The second year of the Cignetti Era in Bloomington began in Bloomington this morning as IU kicked off fall practice. It may as well be year one again, though.
“Every year you’ve got to start over regardless of how long your tenure has been or what your record was the previous year.” Head coach Curt Cignetti explained about entering year two with a program.
The Hoosiers are coming off an 11-win season and a College Football Playoff berth in 2024. All of that does not seem to matter in 2025.
“You always start at ground zero and build it from the foundation up.” Cignetti said. “The expectation level, you know, on the outside, some of the noise, is a little different, but I think one of the things we really got to do a great job of is staying focused on the things that affect positive development individually and collectively and kind of block all the other stuff out.”
While the Hoosiers may be starting at ground zero. There are many things that can help the Hoosiers accelerate the build.
” I think the staff, we know what to expect from one another. The experienced guys that we have a long history with, the same. To bring in experienced guys from other programs is good. We just have assimilate them into our way of doing things, which we began doing last January.” Cignetti said.
A single game is not going to be won or lost based on one practice in sweltering Indiana weather. But there foundation of success can be built up.
“The season is a marathon. It’s not a sprint.” Cignetti said. “You’ve got to be able to handle success, failure, overcome obstacles, and you have to do that during the game too, good game, bad game. You have to be able to compartmentalize, rip off the rearview mirror, and play the next play. To me it’s more of the same than different.”
Even with the high heat and oppressive humidity the team got their work done efficiently.
“Practice one in the books.” Cignetti told reporters. “It was hot, and it was humid, but I thought the older guys, experienced guys, pushed through it well. The team, in general, did push through it well. We got our work done. Took a business-like approach.”
The Hoosiers have four weeks to get ready for their opener against the Old Dominion Monarchs, a team that this staff is familiar with and discussed in the first team meeting of the fall.
” I think we have to have a great sense of urgency, have great focus, and maximize our opportunities across the board and really develop these guys, identify roles, who can do what, build depth, promote competition and then get ready to play the opener against Old Dominion, a Sun Belt team that we’re familiar with from JMU.” Cignetti explained.
Four weeks is an eternity and the focus of the team right now is centered on getting better and being consistent with that improvement.
“You’re looking for is consistency in performance individually and collectively day in, day out. You want to stay on that kind of a trajectory and keep improving, every play, every drill, every day. When you get 11 guys doing their job the way you want them to do it and teach our brand of ball, there’s really no limits on what you can accomplish.” Cignetti said as he closed out his press conference.
The Hoosiers return to the practice field tomorrow, July 31st, as they prepare for the 2025 season.