Cignetti's blueprint for sustained success
Indiana HC Curt Cignetti explains the blueprint behind his success, discussing leadership, culture, roster building, coaching continuity and the process that helped transform the Hoosiers into a national contender.
Video Transcript
All right, Coach, I know you well enough to, you don't like to look back.
You're ready to look forward.
But I gotta ask you, just how did you celebrate the national championship?
Well, I got the Gatorade bath within three seconds.
I didn't like that very much.
Had a good time, in the locker room afterwards.
Went up to the president's suite till about 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning.
Got a little sleep.
Up with ESPN the next morning at 8:00, so it was back to work.
Uh- Yeah and, and here we are.
And, you know, you're back at it fast and, but I'm ready to go.
You know, what's in the past is in the past, and excited about the pieces we have and putting it all together.
So what, you know, what can you do for an encore?
What do you expect in year three after the, the great first two years?
I mean, what does year three look like at this point?
You know, we got a lot of coaches been together a long time.
Yeah.
We have a blueprint, a process, a plan.
It's all about people, standards, expectations.
Our focus is totally on improvement on a daily basis, and doing the things you have to do to be the best you can be.
Developing the right mindset, culture, identity on your football team, forming those intangibles.
And then, you know, dealing with success and setbacks.
It's a, a marathon, not a sprint.
We've never talked about winning a game.
We've never talked about winning a championship.
But we talk about keys to the game going into the game.
Right Don't get me wrong.
But, everybody understands, as we get closer, to, to the real battles, that if we prepare the right way and stack meetings, days, and, develop the right mindset, respect the challenge ahead of us, and put it between the white lines, the things we talk about that are important, all right, that there's no self-imposed limitations.
And it's always worked for us.
We've always won, and I expect it to be no different now.
You know, it, it's interesting you say that because, one of the trademarks of your team, and, and coaches all around college football make this comment about your team, so well coached, right?
So disciplined.
Don't beat yourself.
You look at key things like turnover margin, penalty yards, those kind of things.
I mean, third down conversions.
You guys are right at the top.
How, how do you get young kids, 18 to 22, 23-year-old guys, to buy into that process of, you know, this is, this is how we have to execute, how we have to practice, how we have to play?
Yeah.
Well, I, I think it starts at the top, you know, w- with me and the assistants, and then, trickles down.
And y- you are what you constantly do.
And you know, we, we work those drills in practice.
But more importantly, I think everybody understands, look, when you have a lot of good players that have high character and are smart, and you can get 'em to think alike- and buy into the team vision, you can get a lot done.
Yeah.
And before you win the game, you can't lose it.
The things you just talked about, turnovers, egregious missed assignments, penalties, special teams gaffes.
Right.
Right?
And sometimes on third down, a punt's a positive play.
You know?
'cause I'm sure we're gonna talk about Josh Hoover, and you know, he's gotta cut down on his turnovers from TCU, right?
Right Kind of like Ben DiNucci, who I had in '19, very similar.
And he did 'cause we run the ball well, we play good defense, and we're not gonna ask him to go out and sling it 50 times a game and outscore people.
Yeah.
We have a way we do things.
We're all on the same page.
It's been successful for us, and here we go.
Yeah.
Well, let's, let's jump off on, on Josh Hoover.
Now, this is your third guy that you've brought out of the portal, an experienced guy.
He's played a lot of ball.
Yeah.
They've all three been different.
Tell us a little bit about Josh and how he's progressed.
Yeah.
And you know, they've all been different since '19.
DiNucci, Cole Johnson, Santeo, McLeod, and I might be forgetting one, and then Rourke and, Mendoza.
Yeah.
We've had 'em all, from the pocket guy to the dual guy to in between, and to build around him.
They all do some good things, struggle some in the spring.
They have a great summer.
Fall camp they're a different guy, and they build off early season success.
I have a lot of confidence in Josh Hoover.
He's got a innate ability to play quarterback.
He's a quick processor, an accurate thrower.
And he was made to play quarterback.
I think the thing Mendoza did last year, that separated him and kinda made him a great one, quite frankly, was his ability to play his best in the fourth quarter and win big games.
Especially on the road.
We had five fourth quarter wins for him on the road.
And you know, 'cause he was a great, fierce competitor that prepared like nobody I'd ever seen.
Yeah.
You lost him, obviously.
A great leader, great competitor.
You had some other key guys that you lost off of last year's team, several of them that came with you from James Madison that really started the foundation in Bloomington.
Who are some of the guys right now that, that you're looking at as- Yeah leaders of your football team?
Well, w- we've got a core group of guys.
We've been together going into year three now that, you know, now they're the new JMU guys, right?
Yeah.
The Carter Smiths, who was Big Ten lineman of the year.
Tyrique Tucker, all conference nose guard.
Isaiah Jones, linebacker.
Ro Hardy, linebacker.
Drew Evans, offensive lineman.
Bray Lynch, offensive lineman.
Charlie Becker, probably the hardest worker on the team.
Jamari Sharp in the back end, Amari Ferrell.
We, we got a lot of 'em.
And then, you know, the guys we recruited are, are high character type guys in the portal that, have fit in well.
And so we got a lot of nice pieces.
Yeah.
Anxious to get this team together.
Yeah.
How different has that been re- recruiting?
I mean, the, the first year you come in, you had to do what you had to do, then, you know, you bring a lot of guys in the portal.
And this year, I know when I talked to you in the spring, you, the number of guys you brought in was way down from, from earlier on.
Mm-hmm.
So how has that changed, and how has that been- different in putting your team together?
Yeah.
Well, those numbers have gone down, like from 33 to 22 to 17.
Right And this year will probably be, will be lower, as you build the high school, recruiting.
It's a challenge when you're in the playoffs, the portal part of it.
Now when you don't win in the first round like we didn't against Notre Dame, you're back at it.
Right.
But last year was really a challenge.
I still think we did very well.
The first year, you know, when Indiana wasn't very good and we had all the time to recruit you know, that was w- a great haul.
But no, roster management, you know, you wanna build the foundation of the house with the high school guys, and the, the portal guys are, critical need guys.
But they still have to be not only good players and have the position specific requirements, but, strong character and smart guys.
Yeah.
Yeah.
What would you say, I mean, if somebody says, "All right, what, what are your greatest strengths as a head coach?"
What would they be?
Organization, structure.
I'm pretty direct in my messaging, in terms of w- what I want done, and everybody understands it.
And I keep the main thing the main thing.
A lot has been made also of your ability to retain your staff.
I mean, you've got a couple coordinators that, you know, are hot commodities, they've done a great job.
Now you've been able to pay them well and, and maintain, but how important has that been to continuing to do what you want to do?
Yeah.
It, it's absolutely critical.
We've been together for a, a really long time, and so we're on the same page.
We know how we do things.
I mean, we got a blueprint, a plan, and a process, and you're always looking to improve, but it really hadn't changed very much in the last 10 years.
So those down times really are down times for the coaches where they can recharge.
And then once we're back at it, like we'll have a Monday meeting, and it'll be about the same meeting it was seven years ago.
And it'll last about an hour .
Yeah.
You know?
And then we'll be out practicing on Wednesday.
Yeah.
So it's huge.
It, it, it's definitely huge, and I give Pam Whitman, our president, and Scott Dolson, our athletic director, a lot of credit there.
Yeah.
I wanna take you back, several years ago.
So you, you're at Alabama, and I obviously there's a lot of comparisons people make with you and Coach Saban and just how you've done things and how you're process-oriented things.
I, I love the, the quote that you say working for him was like, every day was like fourth and one.
Yeah.
What, what does that mean ?
Well, there's just a great sense of urgency, you know- Yeah to get it done on a daily b- there were no, like, off days.
Yeah.
You know, there was always something to do, something to accomplish.
And y- again, if you're not striving, you're not improv- somebody else is.
Yeah.
And you're not improving, you're getting worse.
You get better or you get worse, you never stay the same.
So you gotta be striving.
And so Nick was very structured, very organized, had a plan for everything.
And, you know, we had a lot of success, so, Nick knew how to keep you on your toes.
Yeah.
And, you know, somet- every once in a while it took me a few years after I'd left him to, "Oh yeah, that's why he did that."
You know?
So that's why he's won all those- Yeah Nat- Natties.
How much of a risk was it, i- looking back then, when you left there to take a job at a D2 program?
I know I've heard you say you needed to be a head coach.
Yeah.
You felt like you needed to do that at that time.
I didn't wanna be a 60-year-old assistant.
I was done being a head c- an assistant.
Yeah.
Always wanted to be a head coach.
And look, if I'd have gone back there and been there 20 years, so be it.
Yeah.
But, you know, we got rolling.
We found our path, our way, and the opportunities came.
Yeah.
Your late father was a coach, College Football- Yeah Hall of Fame coach.
How much did his career inspire you to get into coaching, and, and what was your biggest takeaway from him- Yeah that you've used?
Oh, I think 100% just living that life as a kid, especially when we went to West Virginia in '70, being on the field for those games in the locker room at halftime.
He was just a hard worker.
Tough.
Never met a challenge he, he didn't think he wasn't gonna overcome.
Yeah.
Very honest, very direct, strong character.
And, you know, he was a great role model.
Yeah.
Yeah, I, I have a similar background of being on the practice field, being a ball boy, you know, being out there.
I mean, there's nothing quite like that, is there?
No.
Not at that time.
Yeah.
I mean, I went to college, I really didn't even know what my options were 'cause I wanted to coach.
Yeah .
W- what do you think your dad would say right now if he knew you were making $13.2 million a year?
Boy, I don't know.
I, I haven't thought of that one.
