McCulley and Cooper Reflect on Cignetti’s 'Tough Love' and Scheme

Image: Indiana Athletics

Written by Ben Gillard

Indiana Wide Receivers Donaven McCulley and Omar Cooper Jr. met with the media in Bloomington on Wednesday, where they spoke about the transition to Curt Cignetti’s new offensive scheme and coaching style.

McCulley, who entered the transfer portal following the 2023 season and the dismissal of Head Coach Tom Allen, spoke about his decision to return to IU following the announcement of Cignetti’s hiring.

“Coach Cignetti and Coach DO (Derek Owings), Coach (Mike) Shanahan were showing me numbers and that the proof is in the pudding. I was just like I’m going to take a chance on them, and I think I made the right decision.” McCulley said.

McCulley also reflected on the differences in coaching styles between Coach Allen and Coach Cignetti.

“Coming back to Indiana just talking to Coach, I told him to coach me hard. Him getting on me in the spring and challenging me it kind of helped me really learn how he operates and learn how the team operates. I really just kind of took the initiative to really get in my playbook more.” McCulley continued.

Cooper echoed this sentiment, when comparing the changes over the past six months.

“The coaching style. I love Coach Allen, but last year he just -  he wasn't as hard on us and yelling at us to pick up the tempo and stuff. And then the fast paced practice last year was kind of a little slower, so that was a little different. But I actually liked how it's fast paced, and we were able to get through it and go from one station to another. So that's one of the biggest things in the past six months.” Cooper said.

Both players have seemed to respond well to Coach Cignetti’s “tough love” style of coaching, though Cooper seems to think it has been especially helpful for McCulley.

“I think that's something that he liked a lot, because he liked being fueled, and when coaches get on him being hard, it fuels him up and makes him angry. But when he plays angry, he plays better, to me, so I think that's something that helps him play even at a higher level.” Cooper explained. 

In addition to Cignetti’s style of coaching, the players seem to be very excited about his offensive scheme, which utilizes lots of wide receivers and continually rotates them to keep them fresh.

“I don’t think it’s (the heavy rotations) anything that’s difficult. I think it helps us actually because we can all just stay fresh and continue to rotate and help us be better at our game. When it comes to the plays, it’s basically we’re just flipping sides. It’s not as difficult as it may seem, but I think it will be really good for our offense and help us be really successful.” Cooper explains.

“We’re extremely deep at the receiver position. I feel like we’ve got an entire room of guys that can go out and make a play and really take over the game. I feel like us having a deep receiver room is going to really affect DBs because it’s just going to keep rolling. We’ve got guys rotating.” McCulley echoed.

With a new culture being built in Bloomington, all eyes will be on the Hoosiers’ Aug. 31st home opener to see how this new scheme will work on gameday.