November 15, 2024 • 22 mins
Bucky Brooks and Rhett Lewis are back with a new episode of Move the Sticks. Throughout the show, the guys are joined by Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti as he discusses turning around the team, the team keeping high standards, his philosophies on roster construction, his past coaching experiences and how it taught him to win, and much more.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
And now Move the Sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks. Hey,
what's up, friends, Welcome back another edition of Move the Sticks.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Off and Running.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Here for you, Ret Lewis, Bucky Brooks, and it's our
great pleasure to welcome in the head coach of the
ten and oh the number five ranked team of the
College Football Playoff rankings, the Indiana Hoosiers. It's coach Kurt Signetti. Coach,
I am dressed appropriately for today's interview. Bucky and the
(00:32):
guys here on Move the Sticks have had some fun
with me for wearing my Defend the Rock hat.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Each and every week.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
I've got to support the brand, baby, So we're excited
to have you on here today.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Coach, thanks for being with us. It's pleasure good to
be hon with you. Guys. You can't be an impartial
broadcast and be back down.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Well, you know, in some places, I can, you know,
when we're together down on the sidelines, you know, I
got to block that out for a little while. But
we're here on the NFL platform, I can let the
Cream and Crimson show a little bit.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
So Coach, the.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Biggest thing that has struck me about your team is
the team Yeah, This to me is one of the
most complete and complementary football minded teams that I have
watched this year in all of college football. How do
you cultivate that on a day to day basis, and
especially going into the season knowing that you had so
(01:31):
many new faces all coming together for one purpose.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Well, to me, that's the key to the drill is
getting everybody to think alike. And it all starts with people.
You got to have the right people in place, the
right people on the bus and you know they so
and starts with your staff and players too, and then
the messaging has to be such that has to be concise,
clear and consistent. And we're processed driven. And we've got
(01:57):
enough older guys on this football team to played successful
football in their college career, a lot of them at
other places that were two three year starters, that have
good character and team oriented guys have a little bit
of a chip on their shoulder. Quite frankly, a lot
of guys on this team have something to prove. And
you know, and while you know they want to get
(02:18):
their catches and their touches and all that good stuff
TfL secks, you know that it's a tight team We've
got a lot of good leadership on this team, and
there's no agendas. Everybody is focused on the same thing,
and that's my job to make sure they are, you know,
And that to me, that's the weekly challenge, the intangibles
(02:40):
you develop on your football team once you know the
season begins, because the margin forray.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Is very slim, you know, coach so often we hear
coaches talking about abing process oriented, but for the novice,
the amateur who don't doesn't really understand what that means.
What does it mean when you say your process orient
as opposed to being results driven?
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah, okay, Well, you know, you got to have a
blueprint in a plan, and you work your plan daily
and the key to the drills do improve every single day.
And if you're doing that and you're preparing the right way,
you know, there should be no self imposed limitations on
what you can accomplish. But you've got to have high
standards and expectations and accountability. You can never lower your
(03:21):
standards because how you do something's how you do everything.
So obviously you got to have a plan for how
you train in the off season, how you practice in
game strategy, you know, et cetera. But you know, we
talk more about the things you have to do right
now to be as good as you can be, and
(03:42):
really never talk about the end result. We don't talk
about championships. We really don't talk about winning the game.
Every you know, all there is is to hearing out.
Be where your feet are. Eliminate the noise, eliminate the clutter,
have great focus, positive energy, get every bit out of
the meeting that you can, and you know, execute as
(04:03):
well as you can every practice, because good days stack
on top of good days. Really, tomorrow and Saturday are
kind of a concept, and we play the game that
way too, Only you know, won't play the time six
seconds of player. Every play's got a life in the
history of its own nothing, nothing, not affected by success,
not affected by failure, fast, physical, relentless, smart discipline, poise
on to the next play and from the first to
(04:25):
the last, and there's going to be a high standard.
And that standard doesn't deviate to the circumstances of the game.
Meaning if you're up four touchdowns in the fourth quarter,
you don't lower your standards just because you're up four touchdowns, right,
So that's why you see a lot of guys like me,
you know, kind of rheumatics on the sideline in the
(04:45):
fourth court with the leans because the standard is the standard,
and great competitors really are never satisfied, right, You can't
be satisfied in this business. You guys know that you played,
and if you're not striving, then you're not getting better
because yeah, somebody else is and he's catching you. And
(05:08):
that's just the nature of the business.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
He look, Coach, I think there's been, you know, plenty
of times during games where broadcasts have pointed out the
fact that, you know, your face stays pretty, you know,
even keeled throughout. And but you know what, it's not
just us and the viewers that are seeing that's your
players that are seeing that too. It's likely, you know,
Coach doesn't think the game's over here just because we
scored a touchdown, Like your face tells the story of
(05:31):
every day, every play, continuing to meet that standard. So
I think all that, all that goes into what we're
talking about and building one cohesive team. But building a
team is something we talk about a lot here on
Move the six podcast. Roster construction, developing the right people,
the right players that you're talking about there. Obviously, a
transfer portal has played a big role in the construction
(05:53):
of this team. How do you view that from a
sustainability standpoint? Because everybody can talk about still wanting to
build through high schoo Well, we get how important that is,
but I'm curious as to how you view the transfer
portal in your ultimate plan for the future of this program.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Right, Well, we had to go heavy portal just to
be able to line up and play our games because
my first Dawn job, we had ten offensive starters and
a transfer portal and half the defense. I didn't know
that when I took this job. It was a very
quick process. So, like I think our roster was down
to forty thirty eight or forty scholarship guys at one point,
but you know, we brought twenty two guys in in
(06:31):
three weeks. They were all two three year starters at
the schools that they had been at and had consistent
production year in year out, which tells me a lot
about a guy. That's a guy that can stay on
the practice field. He can handle success, failure, he can
overcome adversity obstacles. You know, he's got some perseverance and
some grid about him and so to me, production means
(06:53):
a lot, and it's a reflection of character, consistent production.
So in answer to your question, you know, I'll probably
have to go fairly heavy again here in a couple
of weeks, just because we have so many seniors on
our team. All those guys we brought in over one
or two year guys. I think every year, regardless, you're
going to sign fifteen to twenty high school guys. That's
(07:16):
the foundation of the house, and hopefully you can retain
the guys that turn out to be really good players.
You're always going to have some needs here and there
in the portal, like a you know at JMU where
we were rolling. I mean, we won five championships in
five years, you know, two to four a year. We
were taking maybe a few more.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
But.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
So out of necessity last year, probably necessity this year
as well. And now we just got to back up
last year's class with not a good class. But eventually
you wean yourself down numbers wise. Yeah, and so you know,
but to be honest with you, in this business anymore,
(07:58):
you can't think too three four years now. I mean,
this isn't like the old days where they'd hire a
coach and give him six years and by year four
or five, you know, he wanted to have a good
football team back in the seventies, eighties, nineties. You know,
people want it now. Man, this is social media age,
you know. Yeah, that's right, and then once you start
getting it to them, it's got to look pretty.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, that's right, that's right, you know, coach.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
One thing that struck me is when you took the job,
your confidence and knowing that you would be able to
turn this around and fairly quickly. I know you'd have
some other jobs, you have success at James Madison, those things. Well,
why were you so confident that your playing your process
will work at Indiana in the Big Ten?
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Well, I had a lot of confidence in myself because
of how much Wind won, and I had some turnaround
jobs that we turned around real quickly. And it was
year fourteen and year forty two as a coach, and
you know, grew up coach's son and been around some
great people and learned a lot from Coach Saban obviously,
so I felt like I knew what I was doing,
(09:00):
and then you know, I got I went out on
a limb here early on with some statements publicly and
It was more so because of what I felt the
first down job here sort of a hopelessness and despair
around the program. People had sort of given up on it,
and people outside the program sort of looked down on us.
And it was like two worlds clashing clashing. You know,
(09:23):
my world, which is used to winning all the time,
and their world. I wasn't going to lower my expectations,
so I had to create some excitement and set an
expectation level. I really felt good about what we got
done those first three weeks with those twenty two transfers.
That's signing date December twenty first, whenever it was, and
I knew the schedule and what did we have to sell? Okay,
(09:46):
here's what we had to sell. Like if you're a
quarterback or last four quarterback's been player of a year
of the league in offense, you know, and the previous
two were one year G five transfers, just like we
have now with Curtis work. You know, we had two
thousand yard receivers and saying season two least three years
defensively weren't a top five every year gets run, TFLs
and sacks. And we had won. This staff had won
(10:06):
and most of the staff had come with me. So
and then the schedule, I mean, the schedule was what
it was, and I'd go down that schedule with each
one of these guys because look, they want to come
in here to play and contribute, they want to start right,
but they want to win too, and so this division
of what could happen. And quite frankly, I've had big
(10:27):
one year turnarounds are every job I took, you know,
because I got this magic wand in my back pocket. Yeah,
that is so, and I thought, I thought that confidence
I needed to portray that in this particular situation at
this place a little more outwardly than the other places.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
And coach like, having having been there in Bloomington, I
can one hundred percent, you know, back up what you're
saying there, because that's that is what it felt like.
And it was a whole new tone and tenor when
you arrived. And that has been a huge, huge benefit
for everybody associated with Indiana football and that watches and
loves it, you know, Coach. One of the things, one
of the trend lines that we followed in the NFL,
(11:11):
especially when it comes to quarterbacks, is the way that
teams and franchises have evaluated quarterbacks, seems to change. It
seems to be changing a little bit based on the
experience of the quarterbacks coming in in the success that
they have seen early. Like if you look at this year,
Bo Nicks, you know, came from Oregon and Auburn, you know,
started sixty games in college and is playing pretty pretty
(11:33):
dang good football for Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos.
Saying could be said for Jaden Daniels with the Washington Commanders,
played a ton of games. You go back, you know,
Brot Purdy didn't necessarily wow anybody at Iowa State with
his physical tools, but Dank played fifty games and you know,
new and been around football for a long time and
has found real success. Is that part of what you
saw with Curtis Rourke and part of what you see
(11:54):
might make him an attractive NFL player beyond you know
when he finishes up here at i.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Well you learn by doing. Yeah, So those reps, those
game reps accumulate, right, And to me, that's always been
the formula in the transfer market. I'm really not interested
in the backup guy with a lot of talent, you know,
I want a guy that's been out there as a
starter and you know, been in those situations before. So
(12:24):
Curtis was player a year in the Mack in twenty two.
Hurt his at the end of the season, didn't wasn't
able to train in the off season. Played in twenty three.
He still had a good year, but his numbers were
really good. He won championship, he'd won a lot of
games touchdown, the interception ratio was great. You could tell
right away on tape. He knew how to play quarterback.
He reminded me a little bit of Philip Rivers, who
(12:44):
I was with at NC State. You know, he'd be
in a bad spot, get you back to second and
ten ran well enough to get your first down on
third down when he got out of the pocket. And
he's a terrific guy. You know, like he's a low
blood pressure guy. I mean, nothing faces that guy. Nothing.
I mean he makes a bad play, he's on the
(13:04):
next play and uh, you know he's really highly respected
by his teammates.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Okay, when we come back much more with head coach
of the Indiana who's yours, Kurt Signetti right here on
move the sticks.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
You know, coach, Uh, this is a new frontier for
some coaches in terms of the college football playoff expanded
to twelve teams at lower levels, though this is kind
of commonplace. Like you deal with the playoffs and you
get ready, not putting the card ahead of the horse,
but that experience that you've had being in the playoffs
and having to play multiple games to win a championship,
how can that experience help you when you guys make
(13:44):
it to the college football playoffs?
Speaker 2 (13:47):
You really want me to answer that question? Done? Just
just just thing that I that I preach and live by.
I'm really glad that the seat that the playoffs system expanded,
and I suspect it'll expand again. And you know, it
should be one on the field. There shouldn't be uh
(14:09):
you know, it shouldn't be a four team playoff. You
know where you've got some really good football teams watching
it on TV. So the great thing about this playoff
system is you know weeke in week got you got
to be ready to go against against good competition. And
uh so, I think it's gonna be very exciting for
college football. And you know, we got work to do
to be in it. You know, we're we put ourselves
(14:31):
in position to be talked about. And we've gotten off
week this week, which you know, we're getting re energized
and all that good stuff, staying sharp on the practice field,
and then you know, we'll deal with the next opponent
in earnest next week. I mean, we're we're getting we're
slow cooking them this week and you know, one day
at a time, trying to make the most of every day.
(14:53):
But I've been there, I've walked down that road before. Yeah,
I know that road.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
So I wasn't. Just to be clear, I wasn't trying
to deviate, But what I was trying to tap into
is a coach who has been through that process in
the postseason, Like how you talked about game experience matters
for your quarterbacks and players. Just as a coach because
you've been in the playoffs before, it's a different pressure
about how every time you play in the playoffs that
first you gives you an opportunity to get better.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Yeah, it does. But the one thing I would say
about that, I think most of the guys in this
business that have jobs like mine, they could end up
in this playoffs system this year, are used to playing
a big game and coming back the next week and
have to play another big game, you know what I mean,
(15:39):
and so, but haven't been in it before. You know,
maybe there's something there that can help us down the road.
I got to get in at first, That's right, That's right.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
We've got to get more work to do down the
stretch of this season, the big one against the buck
Eyes coming up on the twenty third, and then the
old Oaken Bucket game to close out the regular seas,
and then you know, we get into the silly season
a little bit with the transfer portal opening up. You know, coach,
the other thing that I that I'm curious about now
based off where you were at, you know, coming into
this job in December. Obviously, recruiting is a big piece,
(16:16):
you know, all season long, and especially on bye weeks
when you can get your coaches out, you know, and
to go visit players and that sort of thing. Have
you noticed the tone and tenor of your message changing
at all in the reception that players, you know, have
to you because of the winning.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Well, winning opens a lot of doors, yeah, you know,
in a lot of different areas, and recruiting is no different.
You know, you start winning, people start calling you, Yeah,
recruits and that's happening, there's no doubt about it. But
it's still you know about taking the right guys and
you got to develop them. Then you've got to retain them.
But it certainly creates some opportunities. And what's interesting about
(16:56):
December is you know, if you're playing in December, you
know the portal is open in December two. It's crazy.
It's like Lane Kiffin mentioned yesterday right about free agency.
You know, if the NBA or NFL had free agency
during the season.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Can you imagine during the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Yeah. Yes, So it's just something that you know, we
have to deal with right now.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Quicky coach, because you talked about the transfer portal and
mixing high school players in those things, and you talked
about it being a year leader existence. When it comes
to team building, how qu can you get a team
up to speed in terms of there's so many individual agendas?
How do you get your players to put that to
decide to really focus on the team first and everything
else played well.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
I think what really helped us in this particular situation
is we brought thirteen guys from JMU, thirteen guys from
a championship culture that were really tight with one another
knew how the program was one run I'm sorry, and
had a little bit of a chip on her shoulder.
And the other guys we brought in had high character too,
and the ones who stayed were the right kind of guys.
(17:59):
So that culture really started in January with the off
season program. The jam, you guys facilitated it. But bottom
line is this, you still have to get the results
on the field. Yeah, Like you win the first one
that builds some belief and confidence. You win the second
you go out to UCLA and win. Now, all of
a sudden, you see a lot of things starting to
(18:21):
come together. And this team is just built on every success.
And you know, we played fairly consistently. It's not perfect
every game. We've got some improvements to make corrections, but
we've been fairly steady and but winning helps everything.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Better, believe it, and looking forward to more of it.
Coach Signetti, thank you so much for giving us a
few minutes of your time here on this down week
and look forward to getting you back in action on
the field in Columbus in A in just about a week.
So thanks again, coach, appreciate you all right, guys, have
a good one coach. You know, Bucky, I find so
much of what Kurtzignetty taught about and is honest about.
(19:01):
And the fact that you know, he's got to probably
has to go back into the portal again this year
similarly to the way he did last year, is really intriguing,
especially to see how the success then translates in re
in building another roster like this one. But I mean,
like you've got reports out there of you know, schools
potentially trying to flip other schools five star quarterbacks for
(19:22):
ten million dollars over four years, and that's a contract.
And then I come back to Kurt Signetti found you know,
PFS highest graded quarterback in the country, and in Curtis
Rourke from Ohio University right where he was a conference
Player of the Year, and you know, look, was probably
compensated and you know, in a way that was compensurate
(19:44):
with with what he had.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Put on tape.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
But I just like, I find it so hard to
spend that much money on an unproven commodity, yes, you
know coming into the college level.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Yeah, no, it It's funny because in listening to him
talk about experience and how he doesn't have interest in
backups with potential, but more so guys who have proven
product production. And to me, it's very similar to like
when we talk about the draft and being able to
see the results on the field, and so much about
what we tend to do in the spring gets well,
(20:17):
this guy could be able to, he should be able to,
but we never see it happen in college. Sonetti has
a I would say, a tried and true formula where
he believes in Hey, I'm gonna get the most productive guys,
I'm gonna put them on my team, and I'm gonna
find a way to make sure they continue to remain
productive because they have a chip to prove that they
can play at the next level. To me, look, I
(20:37):
can give you a hard time about the Indiana stuff
or whatever, but he is as good as it comes
when it comes to a coach, And I thought what
was interesting and excightful his feel for the room in
terms of I need to project more confidence because this
is a place that little down trod and they don't
really believe. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna
go above and beyond to make sure that the people
(20:59):
know that we're I have a lot of success here
based on my track recking and what I believe in.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
There it is and so we shall see big one
coming up against the Buckeyes. Right, everybody wondering, you know
I'm talking, and yeah, I hadn't played anybody yet, all right.
It just you know, happened to dispatch up fairly convincingly
both of the teams that played in the National Championship
last year. So just keep keep that in mind as well. Okay,
so buck guys on the twenty third and then the
(21:25):
Bucket game to close things out. But great to talk
to coach Signette. Appreciate him for his time. Appreciate all
you guys for tuning in once again here on Move
the Sticks. Maybe DJs back next week. I don't know,
we'll see maybe. But for Bucky Brooks, I'm Red Lewis.
Thanks to the Bill for putting this thing on all
week long, and we look forward to seeing
Speaker 2 (21:41):
You right back here next week.
And now Move the Sticks with Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks. Hey,
what's up, friends, Welcome back another edition of Move the Sticks.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Off and Running.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Here for you, Ret Lewis, Bucky Brooks, and it's our
great pleasure to welcome in the head coach of the
ten and oh the number five ranked team of the
College Football Playoff rankings, the Indiana Hoosiers. It's coach Kurt Signetti. Coach,
I am dressed appropriately for today's interview. Bucky and the
(00:32):
guys here on Move the Sticks have had some fun
with me for wearing my Defend the Rock hat.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Each and every week.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
I've got to support the brand, baby, So we're excited
to have you on here today.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Coach, thanks for being with us. It's pleasure good to
be hon with you. Guys. You can't be an impartial
broadcast and be back down.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Well, you know, in some places, I can, you know,
when we're together down on the sidelines, you know, I
got to block that out for a little while. But
we're here on the NFL platform, I can let the
Cream and Crimson show a little bit.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
So Coach, the.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Biggest thing that has struck me about your team is
the team Yeah, This to me is one of the
most complete and complementary football minded teams that I have
watched this year in all of college football. How do
you cultivate that on a day to day basis, and
especially going into the season knowing that you had so
(01:31):
many new faces all coming together for one purpose.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Well, to me, that's the key to the drill is
getting everybody to think alike. And it all starts with people.
You got to have the right people in place, the
right people on the bus and you know they so
and starts with your staff and players too, and then
the messaging has to be such that has to be concise,
clear and consistent. And we're processed driven. And we've got
(01:57):
enough older guys on this football team to played successful
football in their college career, a lot of them at
other places that were two three year starters, that have
good character and team oriented guys have a little bit
of a chip on their shoulder. Quite frankly, a lot
of guys on this team have something to prove. And
you know, and while you know they want to get
(02:18):
their catches and their touches and all that good stuff
TfL secks, you know that it's a tight team We've
got a lot of good leadership on this team, and
there's no agendas. Everybody is focused on the same thing,
and that's my job to make sure they are, you know,
And that to me, that's the weekly challenge, the intangibles
(02:40):
you develop on your football team once you know the
season begins, because the margin forray.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Is very slim, you know, coach so often we hear
coaches talking about abing process oriented, but for the novice,
the amateur who don't doesn't really understand what that means.
What does it mean when you say your process orient
as opposed to being results driven?
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah, okay, Well, you know, you got to have a
blueprint in a plan, and you work your plan daily
and the key to the drills do improve every single day.
And if you're doing that and you're preparing the right way,
you know, there should be no self imposed limitations on
what you can accomplish. But you've got to have high
standards and expectations and accountability. You can never lower your
(03:21):
standards because how you do something's how you do everything.
So obviously you got to have a plan for how
you train in the off season, how you practice in
game strategy, you know, et cetera. But you know, we
talk more about the things you have to do right
now to be as good as you can be, and
(03:42):
really never talk about the end result. We don't talk
about championships. We really don't talk about winning the game.
Every you know, all there is is to hearing out.
Be where your feet are. Eliminate the noise, eliminate the clutter,
have great focus, positive energy, get every bit out of
the meeting that you can, and you know, execute as
(04:03):
well as you can every practice, because good days stack
on top of good days. Really, tomorrow and Saturday are
kind of a concept, and we play the game that
way too, Only you know, won't play the time six
seconds of player. Every play's got a life in the
history of its own nothing, nothing, not affected by success,
not affected by failure, fast, physical, relentless, smart discipline, poise
on to the next play and from the first to
(04:25):
the last, and there's going to be a high standard.
And that standard doesn't deviate to the circumstances of the game.
Meaning if you're up four touchdowns in the fourth quarter,
you don't lower your standards just because you're up four touchdowns, right,
So that's why you see a lot of guys like me,
you know, kind of rheumatics on the sideline in the
(04:45):
fourth court with the leans because the standard is the standard,
and great competitors really are never satisfied, right, You can't
be satisfied in this business. You guys know that you played,
and if you're not striving, then you're not getting better
because yeah, somebody else is and he's catching you. And
(05:08):
that's just the nature of the business.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
He look, Coach, I think there's been, you know, plenty
of times during games where broadcasts have pointed out the
fact that, you know, your face stays pretty, you know,
even keeled throughout. And but you know what, it's not
just us and the viewers that are seeing that's your
players that are seeing that too. It's likely, you know,
Coach doesn't think the game's over here just because we
scored a touchdown, Like your face tells the story of
(05:31):
every day, every play, continuing to meet that standard. So
I think all that, all that goes into what we're
talking about and building one cohesive team. But building a
team is something we talk about a lot here on
Move the six podcast. Roster construction, developing the right people,
the right players that you're talking about there. Obviously, a
transfer portal has played a big role in the construction
(05:53):
of this team. How do you view that from a
sustainability standpoint? Because everybody can talk about still wanting to
build through high schoo Well, we get how important that is,
but I'm curious as to how you view the transfer
portal in your ultimate plan for the future of this program.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Right, Well, we had to go heavy portal just to
be able to line up and play our games because
my first Dawn job, we had ten offensive starters and
a transfer portal and half the defense. I didn't know
that when I took this job. It was a very
quick process. So, like I think our roster was down
to forty thirty eight or forty scholarship guys at one point,
but you know, we brought twenty two guys in in
(06:31):
three weeks. They were all two three year starters at
the schools that they had been at and had consistent
production year in year out, which tells me a lot
about a guy. That's a guy that can stay on
the practice field. He can handle success, failure, he can
overcome adversity obstacles. You know, he's got some perseverance and
some grid about him and so to me, production means
(06:53):
a lot, and it's a reflection of character, consistent production.
So in answer to your question, you know, I'll probably
have to go fairly heavy again here in a couple
of weeks, just because we have so many seniors on
our team. All those guys we brought in over one
or two year guys. I think every year, regardless, you're
going to sign fifteen to twenty high school guys. That's
(07:16):
the foundation of the house, and hopefully you can retain
the guys that turn out to be really good players.
You're always going to have some needs here and there
in the portal, like a you know at JMU where
we were rolling. I mean, we won five championships in
five years, you know, two to four a year. We
were taking maybe a few more.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
But.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
So out of necessity last year, probably necessity this year
as well. And now we just got to back up
last year's class with not a good class. But eventually
you wean yourself down numbers wise. Yeah, and so you know,
but to be honest with you, in this business anymore,
(07:58):
you can't think too three four years now. I mean,
this isn't like the old days where they'd hire a
coach and give him six years and by year four
or five, you know, he wanted to have a good
football team back in the seventies, eighties, nineties. You know,
people want it now. Man, this is social media age,
you know. Yeah, that's right, and then once you start
getting it to them, it's got to look pretty.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
Yeah, that's right, that's right, you know, coach.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
One thing that struck me is when you took the job,
your confidence and knowing that you would be able to
turn this around and fairly quickly. I know you'd have
some other jobs, you have success at James Madison, those things. Well,
why were you so confident that your playing your process
will work at Indiana in the Big Ten?
Speaker 2 (08:39):
Well, I had a lot of confidence in myself because
of how much Wind won, and I had some turnaround
jobs that we turned around real quickly. And it was
year fourteen and year forty two as a coach, and
you know, grew up coach's son and been around some
great people and learned a lot from Coach Saban obviously,
so I felt like I knew what I was doing,
(09:00):
and then you know, I got I went out on
a limb here early on with some statements publicly and
It was more so because of what I felt the
first down job here sort of a hopelessness and despair
around the program. People had sort of given up on it,
and people outside the program sort of looked down on us.
And it was like two worlds clashing clashing. You know,
(09:23):
my world, which is used to winning all the time,
and their world. I wasn't going to lower my expectations,
so I had to create some excitement and set an
expectation level. I really felt good about what we got
done those first three weeks with those twenty two transfers.
That's signing date December twenty first, whenever it was, and
I knew the schedule and what did we have to sell? Okay,
(09:46):
here's what we had to sell. Like if you're a
quarterback or last four quarterback's been player of a year
of the league in offense, you know, and the previous
two were one year G five transfers, just like we
have now with Curtis work. You know, we had two
thousand yard receivers and saying season two least three years
defensively weren't a top five every year gets run, TFLs
and sacks. And we had won. This staff had won
(10:06):
and most of the staff had come with me. So
and then the schedule, I mean, the schedule was what
it was, and I'd go down that schedule with each
one of these guys because look, they want to come
in here to play and contribute, they want to start right,
but they want to win too, and so this division
of what could happen. And quite frankly, I've had big
(10:27):
one year turnarounds are every job I took, you know,
because I got this magic wand in my back pocket. Yeah,
that is so, and I thought, I thought that confidence
I needed to portray that in this particular situation at
this place a little more outwardly than the other places.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
And coach like, having having been there in Bloomington, I
can one hundred percent, you know, back up what you're
saying there, because that's that is what it felt like.
And it was a whole new tone and tenor when
you arrived. And that has been a huge, huge benefit
for everybody associated with Indiana football and that watches and
loves it, you know, Coach. One of the things, one
of the trend lines that we followed in the NFL,
(11:11):
especially when it comes to quarterbacks, is the way that
teams and franchises have evaluated quarterbacks, seems to change. It
seems to be changing a little bit based on the
experience of the quarterbacks coming in in the success that
they have seen early. Like if you look at this year,
Bo Nicks, you know, came from Oregon and Auburn, you know,
started sixty games in college and is playing pretty pretty
(11:33):
dang good football for Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos.
Saying could be said for Jaden Daniels with the Washington Commanders,
played a ton of games. You go back, you know,
Brot Purdy didn't necessarily wow anybody at Iowa State with
his physical tools, but Dank played fifty games and you know,
new and been around football for a long time and
has found real success. Is that part of what you
saw with Curtis Rourke and part of what you see
(11:54):
might make him an attractive NFL player beyond you know
when he finishes up here at i.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Well you learn by doing. Yeah, So those reps, those
game reps accumulate, right, And to me, that's always been
the formula in the transfer market. I'm really not interested
in the backup guy with a lot of talent, you know,
I want a guy that's been out there as a
starter and you know, been in those situations before. So
(12:24):
Curtis was player a year in the Mack in twenty two.
Hurt his at the end of the season, didn't wasn't
able to train in the off season. Played in twenty three.
He still had a good year, but his numbers were
really good. He won championship, he'd won a lot of
games touchdown, the interception ratio was great. You could tell
right away on tape. He knew how to play quarterback.
He reminded me a little bit of Philip Rivers, who
(12:44):
I was with at NC State. You know, he'd be
in a bad spot, get you back to second and
ten ran well enough to get your first down on
third down when he got out of the pocket. And
he's a terrific guy. You know, like he's a low
blood pressure guy. I mean, nothing faces that guy. Nothing.
I mean he makes a bad play, he's on the
(13:04):
next play and uh, you know he's really highly respected
by his teammates.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Okay, when we come back much more with head coach
of the Indiana who's yours, Kurt Signetti right here on
move the sticks.
Speaker 3 (13:21):
You know, coach, Uh, this is a new frontier for
some coaches in terms of the college football playoff expanded
to twelve teams at lower levels, though this is kind
of commonplace. Like you deal with the playoffs and you
get ready, not putting the card ahead of the horse,
but that experience that you've had being in the playoffs
and having to play multiple games to win a championship,
how can that experience help you when you guys make
(13:44):
it to the college football playoffs?
Speaker 2 (13:47):
You really want me to answer that question? Done? Just
just just thing that I that I preach and live by.
I'm really glad that the seat that the playoffs system expanded,
and I suspect it'll expand again. And you know, it
should be one on the field. There shouldn't be uh
(14:09):
you know, it shouldn't be a four team playoff. You
know where you've got some really good football teams watching
it on TV. So the great thing about this playoff
system is you know weeke in week got you got
to be ready to go against against good competition. And
uh so, I think it's gonna be very exciting for
college football. And you know, we got work to do
to be in it. You know, we're we put ourselves
(14:31):
in position to be talked about. And we've gotten off
week this week, which you know, we're getting re energized
and all that good stuff, staying sharp on the practice field,
and then you know, we'll deal with the next opponent
in earnest next week. I mean, we're we're getting we're
slow cooking them this week and you know, one day
at a time, trying to make the most of every day.
(14:53):
But I've been there, I've walked down that road before. Yeah,
I know that road.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
So I wasn't. Just to be clear, I wasn't trying
to deviate, But what I was trying to tap into
is a coach who has been through that process in
the postseason, Like how you talked about game experience matters
for your quarterbacks and players. Just as a coach because
you've been in the playoffs before, it's a different pressure
about how every time you play in the playoffs that
first you gives you an opportunity to get better.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Yeah, it does. But the one thing I would say
about that, I think most of the guys in this
business that have jobs like mine, they could end up
in this playoffs system this year, are used to playing
a big game and coming back the next week and
have to play another big game, you know what I mean,
(15:39):
and so, but haven't been in it before. You know,
maybe there's something there that can help us down the road.
I got to get in at first, That's right, That's right.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
We've got to get more work to do down the
stretch of this season, the big one against the buck
Eyes coming up on the twenty third, and then the
old Oaken Bucket game to close out the regular seas,
and then you know, we get into the silly season
a little bit with the transfer portal opening up. You know, coach,
the other thing that I that I'm curious about now
based off where you were at, you know, coming into
this job in December. Obviously, recruiting is a big piece,
(16:16):
you know, all season long, and especially on bye weeks
when you can get your coaches out, you know, and
to go visit players and that sort of thing. Have
you noticed the tone and tenor of your message changing
at all in the reception that players, you know, have
to you because of the winning.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Well, winning opens a lot of doors, yeah, you know,
in a lot of different areas, and recruiting is no different.
You know, you start winning, people start calling you, Yeah,
recruits and that's happening, there's no doubt about it. But
it's still you know about taking the right guys and
you got to develop them. Then you've got to retain them.
But it certainly creates some opportunities. And what's interesting about
(16:56):
December is you know, if you're playing in December, you
know the portal is open in December two. It's crazy.
It's like Lane Kiffin mentioned yesterday right about free agency.
You know, if the NBA or NFL had free agency
during the season.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
Can you imagine during the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
Yeah. Yes, So it's just something that you know, we
have to deal with right now.
Speaker 3 (17:19):
Quicky coach, because you talked about the transfer portal and
mixing high school players in those things, and you talked
about it being a year leader existence. When it comes
to team building, how qu can you get a team
up to speed in terms of there's so many individual agendas?
How do you get your players to put that to
decide to really focus on the team first and everything
else played well.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
I think what really helped us in this particular situation
is we brought thirteen guys from JMU, thirteen guys from
a championship culture that were really tight with one another
knew how the program was one run I'm sorry, and
had a little bit of a chip on her shoulder.
And the other guys we brought in had high character too,
and the ones who stayed were the right kind of guys.
(17:59):
So that culture really started in January with the off
season program. The jam, you guys facilitated it. But bottom
line is this, you still have to get the results
on the field. Yeah, Like you win the first one
that builds some belief and confidence. You win the second
you go out to UCLA and win. Now, all of
a sudden, you see a lot of things starting to
(18:21):
come together. And this team is just built on every success.
And you know, we played fairly consistently. It's not perfect
every game. We've got some improvements to make corrections, but
we've been fairly steady and but winning helps everything.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Better, believe it, and looking forward to more of it.
Coach Signetti, thank you so much for giving us a
few minutes of your time here on this down week
and look forward to getting you back in action on
the field in Columbus in A in just about a week.
So thanks again, coach, appreciate you all right, guys, have
a good one coach. You know, Bucky, I find so
much of what Kurtzignetty taught about and is honest about.
(19:01):
And the fact that you know, he's got to probably
has to go back into the portal again this year
similarly to the way he did last year, is really intriguing,
especially to see how the success then translates in re
in building another roster like this one. But I mean,
like you've got reports out there of you know, schools
potentially trying to flip other schools five star quarterbacks for
(19:22):
ten million dollars over four years, and that's a contract.
And then I come back to Kurt Signetti found you know,
PFS highest graded quarterback in the country, and in Curtis
Rourke from Ohio University right where he was a conference
Player of the Year, and you know, look, was probably
compensated and you know, in a way that was compensurate
(19:44):
with with what he had.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Put on tape.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
But I just like, I find it so hard to
spend that much money on an unproven commodity, yes, you
know coming into the college level.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Yeah, no, it It's funny because in listening to him
talk about experience and how he doesn't have interest in
backups with potential, but more so guys who have proven
product production. And to me, it's very similar to like
when we talk about the draft and being able to
see the results on the field, and so much about
what we tend to do in the spring gets well,
(20:17):
this guy could be able to, he should be able to,
but we never see it happen in college. Sonetti has
a I would say, a tried and true formula where
he believes in Hey, I'm gonna get the most productive guys,
I'm gonna put them on my team, and I'm gonna
find a way to make sure they continue to remain
productive because they have a chip to prove that they
can play at the next level. To me, look, I
(20:37):
can give you a hard time about the Indiana stuff
or whatever, but he is as good as it comes
when it comes to a coach, And I thought what
was interesting and excightful his feel for the room in
terms of I need to project more confidence because this
is a place that little down trod and they don't
really believe. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna
go above and beyond to make sure that the people
(20:59):
know that we're I have a lot of success here
based on my track recking and what I believe in.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
There it is and so we shall see big one
coming up against the Buckeyes. Right, everybody wondering, you know
I'm talking, and yeah, I hadn't played anybody yet, all right.
It just you know, happened to dispatch up fairly convincingly
both of the teams that played in the National Championship
last year. So just keep keep that in mind as well. Okay,
so buck guys on the twenty third and then the
(21:25):
Bucket game to close things out. But great to talk
to coach Signette. Appreciate him for his time. Appreciate all
you guys for tuning in once again here on Move
the Sticks. Maybe DJs back next week. I don't know,
we'll see maybe. But for Bucky Brooks, I'm Red Lewis.
Thanks to the Bill for putting this thing on all
week long, and we look forward to seeing
Speaker 2 (21:41):
You right back here next week.
Hosts And Creators
Daniel Jeremiah
Bucky Brooks
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