Indiana’s Veterans “Leading By Example” On Defense

Indiana reached the height of college football last season, winning their first national championship in program history. However, if you were to ask them, nothing has changed.

“I don’t think it hits any different,” fifth-year defensive lineman Tyrique Tucker said to the media on Tuesday. “The recipe is the recipe; we have to handle everything we have to handle, do what we have to do this week and prepare the right way. Ultimately, the next opponent is our best opponent.” 

This winning standard is something that Coach Cignetti brought with him from JMU and is one of the toughest things for new players to learn. When asked about learning the standard, Tucker explained, “I would just say it’s how you carry yourself every day and the work you put in, it really speaks for itself. If guys are looking at you and trying to see what they need to do, they can just look right at you. It’s more so trying to be a prime example for them and show them the way they can achieve what they want to achieve in this program if they put the work in, handle what they have to handle, and take care of everything off the field and on the field. More so, just be that example.” 

Veteran linebacker Isaiah Jones echoed this sentiment, saying, “I think [the young guys] see us lead by example.” While Tucker and Jones will be leading by example, they also have been giving the newcomers a heads-up on how Coach Cignetti runs his program. “[Coach Cignetti] is going to respect your time, but when you’re here it is his time and it is going to be time well spent. So you better come ready to work and you need to come with the right attitude.” Jones explained.

Indiana is not the only team with new faces all along the roster; the Hoosiers’ first opponent of the season, the North Texas Mean Green, features a completely overhauled roster. 

“I mean, I won’t lie to you, it is different. You don’t have a game to watch from this season. That’s the landscape of college football. That’s what every team is dealing with. Every team is going to have brand new players, brand new teams; they might run brand new plays they (didn’t) run last year. They had a good team last year, but that team is all gone now, so it’s trying to find tendencies from the new coordinators they have coming in and how they are going to play their players’ strengths,” Jones said.

While North Texas has a lot of new faces, one face should be familiar to Indiana fans; former Hoosiers QB Tayven Jackson will make his return to Bloomington, this time as the starting QB of the Mean Green. 

When asked how it will be playing against his former teammate, Jones said, “It kind of depends on what kind of offense a quarterback is in, but (Tayven Jackson) is an outstanding player. He is athletic. He has strong arms. So, we’re preparing like we would any other quarterback, but it is just a guy we have gone against a few times in practice.”

While the Hoosiers are defending a National Championship in 2026, they aren’t going to change their recipe for success. As Tyrique Tucker says, “The recipe is the recipe.”

Indiana opens the 2026 season on September 5th against the North Texas Mean Green.