Indiana Hoosiers News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti looks on during spring practice at Memorial Stadium on Thursday, April 3, 2025. Bobby Goddin/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Five Interesting Things Curt Cignetti Said In His ESPN Interview

Originally posted on Indiana Hoosiers on SI
By Todd Golden | Last updated May 9, 2025 10:33 AM ET

Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti was on familiar ground during an ESPN interview on Thursday.

Cignetti joined host Greg McElroy on the Always College Football podcast. McElroy was a quarterback during his college days at Alabama, when Cignetti was an assistant coach on Nick Saban’s staff. They overlapped one another at Alabama from 2007-10.

Now an SEC Network analyst, McElroy welcomed Cignetti for a long interview broadcast on Thursday.

Many topics were discussed, but here’s five of the most interesting things Cignetti had to say.

Production Over Potential

Rehashing the building process for Indiana’s 11-2 2024 team, Cignetti went into some detail he hadn’t previously revealed in terms of his philosophy on how to build a team on short notice – or not short notice.

“We look for production over potential. People kind of know me by ‘Google me,’ right? But that's first thing I do,” Cignetti said.

“When we're on a player, I Google them. When I see three years of consistent production, and a guy played 12 games, 13 games. He doesn’t miss games, produces every year. I know he's got something that allows that to happen. That's the kind of guy we're looking for,” Cignetti said.

Getting The Right Kind Of People

Cignetti has mentioned before that part of the chemistry he wants comes from the quality of people he tries to bring into his teams. He elaborated on that during the podcast.

“When you get the right kind of people and create an environment where they can thrive, the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. That's what a team is all about,” Cignetti said.

“And I think you saw it at times last year with our football team. We played fairly consistently for the most part and through the years at the other places too,” he said.

Cignetti also provided the qualifier that it doesn’t last forever.

“The great thing about athletics is what you did yesterday really doesn't mean squat. You’ve got to prove yourself every moment of the day, and that's the only way you get better,” Cignetti said.

Fernando Mendoza And His Ability To Run

Cignetti and McElroy discussed new quarterback Fernando Mendoza. They talked about his passing, but also honed in on another part of Mendoza’s game that makes him dangerous – his ability to move around, scramble, and throw from different angles on the field.

“I think with him, you're going to get some (running) without even calling it,” Cignetti noted. “We were having a big discussion on quarterback draws. When you look at our pocket passes and how many times he runs for a big gain, why do you even have to put it in (the playbook), right?”

Mendoza can be thought of in the same way one might think of a pitcher with multiple release points. He can change the attack by attacking from different angles.

“He's a big guy. He's got good movement, quick release. Can make all the throws. He's accurate. He throws a ball on the run really well,” Cignetti said. “So, yeah, we’ll move him around a little bit more than we did. We moved Kurtis (Rourke) 25% of the time last year, not even 1%. Everyone knew where he was launching it from. We'll move that launch point a little bit more this year, and you'll probably see a little quarterback run here and there.”

Mendoza has 197 rcareer ushing yards and has averaged 1.5 yards per carry.

Confidence In The Offensive Line

Cignetti made it clear that he has lots of confidence in Indiana’s reconstituted offensive line.

“I like our line a lot. I think we’ve got the potential to be very good. I think we can be better than last season,” he said.

McElroy had mentioned Notre Dame transfer center Pat Coogan and Ohio State transfer tackle Zen Michalski in asking about Indiana’s offensive line. Cignetti wanted to go beyond just the two transfers.

“Carter Smith at left tackle, to me, is an all-conference type player. We got Drew Evans back, who started the first nine games and then hit the sled in period one (of practice) and tore his Achilles. He's back, he’s a tough guy. We’ve got Coogan at center. Bray Lynch returns at right guard and can also play center. You mentioned Zen at right tackle,” Cignetti said.

Cignetti mentioned his faith in offensive line coach Bob Bostad’s judgment. Bostad coached Kahlil Benson in 2023, and Cignetti trusted Bostad when he said he wanted to bring him back from Colorado.

“We also brought Kahlil Benson back, who started at right tackle the year before I was here. Bob Bostad is a great offensive line coach. I'm really fortunate to have him. He was high on (Benson). We feel like we got six guys there with a lot of experience that you know that can get the job done,” Cignetti said.

Cignetti Feels Good About Backfield Options

Cignetti has spoken about the depth he values in his backfield, and he elaborated on that with McElroy.

“I think all three of those guys are similar in some respects. They can take it inside, outside, catch the ball and also do the pass pro stuff,” Cignetti said.

Cignetti broke the main cogs of the running game down.

“Lee Beebe had a good spring and had a good year last year at UAB. He had close to 1,000 (yards) and he's a hard guy to tackle,” he said.

“(Roman) Hemby has had some really good years at Maryland. I'm really anxious to see him once the games start,” Cignetti continued. “We don’t tackle much in scrimmages. We tackled in the spring game, played a half, and that's it. Last fall we didn't tackle at all. I like the way he toted the ball in the spring game, and (Kaelon) Black is a good player. We have a few other young ones that aren’t bad. We’ll be okay.”

Here's the entirety of Cignetti’s interview with McElroy.