July 30, 2025 • 25 mins
Head coach Curt Cignetti always has high expectations for his team, and he's going to keep his team grounded as the 2025 Hoosier football camp opens. We hear from Cig and break down the development of QB Fernando Mendoza.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hi, you doing everybody on Ken Bikoff and welcome to
the Pigs Podcast. And once again we head into the
twenty twenty five Who's Your Football season as the year
is just getting started, and it's a lot of excitement
obviously this year compared to where we were last year.
I mean, look, expectations are high this year. There's sky
(00:31):
high this year, and understandably so. Indiana's twenty twenty fourth
season was unlike anything any of us have ever experienced before,
and talent was brought in during the offseason. Kurt Signetti
has proven that he knows what the hell he's doing
when it comes to putting together a football program, and
there's just a ton of excitement. I said over and
(00:53):
over last year on the Peaks Postgame Live, which is
we're going into our second season of that. I'm excited
about that as well, but and on the podcast, just
how it would never be better than it was last year,
and what I meant by that was that it was
house money all year, baby. I mean, we were looking
at a season that so far exceeded anything that we
(01:17):
could have imagined that, you know it, even losing to
Notre Dame in the college football playoff. Yeah, it heard
it sucked, but nobody expected in August that I you
would be there. And so as the season rolled on,
it just was was such a joy. And now this
(01:37):
year comes and you know, the one thing that really
stands out and stood out in the spring and it
stood out through you know, throughout the offseason, is that,
at least from Kurt Signetti's standpoint, you know, his expectations
haven't changed at all. This is what he is used
to doing. Who's winning a lot of games and putting
his teams in a position to be successful. And he's
(01:59):
done it time after time at place after place, and
it really feels like Indiana has just a nice combination
of what you want in a football program. One that's growing,
one that's up and coming, and there's just a ton
of excitement. To say the least, you're gonna be hearing
(02:20):
from Kurt Signetti in just a few minutes and Sig
is sig and so he sounds like like he always have.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
But the fact that he.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Really kind of brushes off trying to set expectations or
talking about outside noise or anything like that. He just
expects his guys to be ready to go, to be
locked in. He says every season is different. He's one
hundred percent correct about that. We've been here before in
(02:52):
terms of there being very high expectations and having them
crushed basically during the non conference season. Hopefully that won't
happen again. I think there is better leadership on this
team than there has been in previous years before the
sig era. I think that Signetti's hold on the program
is a lot different than maybe it was under Tom
(03:14):
Allen or or Kevin Wilson or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
It's just different.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
We've got an opportunity to go out to i u's
first practice and see the guys in action, and I've
been This is my twenty first season covering IU football.
I've been to a ton of these practices. My first
one was Terry Heppner's first one, and there's just a
feel when you have a team that is really locked in,
(03:42):
that is knows that it's coaching staff has huge demands
on them, the way they go about their work, the
attitude of everybody. Everything you know early in campus, you
know this is fun. It's hotter in hell, but it's
it's fun, and guys can go ahead and get out
there and really start to prepare for the season. It
(04:05):
gets harder in week end of week two, start of
week three before you start going towards the season. But
the bottom line on this thing is Indiana has done
the coaching staff has done a very good job of
getting guys locked in. And that's that's the one thing
that I'll say that the program. The players seem locked in.
There's not a lot of wasted movement on the field.
(04:27):
They're going from drill to drill. Guys are paying attention,
no one's messing around, and so that is encouraging to see.
I spend a lot of time at the practice just
watching Fernando Mendoza because I've been impressed with the kid
and the tape that I've seen, and all I know
is this, I've been around this for a long time.
(04:50):
I've covered the NFL, I've covered college football for a
long time, and with quarterbacks, there's just an it factor
to certain guys, especially at that quarterback position, and that
IT factor is there in spades at for Fernando Mendoza.
(05:12):
It's just really you know, you could see everything about it.
He's built like a quarterback, he's got a big arm,
his throws look a little bit different, and every single
one of his passes that I saw during during our
time watching him was right where they needed to be.
There wasn't a bad throw. Now it's camp I get it,
and so I don't want to go nuts here. I'm
(05:35):
just saying that from physical aspects to putting the ball
where it needs to be, to clearly having chemistry with
some receivers, to deep balls that were right on the
button or at the very least gave his receivers the
opportunity to catch the ball. It didn't didn't always catch
that deep ball, but that wasn't a receiver thing was.
(05:56):
It was just basically it was maybe half a step long,
but the guy got a hand on and had that opportunity.
I was really really impressed with what I saw out
of Fernando Mendoza during our time watching the practices. No,
there was no rush, you know, he wasn't being bledzed,
he hadn't been knocked on his ass yet. But I
(06:17):
really like everything that I saw from that kid, and
I'm really excited to see what he looks like when
the season starts. Offensive line was very locked in, working hard.
It was great to see them them out there. You
don't pick up a ton from the practice times that
we saw outside of a little bit of things of
(06:39):
you know, some footwork, some hand placement, how guys physically look.
And again from the quarterback position, you could see where
balls are being thrown and I was impressed. So it's
a limited sample and I fully understand that, but I
liked what I saw from Fernando Mendoz. I'm really excited
(07:01):
to see what we do what we see from him
this year. All of this coming off of what happened
last year, has me excited because I just really feel
that Seg isn't going to let his team kind of
get a big head. He's not going to let them
get over confident. He's going to make sure that leadership
(07:23):
is where it needs to be. And I'm not saying
we're going back to the college football playoffs. You need
a lot to go right between now and then. But boy,
there's plenty of hope. There plenty of hope for another
really really successful season, and being able to stack really
(07:45):
successful seasons would be absolutely incredible for this ball club,
absolutely incredible, and I'm hopeful we'll see as the time
goes on. We got months and months to talk about this,
and I'm really excited about it again, the same that
I'm excited about the season two of the Peaks. Postgame Live,
I'll be doing that again from the Memorial Stadium parking
(08:05):
lot after the game. Watch it on YouTube. It'll go up.
I take your calls on that. We're going to talk
about that a lot more as time goes on. I'm
trying to improve my equipment to give me better connections,
better pictures, everything that goes along with it. It's a
constant effort to improve. That's what it needs to be,
(08:28):
and I cannot wait to hear your thoughts and comments
and everything that goes along with it when that time comes.
For right now, I'm going to bring you Kurt Signetti's
full press conference with the media after the workout on Wednesday.
(08:48):
Sega is great at saying nothing sometimes, and I mean
he recognized it's the first day at camp too, but
I was really happy to hear just kind of his
tone and everything when it comes to talking about this
year versus last year and everything that goes along with it.
He isn't always a quote machine, but it's got his moments.
(09:09):
So without any further ado, here's Kurt Signetti during his
first meeting with the media of the twenty twenty five
Who's your Football season?
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Okay, practice one in the books, it was hot and
it was humid, so but I thought the older guys,
experienced guys pushed through it. Well, the team in general
did push through it. Well, we got our work done,
took a business like approach. Haven't watched it tape yet.
We'll do that after this press conference with staff. But
(09:39):
it's good to be back and good to get gone.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Yeah, Kurt, you mentioned having those veterans. When you have
so much continuity on the coaching staff and you bring
back key guys kind of across the roster, does that
eliminate some uncertainty you might otherwise have going into fall camp. Well,
kind of the team or the roster at all.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Well, you know, I think the staff we know what
to expect from one another.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
The experienced guys that we have a long history with
the same Uh. To bring in experienced guys from other programs,
UH is good.
Speaker 5 (10:12):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
We just have to assimilate them into our way of
doing things, which we began doing last January. And Uh,
but you know you're as good as you are today.
Speaker 6 (10:24):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
You know your resume, your body of work in the
past is a sort of an indicator, a predictor what
what what the team is capable of doing or the staff.
But you got to put the work in. You got
to find the edge every day.
Speaker 7 (10:42):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
It's that kind of business where the margin fair is
very slim. Uh And uh, that's what makes it such
a great game and such a great profession.
Speaker 7 (10:52):
Challenging, Kurt, I recognize some of this probably you only
find out with experience, But this is the start of
kind of only having one hundred and five more walk Ons,
which I imagine allows you to do a little bit
more in terms of the way you plan scout team
and things like that. And of course you've also had
success with guys like James Carpenter that joined his walk
Ons and wound up becoming really important players. Just what
(11:15):
are the differences maybe in the way you plan around
how you manage your roster in a preseason if you
don't have the compliment you.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Are I've always been a small roster guy. I don't
think we've ever had one hundred and ten guys on
a roster, and most years we've been at or below
one hundred and five so really it's business as usual.
You know what I'm I don't like a huge support staff,
(11:45):
coaching staff. You know, I don't like a real big team,
one hundred and thirty guys. You know, I want everybody
in the organization, on the football team to have a role.
And there were a kind of people, you know, because
everybody affects somebody else positively or negatively. So for us,
(12:09):
it's business as usual. In the size of our roster
really is no different than it's been most years, probably
a little bigger. I mean, there are number of years
I've been in the nineties.
Speaker 8 (12:23):
That, right, hey, coach, get a couple of linemen out
there that we're obviously missus bringing Benson and Evans. It's
just one day in, but just your thoughts on how
they looked out there getting back in the groove of things,
and your your confidence level in the depth that you
guys have built on the old line.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Yeah, well, until I watch the tape, I can't really say.
And we're also practicing without pads, so you know, give
us three or four days. But it's good to have
both those guys back that played successful football. Gives us
more depth. I'm very high on the potential of our
offensive line. And Bob Boastead does a great job of
coaching those guys, tough, old school guy, and uh, you know,
(13:00):
I think, I think we've got a chance to be
good coach.
Speaker 9 (13:05):
What are the differences in challenges from a year one
like last year to a year or two of a program?
What becomes I don't want to say easier, but more routine.
And then what new challenges do you have to see
to make sure you guys are improving well?
Speaker 2 (13:21):
To me, every year you got to start over, regardless
of what how long your tenure has been or what
your record was the previous year, you always start at
ground zero and build it from the foundation up. So
the expectation level, you know, on the outside, some of
(13:43):
the noise is a little different. But I think, uh,
you know, one of the things we really got to
do a great job on is staying focused on the
things that affect positive development individually and collectively and kind
of block all the other stuff up. Uh. You know,
it's a great game. Uh, it's entertainment. Uh, but you know,
(14:09):
I think taking a businesslike approach, checking your ego at
the door when you enter the building, Uh, being totally
focused being where your feet are, Controlling the controllables is
the key to the drill. And like I've said before,
you know the seasons of marathon. It's not a sprint,
and you gotta be a handle of success, failure, overcome obstacles,
(14:33):
and you have to do that during the game too.
Good plays bad place. You gotta be able to compartmentalize,
rip off the rear view, mirror play the next play.
So uh, you know, I to me, it's more of
the same and different.
Speaker 10 (14:50):
Kurt.
Speaker 5 (14:51):
This is only day one, but we're only four weeks
away from game one. Uh what do you guys have
to do every day to get to the point where
you want to be with this short time frame.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
I think we have to have a great sense of urgency,
of great focus and maximize our opportunities across the board,
and you know, really develop these guys, identify roles who
can do what, build depth, promote competition, and then get
ready to play the opener against Old Dominion. You know,
a sun Belt team that we're familiar with from JMU.
(15:27):
And you know I addressed Old Dominion in the team
meeting the first team meeting, because these Sun Belt teams
are very capable they have a history of knocking off
P four or in the past they were called FBS teams.
I mean we beat Virginia Marshall beat Notre Dame, at State,
beat A and M Louisiana beat Mississippi State, and on
(15:51):
and on and on. They're good teams. And when you
play the me emarily in the year, when they're healthy
and they're at full of strength, they're especially dangerous. Throw
in the first game. Uncertainly, the first game, what's changed,
what's different from last year? So we got to be
ready to go and but we will be.
Speaker 6 (16:11):
Yeah, coach, just continuing on that with the old dominion
and the early nonconference games, like, what's your message to
the fan base to kind of generate more enthusiasm about
those early games.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Well, I just addressed old to me. I'm not worried
about anybody else. My focus is on camp developing this
football team. But you know, we are twenty practices away
from the opener, which creates a sense of urgency to
get a lot done in a short of mile time.
With an ion Odu, I really don't have an eye
(16:44):
on anybody else. I mean, you know, we did our
opponents scout in the spring and the off season. You know,
I expect us to sell out. I know one of
those games is Friday night games. It's a little tougher
to get to staying for some people on a Friday night.
But we created a lot of excitement around here and
(17:05):
I expect us to have great crowds. And but the
focus right now is, you know, getting in the room
with the coaches, watching a practice tape, evaluating who did what,
how we did, putting tomorrow's practice together, installation, and having
a great practice tomorrow, all leading towards running out of
(17:29):
tunnel for the first game.
Speaker 6 (17:33):
Yeah, you're receiving corps, really good players coming back, preseason accolades.
On paper, looks really good. What are the key things
for Dratt, Cooper and the whole group to do to
go from really good to maybe, you know, moving in
toward that elite territory.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Well, I think they've got a number one commit and
have the discipline to achieve their goals and understand that
you can't rest on your laurels. It just doesn't happen
on its own. Because you know, I always talk about
that margin for the difference between winning and losing and
(18:08):
how small it is, and every day. You've got to
relentlessly pursue the edge. What gives you the edge and discipline,
commitment and work ethic, purposeful preparation create an edge. And
that's what we need from those guys and all the
(18:30):
other key guys that they're gonna be playing a lot
of football for us. Daniel roll Hardy was a pretty
late ad last year.
Speaker 10 (18:37):
When it seems like May twenty four, when did he
kind of land on your radar and just how how
much where did he grow?
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Last year? Coach Hains found him, evaluated him. I believe
we brought him in for a late spring or early
summer visit, and after the Northwestern game, which was in
the middle of the season, he became the third linebacker
(19:06):
in our trio package, which we use against two tight
ends twelve personnel, and he's got a great future.
Speaker 5 (19:14):
Coach you mentioned in Vegas about Jamari Sharp positioning himself
the start opposite of D'Angelo Ponds.
Speaker 7 (19:19):
What has he shown you.
Speaker 8 (19:20):
In the spring and then at the end of last
season that has put him in position to be that well.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
I think he's grown up a lot and he's improved
as a football player. Now he's got a couple of
guys breathing down his neck that you know, have a
chance to be good players too. So we've got good
competition at that field corner spot.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
Oh, how has your life changed in Indiana from a
year ago when you got here, not that many people
knew much about you? And now can you even walk
down the street without being recognized or applauded.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
So to speak? Yeah, well, yeah, we did go through
that phase. You know, gas at five am and two
or three selfies five am, people waiting for you side
the office when you leave. Uh, so that's all part
of being successful. I understand. I've been grew up in
this business and been in it a long time that
you don't you don't meet expectations and uh, you don't
(20:13):
do as well as you would like that things can
turn real fast the other way. But I think what's
changed the most, besides the familiarity with all the people
in town and it's great town, great college town, is
everything in my houseworks now.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
You know.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
We bought a house from a guy named Tom Martin
who was great friends with Bobby Knight and had a
lot of toys in it. And it took my wife
about a year to get everything to work and not
that he neglected because he didn't. Uh and uh so.
But we've got a lot of new faces on the
football team too. That's changed. But I think that's most
(20:54):
people across the country now.
Speaker 10 (20:59):
Yeah, coach over here with Pat Coogan. What was it
that the really intrigued you about him to have him
come here? And then has the center position? How much
has it evolved over the years? Maybe more responsibilities, more
to do?
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Yeah, well, you know, Pat started at Notre Dame, a
great program, played a lot of football for them. Was
an older guy, was looking for a home. I had
a girlfriend that went to school here. We're looking for
a center Mike Cada could graduate. It's perfect fit and
I'm sir glad we got him, and I think he's
going to be a great leader for us. I think
(21:34):
the center position, like most the other positions on the
football team, have evolved quite a bit as technology has
improved and the game has become more sophisticated. You know,
I think offense, defense, special teams are more complex than
they used to be. But the learning tools and the
(21:54):
teaching tools available to the student athletes have improved also,
so their ability to learn faster, quicker, and more has
changed as the game has changed.
Speaker 8 (22:09):
Coach, you talk about avoiding complacency time and time again
twenty practices.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
How do you avoid that from day and day in
and day out. Well, right now, you know, we're looking
for consistency and performance. A lot of the older guys
have been through it. Some of the guys went through
last season, and some of the older guys that are
projected to start joined us in January and had a
taste of it in the spring, so they're still learning too.
(22:35):
But what you're looking for is consistency and performance individually
and collectively day in day out. You want to stay
on that kind of a trajectory and keep improving. You know,
every play, every drill, every day, and you know, when
you get eleven guys doing their job the way you
want them to do it and teach our brand the ball,
(22:59):
you know, there's really no miss on what you can accomplish.
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Well that was sig from the team room right there,
and again it's hot. Nobody's missed a block, nobody has
missed a throw, nobody's dropped a pass, nobody has uh
missed a tackle. So there's there's all the reason in
the world for there to be a ton of excitement.
But this season brings higher expectations than we've seen in
(23:26):
a long time, and it'll be up to the players
to try to make sure that they could reach those expectations. Certainly,
sig has set the bar of what this program can be.
Doesn't want to hear any kind of excuses. There are resources,
there is talent, everything that goes along with it, and
you have basically an established program. Now it's only year two,
(23:52):
but the whole world saw what is possible with Signett's Hoosiers.
He kept the vast majority of his coaching staff. And
if you're excited for this season, you have every reason
to be, every reason to be. And that old Dominion
game that's coming up, first game of the year, I'm
fully expecting that to be packed with people and really
(24:14):
build an atmosphere for IU football. And it's you know,
the key is that you gotta go out there in
the field and do it. You gotta gotta score the
wins and win and do it in a way that
makes people believe that last year wasn't a one off.
So there still is, you know, plenty of pressure on
the Hoosiers. They have to perform but this is a
(24:37):
season I think that is a little bit different than
what we've seen in the past. Higher expectations, bare minimum.
I think of what people are looking at would be
your six wins in a bowl. But that is what
the standard, That's what Kurtzignetti wants. He wants that to
be the bare minimum. That's what he expects every single Saturday,
(24:57):
and he expects his Hoosiers to expect to win when
they go on the field. I'm excited to see what happens.
We've got a lot of camp left. Be sure to
check out peaks dot com for all the great coverage
you're gonna get from Jared Kelly and Matt Weaver and
Jeff rab John's as we go through camp. But it's
an exciting year and really looking forward to seeing how
(25:18):
it all plays out. What's all the time we have
this week on the Peaks podcast. I want to thank
you for listening. I wonder remind you of visit peaks
dot com for the very best and IU football and
basketball coverage you're gonna find anywhere. Nobody covers who's you're
recruiting better than Jeff rab John's, Matt Weaver, Trevor Andrews
Shock and Jared Kelly. So come be a part of
a thriving and exciting community at pigs dot com. Folks,
you are not going to be disappointed. Folks are out
(25:41):
of time, But for now ever, Jeff, Matt, Trevor and Jared,
I'm ken Bikoff saying thanks for listening. Everybody,
Hi, you doing everybody on Ken Bikoff and welcome to
the Pigs Podcast. And once again we head into the
twenty twenty five Who's Your Football season as the year
is just getting started, and it's a lot of excitement
obviously this year compared to where we were last year.
I mean, look, expectations are high this year. There's sky
(00:31):
high this year, and understandably so. Indiana's twenty twenty fourth
season was unlike anything any of us have ever experienced before,
and talent was brought in during the offseason. Kurt Signetti
has proven that he knows what the hell he's doing
when it comes to putting together a football program, and
there's just a ton of excitement. I said over and
(00:53):
over last year on the Peaks Postgame Live, which is
we're going into our second season of that. I'm excited
about that as well, but and on the podcast, just
how it would never be better than it was last year,
and what I meant by that was that it was
house money all year, baby. I mean, we were looking
at a season that so far exceeded anything that we
(01:17):
could have imagined that, you know it, even losing to
Notre Dame in the college football playoff. Yeah, it heard
it sucked, but nobody expected in August that I you
would be there. And so as the season rolled on,
it just was was such a joy. And now this
(01:37):
year comes and you know, the one thing that really
stands out and stood out in the spring and it
stood out through you know, throughout the offseason, is that,
at least from Kurt Signetti's standpoint, you know, his expectations
haven't changed at all. This is what he is used
to doing. Who's winning a lot of games and putting
his teams in a position to be successful. And he's
(01:59):
done it time after time at place after place, and
it really feels like Indiana has just a nice combination
of what you want in a football program. One that's growing,
one that's up and coming, and there's just a ton
of excitement. To say the least, you're gonna be hearing
(02:20):
from Kurt Signetti in just a few minutes and Sig
is sig and so he sounds like like he always have.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
But the fact that he.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Really kind of brushes off trying to set expectations or
talking about outside noise or anything like that. He just
expects his guys to be ready to go, to be
locked in. He says every season is different. He's one
hundred percent correct about that. We've been here before in
(02:52):
terms of there being very high expectations and having them
crushed basically during the non conference season. Hopefully that won't
happen again. I think there is better leadership on this
team than there has been in previous years before the
sig era. I think that Signetti's hold on the program
is a lot different than maybe it was under Tom
(03:14):
Allen or or Kevin Wilson or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
It's just different.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
We've got an opportunity to go out to i u's
first practice and see the guys in action, and I've
been This is my twenty first season covering IU football.
I've been to a ton of these practices. My first
one was Terry Heppner's first one, and there's just a
feel when you have a team that is really locked in,
(03:42):
that is knows that it's coaching staff has huge demands
on them, the way they go about their work, the
attitude of everybody. Everything you know early in campus, you
know this is fun. It's hotter in hell, but it's
it's fun, and guys can go ahead and get out
there and really start to prepare for the season. It
(04:05):
gets harder in week end of week two, start of
week three before you start going towards the season. But
the bottom line on this thing is Indiana has done
the coaching staff has done a very good job of
getting guys locked in. And that's that's the one thing
that I'll say that the program. The players seem locked in.
There's not a lot of wasted movement on the field.
(04:27):
They're going from drill to drill. Guys are paying attention,
no one's messing around, and so that is encouraging to see.
I spend a lot of time at the practice just
watching Fernando Mendoza because I've been impressed with the kid
and the tape that I've seen, and all I know
is this, I've been around this for a long time.
(04:50):
I've covered the NFL, I've covered college football for a
long time, and with quarterbacks, there's just an it factor
to certain guys, especially at that quarterback position, and that
IT factor is there in spades at for Fernando Mendoza.
(05:12):
It's just really you know, you could see everything about it.
He's built like a quarterback, he's got a big arm,
his throws look a little bit different, and every single
one of his passes that I saw during during our
time watching him was right where they needed to be.
There wasn't a bad throw. Now it's camp I get it,
and so I don't want to go nuts here. I'm
(05:35):
just saying that from physical aspects to putting the ball
where it needs to be, to clearly having chemistry with
some receivers, to deep balls that were right on the
button or at the very least gave his receivers the
opportunity to catch the ball. It didn't didn't always catch
that deep ball, but that wasn't a receiver thing was.
(05:56):
It was just basically it was maybe half a step long,
but the guy got a hand on and had that opportunity.
I was really really impressed with what I saw out
of Fernando Mendoza during our time watching the practices. No,
there was no rush, you know, he wasn't being bledzed,
he hadn't been knocked on his ass yet. But I
(06:17):
really like everything that I saw from that kid, and
I'm really excited to see what he looks like when
the season starts. Offensive line was very locked in, working hard.
It was great to see them them out there. You
don't pick up a ton from the practice times that
we saw outside of a little bit of things of
(06:39):
you know, some footwork, some hand placement, how guys physically look.
And again from the quarterback position, you could see where
balls are being thrown and I was impressed. So it's
a limited sample and I fully understand that, but I
liked what I saw from Fernando Mendoz. I'm really excited
(07:01):
to see what we do what we see from him
this year. All of this coming off of what happened
last year, has me excited because I just really feel
that Seg isn't going to let his team kind of
get a big head. He's not going to let them
get over confident. He's going to make sure that leadership
(07:23):
is where it needs to be. And I'm not saying
we're going back to the college football playoffs. You need
a lot to go right between now and then. But boy,
there's plenty of hope. There plenty of hope for another
really really successful season, and being able to stack really
(07:45):
successful seasons would be absolutely incredible for this ball club,
absolutely incredible, and I'm hopeful we'll see as the time
goes on. We got months and months to talk about this,
and I'm really excited about it again, the same that
I'm excited about the season two of the Peaks. Postgame Live,
I'll be doing that again from the Memorial Stadium parking
(08:05):
lot after the game. Watch it on YouTube. It'll go up.
I take your calls on that. We're going to talk
about that a lot more as time goes on. I'm
trying to improve my equipment to give me better connections,
better pictures, everything that goes along with it. It's a
constant effort to improve. That's what it needs to be,
(08:28):
and I cannot wait to hear your thoughts and comments
and everything that goes along with it when that time comes.
For right now, I'm going to bring you Kurt Signetti's
full press conference with the media after the workout on Wednesday.
(08:48):
Sega is great at saying nothing sometimes, and I mean
he recognized it's the first day at camp too, but
I was really happy to hear just kind of his
tone and everything when it comes to talking about this
year versus last year and everything that goes along with it.
He isn't always a quote machine, but it's got his moments.
(09:09):
So without any further ado, here's Kurt Signetti during his
first meeting with the media of the twenty twenty five
Who's your Football season?
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Okay, practice one in the books, it was hot and
it was humid, so but I thought the older guys,
experienced guys pushed through it. Well, the team in general
did push through it. Well, we got our work done,
took a business like approach. Haven't watched it tape yet.
We'll do that after this press conference with staff. But
(09:39):
it's good to be back and good to get gone.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Yeah, Kurt, you mentioned having those veterans. When you have
so much continuity on the coaching staff and you bring
back key guys kind of across the roster, does that
eliminate some uncertainty you might otherwise have going into fall camp. Well,
kind of the team or the roster at all.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Well, you know, I think the staff we know what
to expect from one another.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
The experienced guys that we have a long history with
the same Uh. To bring in experienced guys from other programs,
UH is good.
Speaker 5 (10:12):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
We just have to assimilate them into our way of
doing things, which we began doing last January. And Uh,
but you know you're as good as you are today.
Speaker 6 (10:24):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
You know your resume, your body of work in the
past is a sort of an indicator, a predictor what
what what the team is capable of doing or the staff.
But you got to put the work in. You got
to find the edge every day.
Speaker 7 (10:42):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
It's that kind of business where the margin fair is
very slim. Uh And uh, that's what makes it such
a great game and such a great profession.
Speaker 7 (10:52):
Challenging, Kurt, I recognize some of this probably you only
find out with experience, But this is the start of
kind of only having one hundred and five more walk Ons,
which I imagine allows you to do a little bit
more in terms of the way you plan scout team
and things like that. And of course you've also had
success with guys like James Carpenter that joined his walk
Ons and wound up becoming really important players. Just what
(11:15):
are the differences maybe in the way you plan around
how you manage your roster in a preseason if you
don't have the compliment you.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Are I've always been a small roster guy. I don't
think we've ever had one hundred and ten guys on
a roster, and most years we've been at or below
one hundred and five so really it's business as usual.
You know what I'm I don't like a huge support staff,
(11:45):
coaching staff. You know, I don't like a real big team,
one hundred and thirty guys. You know, I want everybody
in the organization, on the football team to have a role.
And there were a kind of people, you know, because
everybody affects somebody else positively or negatively. So for us,
(12:09):
it's business as usual. In the size of our roster
really is no different than it's been most years, probably
a little bigger. I mean, there are number of years
I've been in the nineties.
Speaker 8 (12:23):
That, right, hey, coach, get a couple of linemen out
there that we're obviously missus bringing Benson and Evans. It's
just one day in, but just your thoughts on how
they looked out there getting back in the groove of things,
and your your confidence level in the depth that you
guys have built on the old line.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Yeah, well, until I watch the tape, I can't really say.
And we're also practicing without pads, so you know, give
us three or four days. But it's good to have
both those guys back that played successful football. Gives us
more depth. I'm very high on the potential of our
offensive line. And Bob Boastead does a great job of
coaching those guys, tough, old school guy, and uh, you know,
(13:00):
I think, I think we've got a chance to be
good coach.
Speaker 9 (13:05):
What are the differences in challenges from a year one
like last year to a year or two of a program?
What becomes I don't want to say easier, but more routine.
And then what new challenges do you have to see
to make sure you guys are improving well?
Speaker 2 (13:21):
To me, every year you got to start over, regardless
of what how long your tenure has been or what
your record was the previous year, you always start at
ground zero and build it from the foundation up. So
the expectation level, you know, on the outside, some of
(13:43):
the noise is a little different. But I think, uh,
you know, one of the things we really got to
do a great job on is staying focused on the
things that affect positive development individually and collectively and kind
of block all the other stuff up. Uh. You know,
it's a great game. Uh, it's entertainment. Uh, but you know,
(14:09):
I think taking a businesslike approach, checking your ego at
the door when you enter the building, Uh, being totally
focused being where your feet are, Controlling the controllables is
the key to the drill. And like I've said before,
you know the seasons of marathon. It's not a sprint,
and you gotta be a handle of success, failure, overcome obstacles,
(14:33):
and you have to do that during the game too.
Good plays bad place. You gotta be able to compartmentalize,
rip off the rear view, mirror play the next play.
So uh, you know, I to me, it's more of
the same and different.
Speaker 10 (14:50):
Kurt.
Speaker 5 (14:51):
This is only day one, but we're only four weeks
away from game one. Uh what do you guys have
to do every day to get to the point where
you want to be with this short time frame.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
I think we have to have a great sense of urgency,
of great focus and maximize our opportunities across the board,
and you know, really develop these guys, identify roles who
can do what, build depth, promote competition, and then get
ready to play the opener against Old Dominion. You know,
a sun Belt team that we're familiar with from JMU.
(15:27):
And you know I addressed Old Dominion in the team
meeting the first team meeting, because these Sun Belt teams
are very capable they have a history of knocking off
P four or in the past they were called FBS teams.
I mean we beat Virginia Marshall beat Notre Dame, at State,
beat A and M Louisiana beat Mississippi State, and on
(15:51):
and on and on. They're good teams. And when you
play the me emarily in the year, when they're healthy
and they're at full of strength, they're especially dangerous. Throw
in the first game. Uncertainly, the first game, what's changed,
what's different from last year? So we got to be
ready to go and but we will be.
Speaker 6 (16:11):
Yeah, coach, just continuing on that with the old dominion
and the early nonconference games, like, what's your message to
the fan base to kind of generate more enthusiasm about
those early games.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Well, I just addressed old to me. I'm not worried
about anybody else. My focus is on camp developing this
football team. But you know, we are twenty practices away
from the opener, which creates a sense of urgency to
get a lot done in a short of mile time.
With an ion Odu, I really don't have an eye
(16:44):
on anybody else. I mean, you know, we did our
opponents scout in the spring and the off season. You know,
I expect us to sell out. I know one of
those games is Friday night games. It's a little tougher
to get to staying for some people on a Friday night.
But we created a lot of excitement around here and
(17:05):
I expect us to have great crowds. And but the
focus right now is, you know, getting in the room
with the coaches, watching a practice tape, evaluating who did what,
how we did, putting tomorrow's practice together, installation, and having
a great practice tomorrow, all leading towards running out of
(17:29):
tunnel for the first game.
Speaker 6 (17:33):
Yeah, you're receiving corps, really good players coming back, preseason accolades.
On paper, looks really good. What are the key things
for Dratt, Cooper and the whole group to do to
go from really good to maybe, you know, moving in
toward that elite territory.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Well, I think they've got a number one commit and
have the discipline to achieve their goals and understand that
you can't rest on your laurels. It just doesn't happen
on its own. Because you know, I always talk about
that margin for the difference between winning and losing and
(18:08):
how small it is, and every day. You've got to
relentlessly pursue the edge. What gives you the edge and discipline,
commitment and work ethic, purposeful preparation create an edge. And
that's what we need from those guys and all the
(18:30):
other key guys that they're gonna be playing a lot
of football for us. Daniel roll Hardy was a pretty
late ad last year.
Speaker 10 (18:37):
When it seems like May twenty four, when did he
kind of land on your radar and just how how
much where did he grow?
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Last year? Coach Hains found him, evaluated him. I believe
we brought him in for a late spring or early
summer visit, and after the Northwestern game, which was in
the middle of the season, he became the third linebacker
(19:06):
in our trio package, which we use against two tight
ends twelve personnel, and he's got a great future.
Speaker 5 (19:14):
Coach you mentioned in Vegas about Jamari Sharp positioning himself
the start opposite of D'Angelo Ponds.
Speaker 7 (19:19):
What has he shown you.
Speaker 8 (19:20):
In the spring and then at the end of last
season that has put him in position to be that well.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
I think he's grown up a lot and he's improved
as a football player. Now he's got a couple of
guys breathing down his neck that you know, have a
chance to be good players too. So we've got good
competition at that field corner spot.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
Oh, how has your life changed in Indiana from a
year ago when you got here, not that many people
knew much about you? And now can you even walk
down the street without being recognized or applauded.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
So to speak? Yeah, well, yeah, we did go through
that phase. You know, gas at five am and two
or three selfies five am, people waiting for you side
the office when you leave. Uh, so that's all part
of being successful. I understand. I've been grew up in
this business and been in it a long time that
you don't you don't meet expectations and uh, you don't
(20:13):
do as well as you would like that things can
turn real fast the other way. But I think what's
changed the most, besides the familiarity with all the people
in town and it's great town, great college town, is
everything in my houseworks now.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
You know.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
We bought a house from a guy named Tom Martin
who was great friends with Bobby Knight and had a
lot of toys in it. And it took my wife
about a year to get everything to work and not
that he neglected because he didn't. Uh and uh so.
But we've got a lot of new faces on the
football team too. That's changed. But I think that's most
(20:54):
people across the country now.
Speaker 10 (20:59):
Yeah, coach over here with Pat Coogan. What was it
that the really intrigued you about him to have him
come here? And then has the center position? How much
has it evolved over the years? Maybe more responsibilities, more
to do?
Speaker 2 (21:12):
Yeah, well, you know, Pat started at Notre Dame, a
great program, played a lot of football for them. Was
an older guy, was looking for a home. I had
a girlfriend that went to school here. We're looking for
a center Mike Cada could graduate. It's perfect fit and
I'm sir glad we got him, and I think he's
going to be a great leader for us. I think
(21:34):
the center position, like most the other positions on the
football team, have evolved quite a bit as technology has
improved and the game has become more sophisticated. You know,
I think offense, defense, special teams are more complex than
they used to be. But the learning tools and the
(21:54):
teaching tools available to the student athletes have improved also,
so their ability to learn faster, quicker, and more has
changed as the game has changed.
Speaker 8 (22:09):
Coach, you talk about avoiding complacency time and time again
twenty practices.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
How do you avoid that from day and day in
and day out. Well, right now, you know, we're looking
for consistency and performance. A lot of the older guys
have been through it. Some of the guys went through
last season, and some of the older guys that are
projected to start joined us in January and had a
taste of it in the spring, so they're still learning too.
(22:35):
But what you're looking for is consistency and performance individually
and collectively day in day out. You want to stay
on that kind of a trajectory and keep improving. You know,
every play, every drill, every day, and you know, when
you get eleven guys doing their job the way you
want them to do it and teach our brand the ball,
(22:59):
you know, there's really no miss on what you can accomplish.
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Well that was sig from the team room right there,
and again it's hot. Nobody's missed a block, nobody has
missed a throw, nobody's dropped a pass, nobody has uh
missed a tackle. So there's there's all the reason in
the world for there to be a ton of excitement.
But this season brings higher expectations than we've seen in
(23:26):
a long time, and it'll be up to the players
to try to make sure that they could reach those expectations. Certainly,
sig has set the bar of what this program can be.
Doesn't want to hear any kind of excuses. There are resources,
there is talent, everything that goes along with it, and
you have basically an established program. Now it's only year two,
(23:52):
but the whole world saw what is possible with Signett's Hoosiers.
He kept the vast majority of his coaching staff. And
if you're excited for this season, you have every reason
to be, every reason to be. And that old Dominion
game that's coming up, first game of the year, I'm
fully expecting that to be packed with people and really
(24:14):
build an atmosphere for IU football. And it's you know,
the key is that you gotta go out there in
the field and do it. You gotta gotta score the
wins and win and do it in a way that
makes people believe that last year wasn't a one off.
So there still is, you know, plenty of pressure on
the Hoosiers. They have to perform but this is a
(24:37):
season I think that is a little bit different than
what we've seen in the past. Higher expectations, bare minimum.
I think of what people are looking at would be
your six wins in a bowl. But that is what
the standard, That's what Kurtzignetti wants. He wants that to
be the bare minimum. That's what he expects every single Saturday,
(24:57):
and he expects his Hoosiers to expect to win when
they go on the field. I'm excited to see what happens.
We've got a lot of camp left. Be sure to
check out peaks dot com for all the great coverage
you're gonna get from Jared Kelly and Matt Weaver and
Jeff rab John's as we go through camp. But it's
an exciting year and really looking forward to seeing how
(25:18):
it all plays out. What's all the time we have
this week on the Peaks podcast. I want to thank
you for listening. I wonder remind you of visit peaks
dot com for the very best and IU football and
basketball coverage you're gonna find anywhere. Nobody covers who's you're
recruiting better than Jeff rab John's, Matt Weaver, Trevor Andrews
Shock and Jared Kelly. So come be a part of
a thriving and exciting community at pigs dot com. Folks,
you are not going to be disappointed. Folks are out
(25:41):
of time, But for now ever, Jeff, Matt, Trevor and Jared,
I'm ken Bikoff saying thanks for listening. Everybody,
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