It’s a custom of the college football season for head coaches across the nation to meet with the media towards the beginning of the week and discuss the prior week’s matchup and preview their upcoming test. Fans are often privy to the quotes coming out of their own team’s HQ, but what about their upcoming opponents’?
Let’s take a look at some of the quotes that Ohio State’s head coach Ryan Day had to say that referenced Indiana specifically in his Monday press conference.
Q: When you see someone like Curt Cignetti doing the job he has done at a place like Indiana, your thoughts on that are what?
“Well I think the first thing is he’s adapted to modern times. You know, he certainly has taken a roster and turned it over quickly by bringing in some really talented players. I think that’s the first thing, it’s about talent acquisition. The way we used to do that is recruit and develop, and that takes time. He’s been aggressive and he’s been able to turn over his roster and bring in a lot of talent in a short period of time. Which is really well done, and you can tell they are good evaluators of talent.
And then, when you watch them play, they’re well coached. They have a plan of how they want to attack you in all three phases and they’re not going to beat themselves.
So, you combine all those things together, and you’re looking at a program that has really made a lot of noise here in the last couple of years. I certainly have a lot of respect for what Coach Cignetti has done.”
Q: As it relates to Fernando Mendoza, when you’ve watched him on tape, what does it look like when he is at his best?
“I’ve watched Mendoza play in a lot of the crossover games and a little bit when there’s a Saturday game and we play a night game and they’re a noon game on the TV copies, but mostly in crossover games… one, he looks very intelligent in his ability to identify pre- and post-snap scheme. Makes those decisions well. He’s accurate, probably sneaky or what I call sneaky athletic – maybe you don’t look at him as a dual threat but he makes a lot of plays with his feet, can extend. And he looks like a great leader to me, when I’ve listened to him speak. So, it’ll be a really good challenge for our defense and for our team.”
Q: Given how much the postseason has expanded between conference championship games and the extended playoff, how have you handled getting guys rest while also making sure they are prepared?
“Yeah, for us it’s come through our style of play, you know just the number of snaps. I think our defense played 44 snaps again this week, so that was great. They’ve been fresh all season. We try to roll guys as best we can, I think that’s important. Like you said though, the games are increasing while the roster sizes are getting smaller, so that’s not any good. So, we’ve had to figure out how we can do that and how to manage the workload the best we can. There’s a couple of ways to do that, I think it’s important, everyone has their own style. But, we’ve sort of done that through our pace of play, and we try to control the game on offense.”
Q: Do both teams deserve a playoff bye no matter the outcome?
“I talked a little bit about this yesterday with Ross, just trying to get an idea… I didn’t even know who #3 was, or #4 was, it doesn’t really matter to us. I was just so focused on winning that game last week.
But, when you look at it, yeah they say you’re not supposed to be penalized for losing in the conference championship game. One and two seed, I think both would deserve a first-round bye. But, I think it also matters when you’re the one versus the three or four, because of who you play. So, I think it’s important to win this game and be the 1 seed to help your chances, everything matters. So we want to make sure we win that.”
Q: Comparing 2024 Indiana to 2025 Indiana…
“This is a team now that has been winning at a high level for two years. There will be no moment too big for them, they’ll be ready to go.”
Q: Curt Cignetti mentioned that one day you will go down as a legend of this game, what do you think Cignetti has brought to this conference?
“…One thing about Coach Cignetti, he grew up in a football family. I have a respect for the way that he grew up when I think about my son RJ being the son of a coach… You know, he just has a feel for the game. When you grow up around this profession, you understand what it’s supposed to look like, you understand people, you understand situations. And that’s the way he is; that’s the way he coaches. And you can see that by how quickly he’s turned things around at Indiana, but also he’s won wherever he’s been. I know people laugh about some of the comments he makes and the ‘Google him’, but you know, it’s true. He’s been around football his whole life, it makes sense to him, he’s been around winning football. And you see the guys on the staff, they stay with him for a long time. That says a lot about your culture when your coaches want to be with you and stick with you. I’ve got a lot of respect for him as well, and it’s certainly been great to see him as a competitor in the conference in such a short period of time.”
Q: Regarding turning the page on the Michigan game and starting preparation for the Hoosiers…
“Well, we had a little time on the plane last night so we were able to get a head start more than I expected. We were able to put the film to bed yesterday (Saturday) and then start on these guys today (Sunday).
But, we were also meeting with our players and keeping the same routine, so this is going to be just like an away trip for us. The issues are still there, we’ll get on the film. You know, a lot of guys graded out a champion, a lot of guys did their job at a high-level, but the issues are still there. And, as we continue to go down the road, and the competition continues to increase, and we find ourselves in these matchup games… the issues are going to come to the forefront if we don’t get them fixed. So we’re going to make sure we do this the right way, continue to stay on the same format we’ve been on, but our focus is now certainly on Indiana.”
Q: You and Cignetti talk a lot about process… What do you hear from him that elevates him outside of just getting good players?
“Well, I don’t want to speak on somebody else’s program… but when I have listened to Cignetti, you can tell he has a system in place. And in that system, he knows what it’s supposed to look like. And I think because of that there’s a belief in that program, and a credibility, of his competence as a coach that if you follow the plan it’s going to work. And his confidence really exudes from this system. That’s really what it looks like to me. I don’t know that, but it looks to me like the preparation that they put in they seem prepared. And when you’re prepared, you have confidence. And then his players play like that. So, again, just an observation, I’m not in there every day. But from afar, it’s certainly easy to see that they do a great job of playing fast and with confidence, and I think that has a lot to do with how he coaches and how his staff coaches and the system they have in place.”