Indiana football officially started a new era Thursday, holding its first practice under head coach Curt Cignetti, who was hired from James Madison University on Nov. 30 to replace Tom Allen.
The session lasted almost two hours inside Memorial Stadium, where temperatures stabilized around freezing. Helmets were worn, but pads weren’t. The Hoosiers went through lighter-straining reps with eyes toward ramping up, as the stop-start nature of playing football differs from traditional training.
Due to injuries, some had to watch from the sidelines, including senior outside linebacker Lanell Carr Jr., senior tight end Zac Scott, right guard Nick Kidwell, senior linebacker Jailin Walker, redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Venson Sneed Jr. and senior defensive lineman James Carpenter.
But ultimately, Cignetti said he was fairly pleased with the first day.
“You play football with pads on, and I always call it pajamas when we go out like this,” Cignetti said after practice. “I thought the flow was good today. Players tried to do the right thing. The most important thing is that we are ready to go when we run out of the tunnel for the opener.”
Cignetti has several goals for the Hoosiers across their 13 spring practices, the first of which is staying healthy. Indiana has enough depth to operate with three full teams in practice, which Cignetti said is the wish for every team.
Spring practices serve as an installation period, with the Hoosiers implementing offensive, defensive and special teams plays and formations under the new staff.
Cignetti’s emphasizing teaching the style with which he leads practices; he’s a firm believer in having practice resemble game-like settings as closely as possible. Organization and structure are the two primary components to establishing the environment, Cignetti said.
But perhaps the biggest focus Cignetti wants his team to gain from spring practice is the need to compete — regardless of who the players are or what they’ve done.
“We want to promote competition at all positions,” Cignetti said. “Everything’s earned, not given. No one has a job. Some guys have a body of work. Everything’s earned on the field. There’s no entitlement — nor can there ever be.”
Still, Indiana has defined groups early, particularly on offense.
Senior quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who transferred from Ohio University in December, was flanked by a pair of transfer running backs in senior Justice Ellison and redshirt junior Kaelon Black.
At receiver, the Hoosiers’ first-team options were seniors Donaven McCulley, E.J. Williams and Ke’Shawn Williams. Senior Zach Horton, who followed Cignetti from James Madison, was the starting tight end.
On Indiana’s offensive line, redshirt sophomore Bray Lynch replaced the expected starter at right guard in Kidwell, who’s still recovering from a lower body injury suffered last season at James Madison, while Wisconsin transfer Trey Wedig held down right tackle.
As for the second team, redshirt sophomore Tayven Jackson took snaps at quarterback as two more running backs — redshirt junior Elijah Green and senior Ty Son Lawton — rotated. Redshirt sophomore Omar Cooper Jr., junior Elijah Sarratt and senior Myles Price were the Hoosiers’ receivers.
Indiana’s highest-rated recruit, four-star Tyler Cherry, was the third-string quarterback to begin the spring.
Defensively, redshirt freshman Ta’Derius Collins was one of multiple Hoosiers in blue jerseys, indicating an injury rehabilitation. Redshirt senior defensive back Nic Toomer, who largely worked at corner and nickel last season, spent time at strong safety Thursday because of the Hoosiers’ depth at corner.
Cignetti said he’s still learning about his team’s leaders, but at the end of Indiana’s flex session, he turned to a familiar face — Black, who was a juice-bringing, attention-grabbing leader for the Dukes last season and is now tasked with showing his new teammates the way.
Despite having almost four months on the job, Cignetti needed similar guidance finding the quickest way from his office to the field. After all, knocking out the kinks is what spring practice is for — and Cignetti’s hoping to see March showers bring September flowers.
“We’ll make progress this spring,” Cignetti said. “Keep pushing forward and keep working every day to improve and improve the roster and see where we are at the end of spring, and what the roster looks like in August. Got to be light on your feet nowadays.”
Follow reporters Matt Press (@MattPress23) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and columnist Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) for updates throughout the Indiana football offseason.
