By Matt St. Charles
Indiana football has never been here before. Sitting at 13-0 with its first outright Big Ten title since 1945, Curt Cignetti has led the Hoosiers to uncharted territory.
They’re the number one overall seed in the College Football Playoff, and Fernando Mendoza was named the winner of the Heisman Trophy. A lot of that unprecedented success, as especially Cignetti and Mendoza would tell you, starts on the offensive line.
With his own CFP experience, Pat Coogan is helping to lead the way on both fronts. Part of the Notre Dame team that beat Indiana en route to a National Championship game appearance, the senior came down to Bloomington to get back to that point–just with a different result.
“[We lean on Coogan] a lot,” Carter Smith said. “He’s a very seasoned player…He knows what this stage is like. He’s humbled himself this year and made sure everyone in our room is locked in and knows their assignments. Coach Cignetti’s philosophy is a little different, but Pat’s bought into it. It’s huge to have someone who’s been through it like he has.”
Last season, the IU offensive line was a weak point in some ways. Although it was a historic Indiana season, with plenty of injuries, lineup changes, and high pressure rates, the offensive line wasn’t quite the standard that Cignetti and offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan needed. This year, it’s a veteran group that’s up to the task.
And sort of like that “Island of Misfit Toys” moniker Mendoza keeps referring to, it’s a mixed group of both returners and newcomers. Coogan spent three years in South Bend before coming to IU. Zen Michalski was at Ohio State for three years before becoming a Hoosier. Smith and Bray Lynch have been at Indiana for four years, and Drew Evans is in his second year. Khalil Benson started out at IU for two seasons, transferred to Colorado, and then came back this season.
Even with Smith, Lynch, and Evans being Hoosiers last season, the offensive line play has taken a huge step forward. Coogan has been a tremendously important part of that.
The center calls a lot of the shots and assignments, like the captain of the offensive line. Outside of just identifying alignments, changing protections, and making sure the ball is snapped perfectly, Coogan has been the leader and galvanizer of this group.
“We take immense pride in our abilities to lead this team,” Coogan said. “As offensive linemen, we always want the game to rest on our shoulders and to control the line of scrimmage–that’s our livelihood. We’re never in it for individual glory. We protect the guys behind us, beside us, and in front of us. We’re protectors. We take pride in keeping guys clean and rising as a unit. That’s been huge for us.”
A few injuries have caused a bit of shifting in the lineup up front, but with an extended break heading into the Rose Bowl against Alabama, the Indiana offensive line is right where it wants to be.
“I feel good about the guys who have been in there playing,” Shanahan said. “The challenge is getting everyone ready in practice and working together, but Coach [Bob] Bostad and Coach [Zack] Leeds doa great job getting those guys extra reps outside of team periods. I have a lot of confidence in that group, and whoever’s out there, I feel good they’ll get the job done.”
Those extra reps have been a part of Coogan’s whole career, and they’ve helped him get to where he is today. He almost reached the mountaintop last season, but the Irish came up just short.
That heartbreak led him to Indiana, and armed with the lessons from the rest of his career, he’s hoping to lead the Hoosiers–and his brothers up front–to the promised land.
“It’s been a crazy journey,” Coogan said. “College football has never gone the way I expected, but I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Every decision I’ve made has led me here, and I’m incredibly grateful. This season has been a dream, and I’ve met some amazing people and some of my closest friends I never foresaw it happening this way, but I’m thankful that it did.”