Cignetti Sets the Tone For Day One of Fall Camp

Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

The Indiana Hoosiers were back on the practice field on Wednesday morning as fall camp kicked off in Bloomington ahead of IU’s August 31st opener against FIU. Head coach Curt Cignetti has set the tone in Bloomington as there has been significant carry over from spring practice.

“Day one's in the books. We want to develop players, develop more consistency in performance day in, day out; play in, play out. It's the second time through the offense, defense, special teams now. Guys ought to be playing faster, thinking less. And we want to promote competition. So the weather cooperated today. It was really humid and hot. It was a lot different than the first day of spring practice, where it was about 45 degrees and everybody felt great being out there. It forced us to think and play football on day one. So that was good.” Cignetti said.

Cignetti alluded to implementing his style of football for his team.

“I think we want to get these guys playing football like the way we want them to play. We have a certain style -- smart, disciplined poised. Always been one of the least penalized team in the league. Number one in turnover ratio and very highly ranked in key statistical categories which lead to success.” Cignetti explained.

The Hoosiers are coming off a 3-9 (1-8) year that saw them lose three-straight one score games to end the year and had five one score losses in total. It seemed like as soon as something went wrong, it went all down hill for the Hoosiers. Cignetti is out to change that mindset and have a mentally tougher team in 2024.

He said he wants to “develop that relentless mindset and resilience where you're not affected by the circumstances of practice or a game by a good play or a bad play, or you're down 14 points. In the second quarter you're not affected or up 14 points.”

Other Notes

“(OL Nick) Kidwell was out there. It was good to see. He was one of the best 2 linemen in the Sun Belt had he stayed healthy last year”

“the first eight to 12 are similar structure, practice structure. There may be some schematic tweaks based on our summer study. And then as we get closer to the opponent, some game-specific type of things”