Postgame Quotes: Spring Game 2025
4/17/2025 11:55:00 PM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana head football coach Curt Cignetti talked to the media on Thursday (April 17) following the Indiana Football Spring Game.
Below is a full transcript of the press conference, while video of the media session can be found at the link above or at IUHoosiers.com/watch.
Curt Cignetti | Head Coach
Opening Statement…
CC: So spring is in the books. Good night. Nobody got hurt. Some good, some bad, some ugly. I thought the players competed well. Sarratt and Fisher dinged up their knees last practice, but nothing that will -- it's not a long-term thing.
Like I told the players, when we come back in the fall, it's on, it's real, and we need our good players to play good every single day, every single rep, every single drill. Spring ball is over. We'll get out what we put in. We've got a chance to be as good as we want to be, and we've just got to keep improving. We've got to have a great summer, great fall camp, et cetera.
We've got a long way to go. We're not there yet. But you can see who -- we've got six or seven guys that have the potential to be good team leaders, got good players out there. We need depth in some areas. You'll probably ask me which ones. I'm not going to necessarily point those out. I'll let you figure it out on your own.
But it was good competition. Good spring.
On Kaelon Black's progress since you first met him until now…
CC: Yeah, high-energy guy. He's always started camp real well early in the year. Just staying healthy has kind of been his deal. He's got good speed. He's got a lot of juice. He's been with us a long time. He was a Virginia Tech commit out of high school and hurt an ankle, and I don't know what happened, but he ended up with us at JMU.
On comparing spring today versus one year ago…
CC: That's a hard question. What I'll say about this team is we have a lot of the pieces that we need. If those pieces play to their full potential, consistently, day in, day out, play in, day out. Spring sometimes you don't tackle until this day here, and you're managing guys, sort of making sure the key ones don't get dinged up or injured in spring ball. But in the fall you've got to cut them loose. There's some progressions probably where we might look a little stronger right now, but I don't think there's a particular area we're extremely deficient.
On Fernando Mendoza's progress…
CC: Yeah, I thought he had a really good last week. Now, I'm not -- I haven't watched tonight's film, okay, so I'm going to take tonight out of the mix. But I thought his last three practices, one of which was a scrimmage, he made major strides. It really started to click. I felt really good before the scrimmage where we were there with him.
I think Alberto had a good spring, too.
On Rolijah Hardy's playmaking ability…
CC: Well, about halfway through the season he was the starter in our trio package, which is three-linebacker defense to 12 personnel, two-tight-end sets. Really he was a starter the last half of the season. He's been a starter all spring. Just like Fernando, his last week of spring was really, really good, and that's how we need him to play when he comes back in the fall. He's got a lot of talent.
On E.J. Williams Jr.'s role heading into the season…
CC: Well, right now, we have three veteran receivers that have done it on Saturday at the P4 level: Surratt, Cooper and EJ. They all took turns playing in the slot when Makai Jackson tweaked his hamstring before practice 4 and never returned, and then when we lost our Michigan guy to the non-contact knee, Tyler Morris, and Becker made progress.
I also thought that the freshman, Bond, made progress, and we've got Chandler coming in. So I'm counting on Jackson coming back, which will help our depth, and EJ made plays all spring long, and with EJ, it's not having the mental lapse here and there, missed assignment here and there, that kind of thing.
But I'm counting on him having a huge year for us. He's a big target with great body control, excellent ball skills. He's a threat.
On young players that stood out this fall…
CC: Well, I think all the freshmen have a long way to go. We have a lot of them, and when you compare the freshmen -- when you've been used to like the COVID extra year guys, for instance, and you're in the portal and you're coaching 25-, 24-, 23-year-old kids, you forget what coaching 17-, 18-year-old kids is like, especially ones that come in and enroll in school in January in the NIL era.
We've got some talented guys that will be good players at this level, but we've got a lot of them that got to grow up. But I thought Bond gave us a really good effort, practice in, practice out, and certainly Byron Baldwin, he flies around, got a lot of talent, likes contact, good ball skills. There was others, too.
But freshmen generally speaking when they come in and go through spring ball, it's very developmental for them, and they're a lot better when they come back in August.
On the linebacking corps as a whole…
CC: Well, we all know what Fish is and Hardy and Isaiah Jones is a veteran and a savvy guy, can play two positions, and after that we've got to develop some more depth.
On players that could see time in the slot receiver spot…
CC: Just learning their assignment, splits, little things like that. But really most guys should be able to play on the left side, right side and in the slot. Even the guys that have never lined up at what we call H in the slot have played in the slot because in season we'll move guys around. Who do we think runs this route the best or can get open deep on this route the best. It's not that complicated that they can't learn -- the only one that didn't work in the slot was Charlie Becker.
On if the program has more individual players this year…
CC: Well, either we've got more playmakers on offense, or we don't have very good tacklers on defense. It's one or the other.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
155241-1-1002 2025-04-18 02:02:00 GMT
Student-Athletes
Aidan Fisher | LB | Sr.
On growing pains this spring with so many new faces…
AF: It's definitely come a long way, just little details in the defense and how these young guys used to play, see ball, go get ball. But it's changed here, you have to take a lot more advanced steps to get to the ball. So that and then personality wise, a lot of reality checks happened. I think a lot of freshmen and the young guys got humbled and from then on, they kind of put their heads down and started work and you know, you saw that process every single day. It was the best for them, and I think it was a really good thing to happen. They've gotten a lot better.
On Rolijah Hardy's growth this spring…
AF: First of all, the ball just finds that dude. I don't know how he does it, I don't know what he does, but the ball is always in his hands. So that's a good thing to have as a linebacker. But throughout the entire spring, you saw him take a step every single day. Whether that's beating a block, getting more surface area on tackles, he did something every single day to get better. I think he showed it a lot tonight, a TFL, stuffing guys coming down hill on the pick six. Just really proud of his development and I think this summer it's really just going to skyrocket and by August 30 he'll be ready to go.
On just observing tonight and his role from a different perspective…
AF: It pushes you to be in an uncomfortable position. I think with the role that I have here with being a leader, that's when I can show it the most. It's easy for me to go there and I'm going to make an explosive play and have everyone rally around you. What are you going to do when you can't be the center of everybody? My biggest thing is to make sure I'm supportive, I'm not taking my eyes off anything, making sure I'm watching the linebackers play, because at the end of the day they're going to run off the field and ask me what happened. How can I improve this? So, I want to make sure I'm there to help them and let them see it like I see it. Make sure I'm not taking any plays off mentally so I can help them sharpen their game.
D'Angelo Ponds | DB | Jr.
On the spring output of Jamari Sharpe…
DP: Yeah, I think it definitely motivated him, and he has done that [made an impact during the spring]. He's come a long way since the start of spring. I feel like he's going to have a great year for us. He's come a long way and made a lot of progress.
On the key to the defensive improving headed into the summer…
DP: I mean more of getting the new guys to learn the scheme and get them some reps in the game just so they can know the scheme in and out. For new guys, it's hard to learn new things but with more reps it builds repetition, and they'll get the hang of it.
On true freshman Byron Baldwin Jr. and Seaonta Stewart…
DP: Those guys bring a lot of energy every day. Sometimes we have to tone them down a little bit with hitting and stuff like that. Those guys will learn, and they are learning quickly. They came in wanting to learn, so I like those guys. I think they will help us in some type of way this year.
Pat Coogan | OL | R-Sr.
On what he thinks he improved the most on in the spring…
PC: I think just that overall gelling with my teammates: you know, coming into a new system, a new brotherhood, a new locker room. For me, honestly, I didn't have that much time until spring ball, so these past four or five weeks have been huge for me to just gel with my teammates and get to know each other better. Obviously getting to play next to each other is one way to speed up that process. Just the O-line, I think we've taken strides in every aspect of the game, but there is plenty of room to work, and that's very exciting come the summer and come the fall, because we got plenty to work on for sure.
On what guys he thinks will play a big role in the defensive line after playing them in December…
PC: Overall, super talented, like talented across the board. Obviously, you got Mikail [Kamara], who is going to make plays cause he's a playmaker. He is going to wreck offenses, and they're going to have to solely game plan around him. And then on the other side, [Hosea] Wheeler and Tyreek [Tucker], really tough hard nose football players that are going to play really important snaps for us and make plays in the backfield. So really exciting going against those guys every single day has definitely made me a better player as well.
On what he thinks about the run game so far this spring…
PC: It's an explosive run game, which is super exciting. We can come at you with the ground and pound, but like we saw tonight we can also pop a few for big chunk plays. That was really exciting to see. That was a process that we had to build throughout the spring. Obviously on day one, day two, day three you might not get those huge chunks, you might be just a little bit off on certain things, but as you go through the spring that's where 11-on-11 really starts putting it all together. Honestly, you can't really gauge run games, because it is a whole different system, new players. But I'm overall super excited about the progress we've made and where we're headed because it's going to be a great run game for sure.
Below is a full transcript of the press conference, while video of the media session can be found at the link above or at IUHoosiers.com/watch.
Curt Cignetti | Head Coach
Opening Statement…
CC: So spring is in the books. Good night. Nobody got hurt. Some good, some bad, some ugly. I thought the players competed well. Sarratt and Fisher dinged up their knees last practice, but nothing that will -- it's not a long-term thing.
Like I told the players, when we come back in the fall, it's on, it's real, and we need our good players to play good every single day, every single rep, every single drill. Spring ball is over. We'll get out what we put in. We've got a chance to be as good as we want to be, and we've just got to keep improving. We've got to have a great summer, great fall camp, et cetera.
We've got a long way to go. We're not there yet. But you can see who -- we've got six or seven guys that have the potential to be good team leaders, got good players out there. We need depth in some areas. You'll probably ask me which ones. I'm not going to necessarily point those out. I'll let you figure it out on your own.
But it was good competition. Good spring.
On Kaelon Black's progress since you first met him until now…
CC: Yeah, high-energy guy. He's always started camp real well early in the year. Just staying healthy has kind of been his deal. He's got good speed. He's got a lot of juice. He's been with us a long time. He was a Virginia Tech commit out of high school and hurt an ankle, and I don't know what happened, but he ended up with us at JMU.
On comparing spring today versus one year ago…
CC: That's a hard question. What I'll say about this team is we have a lot of the pieces that we need. If those pieces play to their full potential, consistently, day in, day out, play in, day out. Spring sometimes you don't tackle until this day here, and you're managing guys, sort of making sure the key ones don't get dinged up or injured in spring ball. But in the fall you've got to cut them loose. There's some progressions probably where we might look a little stronger right now, but I don't think there's a particular area we're extremely deficient.
On Fernando Mendoza's progress…
CC: Yeah, I thought he had a really good last week. Now, I'm not -- I haven't watched tonight's film, okay, so I'm going to take tonight out of the mix. But I thought his last three practices, one of which was a scrimmage, he made major strides. It really started to click. I felt really good before the scrimmage where we were there with him.
I think Alberto had a good spring, too.
On Rolijah Hardy's playmaking ability…
CC: Well, about halfway through the season he was the starter in our trio package, which is three-linebacker defense to 12 personnel, two-tight-end sets. Really he was a starter the last half of the season. He's been a starter all spring. Just like Fernando, his last week of spring was really, really good, and that's how we need him to play when he comes back in the fall. He's got a lot of talent.
On E.J. Williams Jr.'s role heading into the season…
CC: Well, right now, we have three veteran receivers that have done it on Saturday at the P4 level: Surratt, Cooper and EJ. They all took turns playing in the slot when Makai Jackson tweaked his hamstring before practice 4 and never returned, and then when we lost our Michigan guy to the non-contact knee, Tyler Morris, and Becker made progress.
I also thought that the freshman, Bond, made progress, and we've got Chandler coming in. So I'm counting on Jackson coming back, which will help our depth, and EJ made plays all spring long, and with EJ, it's not having the mental lapse here and there, missed assignment here and there, that kind of thing.
But I'm counting on him having a huge year for us. He's a big target with great body control, excellent ball skills. He's a threat.
On young players that stood out this fall…
CC: Well, I think all the freshmen have a long way to go. We have a lot of them, and when you compare the freshmen -- when you've been used to like the COVID extra year guys, for instance, and you're in the portal and you're coaching 25-, 24-, 23-year-old kids, you forget what coaching 17-, 18-year-old kids is like, especially ones that come in and enroll in school in January in the NIL era.
We've got some talented guys that will be good players at this level, but we've got a lot of them that got to grow up. But I thought Bond gave us a really good effort, practice in, practice out, and certainly Byron Baldwin, he flies around, got a lot of talent, likes contact, good ball skills. There was others, too.
But freshmen generally speaking when they come in and go through spring ball, it's very developmental for them, and they're a lot better when they come back in August.
On the linebacking corps as a whole…
CC: Well, we all know what Fish is and Hardy and Isaiah Jones is a veteran and a savvy guy, can play two positions, and after that we've got to develop some more depth.
On players that could see time in the slot receiver spot…
CC: Just learning their assignment, splits, little things like that. But really most guys should be able to play on the left side, right side and in the slot. Even the guys that have never lined up at what we call H in the slot have played in the slot because in season we'll move guys around. Who do we think runs this route the best or can get open deep on this route the best. It's not that complicated that they can't learn -- the only one that didn't work in the slot was Charlie Becker.
On if the program has more individual players this year…
CC: Well, either we've got more playmakers on offense, or we don't have very good tacklers on defense. It's one or the other.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
155241-1-1002 2025-04-18 02:02:00 GMT
Student-Athletes
Aidan Fisher | LB | Sr.
On growing pains this spring with so many new faces…
AF: It's definitely come a long way, just little details in the defense and how these young guys used to play, see ball, go get ball. But it's changed here, you have to take a lot more advanced steps to get to the ball. So that and then personality wise, a lot of reality checks happened. I think a lot of freshmen and the young guys got humbled and from then on, they kind of put their heads down and started work and you know, you saw that process every single day. It was the best for them, and I think it was a really good thing to happen. They've gotten a lot better.
On Rolijah Hardy's growth this spring…
AF: First of all, the ball just finds that dude. I don't know how he does it, I don't know what he does, but the ball is always in his hands. So that's a good thing to have as a linebacker. But throughout the entire spring, you saw him take a step every single day. Whether that's beating a block, getting more surface area on tackles, he did something every single day to get better. I think he showed it a lot tonight, a TFL, stuffing guys coming down hill on the pick six. Just really proud of his development and I think this summer it's really just going to skyrocket and by August 30 he'll be ready to go.
On just observing tonight and his role from a different perspective…
AF: It pushes you to be in an uncomfortable position. I think with the role that I have here with being a leader, that's when I can show it the most. It's easy for me to go there and I'm going to make an explosive play and have everyone rally around you. What are you going to do when you can't be the center of everybody? My biggest thing is to make sure I'm supportive, I'm not taking my eyes off anything, making sure I'm watching the linebackers play, because at the end of the day they're going to run off the field and ask me what happened. How can I improve this? So, I want to make sure I'm there to help them and let them see it like I see it. Make sure I'm not taking any plays off mentally so I can help them sharpen their game.
D'Angelo Ponds | DB | Jr.
On the spring output of Jamari Sharpe…
DP: Yeah, I think it definitely motivated him, and he has done that [made an impact during the spring]. He's come a long way since the start of spring. I feel like he's going to have a great year for us. He's come a long way and made a lot of progress.
On the key to the defensive improving headed into the summer…
DP: I mean more of getting the new guys to learn the scheme and get them some reps in the game just so they can know the scheme in and out. For new guys, it's hard to learn new things but with more reps it builds repetition, and they'll get the hang of it.
On true freshman Byron Baldwin Jr. and Seaonta Stewart…
DP: Those guys bring a lot of energy every day. Sometimes we have to tone them down a little bit with hitting and stuff like that. Those guys will learn, and they are learning quickly. They came in wanting to learn, so I like those guys. I think they will help us in some type of way this year.
Pat Coogan | OL | R-Sr.
On what he thinks he improved the most on in the spring…
PC: I think just that overall gelling with my teammates: you know, coming into a new system, a new brotherhood, a new locker room. For me, honestly, I didn't have that much time until spring ball, so these past four or five weeks have been huge for me to just gel with my teammates and get to know each other better. Obviously getting to play next to each other is one way to speed up that process. Just the O-line, I think we've taken strides in every aspect of the game, but there is plenty of room to work, and that's very exciting come the summer and come the fall, because we got plenty to work on for sure.
On what guys he thinks will play a big role in the defensive line after playing them in December…
PC: Overall, super talented, like talented across the board. Obviously, you got Mikail [Kamara], who is going to make plays cause he's a playmaker. He is going to wreck offenses, and they're going to have to solely game plan around him. And then on the other side, [Hosea] Wheeler and Tyreek [Tucker], really tough hard nose football players that are going to play really important snaps for us and make plays in the backfield. So really exciting going against those guys every single day has definitely made me a better player as well.
On what he thinks about the run game so far this spring…
PC: It's an explosive run game, which is super exciting. We can come at you with the ground and pound, but like we saw tonight we can also pop a few for big chunk plays. That was really exciting to see. That was a process that we had to build throughout the spring. Obviously on day one, day two, day three you might not get those huge chunks, you might be just a little bit off on certain things, but as you go through the spring that's where 11-on-11 really starts putting it all together. Honestly, you can't really gauge run games, because it is a whole different system, new players. But I'm overall super excited about the progress we've made and where we're headed because it's going to be a great run game for sure.
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