Indiana University Athletics
Quoted: Fall Camp Edition - Curt Cignetti
8/18/2025 1:00:00 PM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. ––––– As the Indiana Football program began its fourth week of fall camp, head coach Curt Cignetti addressed the media inside Memorial Stadium on Monday (August 18).
Below is a partial 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: Okay, rolling right along here. Making progress but never satisfied, and that is sort of the theme right now. So, let's open it up to questions.
On how the team is progressing heading into Week 1 next week...
CC: We are still in camp. We'll switch gears late in the week. Our focus is getting the offense, defense and special teams in the situations that come up during a football game and proven players creating depth and competition: who's going to be a one, who's going to be a two. Developing players all around and improving our practices and making them more clean. I see a lot of improvement out there, but it's still not where it needs to be. And, even when it's close you can never be really satisfied if you want to be great. So, you know, whoever is doing the best out there right now, and I don't know who that is consistently over camp, I guarantee you one thing, he is not satisfied.
On whom Fernando Mendoza reminds him of and his biggest step forward...
CC: They're all different people, so they are all different. He has a skill set and you guys can evaluate his skill set during the course of the season. I am not going to give away any secrets. Of course, everybody has watched his Cal tape, so they understand who he is. He's a big guy that is very mobile. Got a quick whip and good velocity on the ball and can really drive it. So, he's done a nice job of learning the offense and still not perfect, but nobody out there is.
On EJ Williams Jr.'s growth from spring to now…
CC: EJ's got a lot of talent, he's made plays, matter of him keeping him on the field. Got off to a little bit of a slow start in camp, but I've really seen him pick it up probably since practice four or five and become a lot more consistent. He can be a playmaker and we're going to need him to be a playmaker.
On gauging improvement on success…
CC: We don't really look at it that way. We don't look at a body of work from last season and try every day to improve upon it. We try to improve upon yesterday's practice or the previous drill or the previous rep. What we're really trying to do is improve our focus, our concentration, our urgency, our communication, how we react, respond, identify what's going on out there, technique and then being able to turn it off and play the next play, rip off the rearview mirror, do it from the first play of practice to the last play, or game also. The more guys you get doing that, the better you become as a team.
Below is a partial 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: Okay, rolling right along here. Making progress but never satisfied, and that is sort of the theme right now. So, let's open it up to questions.
On how the team is progressing heading into Week 1 next week...
CC: We are still in camp. We'll switch gears late in the week. Our focus is getting the offense, defense and special teams in the situations that come up during a football game and proven players creating depth and competition: who's going to be a one, who's going to be a two. Developing players all around and improving our practices and making them more clean. I see a lot of improvement out there, but it's still not where it needs to be. And, even when it's close you can never be really satisfied if you want to be great. So, you know, whoever is doing the best out there right now, and I don't know who that is consistently over camp, I guarantee you one thing, he is not satisfied.
On whom Fernando Mendoza reminds him of and his biggest step forward...
CC: They're all different people, so they are all different. He has a skill set and you guys can evaluate his skill set during the course of the season. I am not going to give away any secrets. Of course, everybody has watched his Cal tape, so they understand who he is. He's a big guy that is very mobile. Got a quick whip and good velocity on the ball and can really drive it. So, he's done a nice job of learning the offense and still not perfect, but nobody out there is.
On EJ Williams Jr.'s growth from spring to now…
CC: EJ's got a lot of talent, he's made plays, matter of him keeping him on the field. Got off to a little bit of a slow start in camp, but I've really seen him pick it up probably since practice four or five and become a lot more consistent. He can be a playmaker and we're going to need him to be a playmaker.
On gauging improvement on success…
CC: We don't really look at it that way. We don't look at a body of work from last season and try every day to improve upon it. We try to improve upon yesterday's practice or the previous drill or the previous rep. What we're really trying to do is improve our focus, our concentration, our urgency, our communication, how we react, respond, identify what's going on out there, technique and then being able to turn it off and play the next play, rip off the rearview mirror, do it from the first play of practice to the last play, or game also. The more guys you get doing that, the better you become as a team.
Players Mentioned
QB
/ FootballFB: Week 10 (at Maryland) - Curt Cignetti Press Conference
Monday, October 27
FB: Week 9 (UCLA) - Curt Cignetti Postgame Press Conference
Saturday, October 25
FB: Inside IU Football with Curt Cignetti - Week 9 (UCLA)
Thursday, October 23
FB: Under the Hood with Indiana Football - Week 9 (UCLA)
Wednesday, October 22