cooper, is from Indianapolis. He was on the team in '23 and played a role in '23, the year before I came, and made big plays for us in '24, and has elevated his game in '25.
And he's an explosive guy. He's really good after the catch, and just has a lot of potential and ability. And he's become more consistent. Still has more consistency, steps in consistency he can take. But I've seen him really progress and evolve.
On retention details and getting the calendar structured properly in the downtime…
CC: It's critical, and it certainly did clear the picture up quite a bit because the emphasis, before we knew who the opponent would be, was on the '27 team and retention and needs. And we've got a few practices in as well to stay sharp and got refreshed and got in the weight room.
But we're probably 95 percent through, what I would call the key guys, sort of the guys that everybody knows. So we're almost home in that front.
On his memories as a coach at Alabama…
CC: We had a great experience at Alabama. It was real important part of my journey. Learned a lot from Coach Saban in terms of organization, standards, stopping complacency. I wouldn't be where I am today without my time under Nick.
My family really enjoyed Tuscaloosa. We had great years there. We took over a team, we were 7-6 and 12-0 the next year in the regular season. Fell short in the SEC game to Tebow and Florida and Urban. And then had a rematch the next year and beat them and won the national championship out at the Rose Bowl.
So we had four really good years there, and then began another part of our life.
On how he has handled the extended time off since the Big Ten Championship…
CC: It is what it is, so you make the most of it. The way we approached it until we knew the opponent, we treated it like two bye weeks. Now we have almost two weeks to prepare for the opponent.
Would I prefer to play earlier? Yeah, I probably would, to be quite honest with you. But that's not the case. We're excited about playing. We're off to a good start. And it will be a tremendous challenge.
On replacing Stephen Daley's production…
CC: Bryant Haines does a great job coordinating our defense and we have a lot of confidence in our players. And we'll find the best solution that gives us the best chance to be successful.
On his blueprint and system and how that developed from his time at Alabama…
CC: I probably think about it every single day, to be quite honest, because it had such a big impact in my growth and development. I think philosophically, the program that we run here is probably a lot more the same than different than Alabama. There's probably not a day that goes by where I don't draw from those experiences.
On his takeaways from watching Alabama-Oklahoma film…
CC: I actually did get to watch some of them early in the year because we had a couple of bye weeks, and I'm a film junkie. And I've always enjoyed studying Coach DeBoer's offenses from the time he was at Washington. I got to watch their first Georgia game and some of their other things. They do a lot of really great stuff.
In terms of the Oklahoma game, that was a tremendous comeback on the road in a hostile environment. To come back from 17 points down and come out with a win, I think it tells you a lot about the character of their football team. They've got a lot of great players. They're extremely well-coached. So they're a really good team. It will be a tremendous challenge.
On extending Bryant Haines and Mike Shanahan…
CC: Both those guys have been with me a long time. They both do a great job.
Bryant had some calls, had some people very seriously interested in him. We thought it was important to be proactive.
We also wanted to lock Mike up, who's very deserving. And I'm glad we did.
And at the end of the season we'll move on with the rest of staff.
On him recruiting Julio Jones to Alabama…
CC: I mean, I think I played a role. But I think the most important guy, when I was there in terms of the recruiting process, was Coach Saban, who is a tremendous recruiter.
Lance Thompson was the lead recruiter, who was a great recruiter as well. Major Applewhite was involved also because he was the offensive coordinator, and myself because I was a position coach.
So it was a team effort, but if I had to rank the importance, it would have been Coach Saban and Lance Thompson.
On his conversation with Nick Saban prior to becoming the head coach at IUP…
CC: He had some questions about whether that would be a very good move for me. I was just ready to kind of run my own show. I had been an assistant coach -- I was hitting 50, and really I started my full-time coaching career at age 23 at Rice University when they were in the Southwest Conference. So I'd been doing it 28 years.
I was just ready for something different. I respected his opinion, but I decided to make the move. I can't say there weren't many mornings early on where I wondered what I did because it was such a tremendous, radical change. But at the end of the day, it prepared me for where I am today.
On Riley Nowakowski's development…
CC: The first thing I would tell you about him is he's a great person. He's a great worker. He's always up. He's intelligent. He's one of the team leaders, without a doubt. He's very consistent day in and day out. You know what you're getting. He's a better athlete than a lot of people realize.
He went to Wisconsin as a walk-on fullback. Was a wrestler in high school as well. When they made a coaching change and quit using a fullback, they moved him to tight end.
He's made some really big plays for us in the pass game in terms of taking short routes and extending those, breaking tackles and making big, explosive plays. Obviously made a real nice down-the-field catch against Penn State in the two-minute drive.
And he gives it everything he's got. And he's not your prototypical 6'6", 260-pound tight end. But darn, I'm sure glad we got him.
On dealing with the timeline of a January 1st Game and the transfer portal opening up the next day…
CC: I definitely think the calendar could be improved. And that would be unanimous amongst the coaches. Whether you got to move the start of the regular season up a week and start playing in the playoffs when the season ends so there's a little bit better time to devote to high school recruiting and portal recruiting, we're all looking, I think, for that solution.
What you're doing within college football is just you don't have one guy in charge. If you had one person calling the shots, I think it would be a lot cleaner. So hopefully we'll make some progress in that regard.
On what it means to be playing in the Rose Bowl…
CC: The Rose Bowl's got a lot of great tradition. A lot of great players and teams have competed in that game. We went to the playoffs last season, fell short, weren't happy with the way we played. So we definitely want to improve upon that.
We're playing a great opponent that has a history of tremendous success. And the Rose Bowl's a great venue to play that game at. We played out there against UCLA last year. So we've been there once before. It ought to be a tremendous environment.
On how Louis Moore has thrived this season despite his eligibility situation being up in the air early on…
CC: I'm really happy for Louis. Like you said, he to overcome some obstacles to get where he is today. He actually was a starter on the team the year before I came. Went in the portal when I was hired. Went to Ole Miss, and then saw what we were doing here and returned for this even.
He had that NCAA thing hanging over his head during fall camp and the first three or four games of the season. So I'm sure that was a distraction. Once he got that behind him, boy, he really came on.
And he's got great ball skills and football instincts. And he's been a huge part of our defensive success.
On if any shifting will come with Stephen Daley out…
CC: I think, like you said, it's a little bit of all. And I guess we'll see when we play the game what we decide to do, right?
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
Below is a full transcript of the press conference, while video of the media session can be found on the right sidebar at IUHoosiers.com.
Curt Cignetti | Head Coach
Opening Statement
CC: Two days into our prep, obviously, need to have a great two weeks of preparation against a great Alabama football team. The team's excited about it, but folks going through the process.
Got a lot of respect for Alabama, Coach DeBoer. I've been following his program for a long time. He kind of started out lower level like I did. Ever since he went to Washington, have really studied his offense. And I think he's a great coach.
On what makes Elijah Sarratt and Omar Cooper Jr. elite receivers…
CC: Sarratt and Cooper have both been starters for two years. Now, when you look at the core, you've got to include E.J. Williams and Charlie Becker in that group as well who have made a lot of big plays for us this season, Becker, particularly, the last four games.
And Sarratt is a guy that just loves football. He's a football guy. He's got great hands. He's really good at contested catches. He's an extremely intelligent football player. He's got good size and made a lot of big plays for us. Started out at the Division I-AA, or FCS, level, and then joined us at JMU and then came with us to Indiana.
Cooper, Omar Cooper, is from Indianapolis. He was on the team in '23 and played a role in '23, the year before I came, and made big plays for us in '24, and has elevated his game in '25.
And he's an explosive guy. He's really good after the catch, and just has a lot of potential and ability. And he's become more consistent. Still has more consistency, steps in consistency he can take. But I've seen him really progress and evolve.
On retention details and getting the calendar structured properly in the downtime…
CC: It's critical, and it certainly did clear the picture up quite a bit because the emphasis, before we knew who the opponent would be, was on the '27 team and retention and needs. And we've got a few practices in as well to stay sharp and got refreshed and got in the weight room.
But we're probably 95 percent through, what I would call the key guys, sort of the guys that everybody knows. So we're almost home in that front.
On his memories as a coach at Alabama…
CC: We had a great experience at Alabama. It was real important part of my journey. Learned a lot from Coach Saban in terms of organization, standards, stopping complacency. I wouldn't be where I am today without my time under Nick.
My family really enjoyed Tuscaloosa. We had great years there. We took over a team, we were 7-6 and 12-0 the next year in the regular season. Fell short in the SEC game to Tebow and Florida and Urban. And then had a rematch the next year and beat them and won the national championship out at the Rose Bowl.
So we had four really good years there, and then began another part of our life.
On how he has handled the extended time off since the Big Ten Championship…
CC: It is what it is, so you make the most of it. The way we approached it until we knew the opponent, we treated it like two bye weeks. Now we have almost two weeks to prepare for the opponent.
Would I prefer to play earlier? Yeah, I probably would, to be quite honest with you. But that's not the case. We're excited about playing. We're off to a good start. And it will be a tremendous challenge.
On replacing Stephen Daley's production…
CC: Bryant Haines does a great job coordinating our defense and we have a lot of confidence in our players. And we'll find the best solution that gives us the best chance to be successful.
On his blueprint and system and how that developed from his time at Alabama…
CC: I probably think about it every single day, to be quite honest, because it had such a big impact in my growth and development. I think philosophically, the program that we run here is probably a lot more the same than different than Alabama. There's probably not a day that goes by where I don't draw from those experiences.
On his takeaways from watching Alabama-Oklahoma film…
CC: I actually did get to watch some of them early in the year because we had a couple of bye weeks, and I'm a film junkie. And I've always enjoyed studying Coach DeBoer's offenses from the time he was at Washington. I got to watch their first Georgia game and some of their other things. They do a lot of really great stuff.
In terms of the Oklahoma game, that was a tremendous comeback on the road in a hostile environment. To come back from 17 points down and come out with a win, I think it tells you a lot about the character of their football team. They've got a lot of great players. They're extremely well-coached. So they're a really good team. It will be a tremendous challenge.
On extending Bryant Haines and Mike Shanahan…
CC: Both those guys have been with me a long time. They both do a great job.
Bryant had some calls, had some people very seriously interested in him. We thought it was important to be proactive.
We also wanted to lock Mike up, who's very deserving. And I'm glad we did.
And at the end of the season we'll move on with the rest of staff.
On him recruiting Julio Jones to Alabama…
CC: I mean, I think I played a role. But I think the most important guy, when I was there in terms of the recruiting process, was Coach Saban, who is a tremendous recruiter.
Lance Thompson was the lead recruiter, who was a great recruiter as well. Major Applewhite was involved also because he was the offensive coordinator, and myself because I was a position coach.
So it was a team effort, but if I had to rank the importance, it would have been Coach Saban and Lance Thompson.
On his conversation with Nick Saban prior to becoming the head coach at IUP…
CC: He had some questions about whether that would be a very good move for me. I was just ready to kind of run my own show. I had been an assistant coach -- I was hitting 50, and really I started my full-time coaching career at age 23 at Rice University when they were in the Southwest Conference. So I'd been doing it 28 years.
I was just ready for something different. I respected his opinion, but I decided to make the move. I can't say there weren't many mornings early on where I wondered what I did because it was such a tremendous, radical change. But at the end of the day, it prepared me for where I am today.
On Riley Nowakowski's development…
CC: The first thing I would tell you about him is he's a great person. He's a great worker. He's always up. He's intelligent. He's one of the team leaders, without a doubt. He's very consistent day in and day out. You know what you're getting. He's a better athlete than a lot of people realize.
He went to Wisconsin as a walk-on fullback. Was a wrestler in high school as well. When they made a coaching change and quit using a fullback, they moved him to tight end.
He's made some really big plays for us in the pass game in terms of taking short routes and extending those, breaking tackles and making big, explosive plays. Obviously made a real nice down-the-field catch against Penn State in the two-minute drive.
And he gives it everything he's got. And he's not your prototypical 6'6", 260-pound tight end. But darn, I'm sure glad we got him.
On dealing with the timeline of a January 1st Game and the transfer portal opening up the next day…
CC: I definitely think the calendar could be improved. And that would be unanimous amongst the coaches. Whether you got to move the start of the regular season up a week and start playing in the playoffs when the season ends so there's a little bit better time to devote to high school recruiting and portal recruiting, we're all looking, I think, for that solution.
What you're doing within college football is just you don't have one guy in charge. If you had one person calling the shots, I think it would be a lot cleaner. So hopefully we'll make some progress in that regard.
On what it means to be playing in the Rose Bowl…
CC: The Rose Bowl's got a lot of great tradition. A lot of great players and teams have competed in that game. We went to the playoffs last season, fell short, weren't happy with the way we played. So we definitely want to improve upon that.
We're playing a great opponent that has a history of tremendous success. And the Rose Bowl's a great venue to play that game at. We played out there against UCLA last year. So we've been there once before. It ought to be a tremendous environment.
On how Louis Moore has thrived this season despite his eligibility situation being up in the air early on…
CC: I'm really happy for Louis. Like you said, he to overcome some obstacles to get where he is today. He actually was a starter on the team the year before I came. Went in the portal when I was hired. Went to Ole Miss, and then saw what we were doing here and returned for this even.
He had that NCAA thing hanging over his head during fall camp and the first three or four games of the season. So I'm sure that was a distraction. Once he got that behind him, boy, he really came on.
And he's got great ball skills and football instincts. And he's been a huge part of our defensive success.
On if any shifting will come with Stephen Daley out…
CC: I think, like you said, it's a little bit of all. And I guess we'll see when we play the game what we decide to do, right?
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
Players Mentioned
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