Notebook: Coogan, Bostad And The Key To IU’s Offensive Line Success
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Pat Coogan did what shouldn’t have been possible. A center winning Rose Bowl offensive MVP? Are you kidding?
The honor was the latest in a series of unprecedented firsts for Coogan and the top-seeded Indiana Hoosiers (14-0), who are heading to a Friday night playoff semifinal showdown against fifth-seeded Oregon (13-1) at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
Coogan credited his coaches and teammates for “believing in me and the ability to make my calls and diagnose a defense. Fully entrusting in me and my abilities.
“These guys are unbelievable. The belief we have in each other, the ability to bounce off of each other and say, ‘What are you thinking? Do you see that?’ It’s never-ending growth and improvement.”
The catalyst, beyond head coach Curt Cignetti, is veteran offensive line coach Bob Bostad. Don’t tell him you have to lessen the coaching demands in modern college football. Bostad, as good as what he does as any in the profession, knows better. He’s molded players such as Coogan, Carter Smith, Drew Evans, Bray Lynch, Kahlil Benson, Adedamola Ajani and Zen Michalski into perhaps the nation’s best offensive line, one that helped the Hoosiers shred a good Alabama defense with more than 400 total yards, more that 200 on the ground, in Thursday’s 38-3 Rose Bowl victory.
It doesn’t come from coddling players.
“I don’t buy that,” Bostad says about dialing back the demands.” I think if you’re consistent and if you’re fair and you have a way you believe you want to do things, whatever you’re doing over the years, it doesn’t change. The things that change are maybe the scheme, the offense. But having standards and demanding of players, those things can’t change. Otherwise, I don’t feel you can be successful.”
Success has followed Bostad over the decades. He’s coached many exceptional offensive lines during a career that began in 1990 and includes stops at the University of Wisconsin, New Mexico and Northern Illinois as well as NFL jobs with Tennessee and Tampa Bay.
How does this IU line rate?
“It’s right there at the top,” he says. “They’ve really played well together. That’s what it comes down to with the offensive line -- chemistry, dependability, consistency. I’ve had lines and you look at all five and in a year or two, all five are in the NFL. That might not be this group, but this group plays as one. That’s a big deal.”
Injuries haven’t hurt the line’s performance, although Bostad says he wishes for more depth.
“The days of having two deep (10 ready-to-go linemen) and a lot of numbers are gone,” he says, “so you cross-train them. Guys know and understand they have to be versatile. From a coach’s perspective, that’s also a big deal.
“The way you install and teach, if things are consistent and if you’re fair to the players, then guys understand they can’t not be versatile. You have to be versatile across the board.”
Injuries forced Ajani, a redshirt freshman, into early action, and he handled it.
“When he played at Penn State,” Bostad says, “I said, ‘Hey listen, man, you are playing next to two great offensive linemen in Pat Coogan and Carter Smith. It doesn’t get any better than that. They will take care of you.”
Stop and smell the roses -- literally -- amid IU’s unprecedented football success?
Cignetti has no time for that. There are practices to direct, mindsets to sharpen, player retention to finalize, college transfer portal evaluations to make, high school recruiting to do, and so much more.
Oh, yes, a national championship to win.
“You get a few minutes -- maybe -- after the game in the coaches room or when you go home for home games and then you get the summer,” Cignetti said. “You get about three-and-a-half weeks in the summer.
“I take a little time. Take about a week after the old traditional signing date in February. But it's a grind. You've got to love the process. That includes being organized and detailed.
“I'm a football guy. I'm thankful that my athletic director, Scott Dolson, structures it so I can focus on football and not all the other stuff. I'm also thankful that Pam Whitten, our president, and Scott provide the funds you need to be successful in the critical areas of program development.
“I like football, and football is all about recruiting, development, and retention. But I like the Xs and Os part of it, the strategy, the game-day strategy, and putting a team together every year. Those are the things I like.”
Cignetti has never had a losing record in 15 seasons as a head coach ranging from Indiana University-Pennsylvania to Elon to James Madison to now IU.
His 25-2 record with the Hoosiers is a Big Ten record for most victories in a coach’s first two seasons.
“I learned from my mistakes,” Cignetti said. “I did make a lot of mistakes in Year One. The second time through, you always get a little better, and every year you do.
“I can't say that I'm the same coach I was year one, because I'm not. You're always looking to improve because you get better or worse; you never stay the same.
“The things they've talked about, the constant striving for improvement, I mean, I do try to live that way. You're either getting better or worse; you're separating or somebody is gaining on you.
“My journey has been kind of surreal, but I think every move kind of prepared me for this challenge at this time with the changing dynamic of college football.”