After his second-quarter touchdown catch Nov. 9 against Michigan, Indiana football junior receiver Elijah Sarratt pointed to the crowd, moving his arms in a motion that symbolized the IU trident for all who were watching.
His head coach wasn’t one of them.
While Sarratt stood in the left corner of the north endzone and received attention from fellow receivers fifth-year senior Myles Price and redshirt sophomore Omar Cooper Jr., Curt Cignetti was nearly 50 yards away, a margin growing further by the step. He finally stopped 70 yards away from where the celebration first began.
Cignetti, the Hoosiers’ first-year coach and architect of one of college football’s greatest turnarounds, has spearheaded the program’s ascent. While his stardom grows — perhaps best shown by his vast array of appearances on top television talk shows — he’s seemingly tried to embrace the darkness on the sideline.
During Indiana’s 47-10 victory at Michigan State on Nov. 2, Cignetti’s face remained stoic after the Hoosiers’ first score, which trimmed their deficit to 10-7.
When sophomore defensive back Amare Ferrell intercepted his second pass of the game with roughly five minutes to play in the second quarter, Cignetti distanced himself on the opposite 25-yard line from where Ferrell’s celebration commenced.
Junior linebacker Aiden Fisher, the Hoosiers’ leading tackler, said Cignetti’s composure speaks volumes to the team. No matter the situation, there’s no need to get too high or too low emotionally but rather finding equilibrium — an idea Cignetti has preached since his introductory press conference Dec. 1, 2023.
Sixth-year senior defensive tackle James Carpenter, who’s been with Cignetti since 2019 at James Madison University, said he’s heard the message one million times by now. It still holds validity.
“He says it, but if he does it, it means even more,” Carpenter said. “He’s always going to be cool, calm and collected, and that really helps us calm down if we’re in a little deficit.”
Perhaps Cignetti’s composure stems from trust in his team. Or maybe it’s because he’s already played the whole game through his mind each of the six days prior.
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Cignetti gets to Memorial Stadium long before Indiana’s dining halls open or campus buses start running. He wakes up at 4 a.m. and enters his office early every Sunday — around 4:30 a.m. — to review film from the game played the day before.
The 63-year-old Cignetti watches Indiana’s offense, defense and special teams — all before his coaches arrive. He holds a quick staff meeting, then re-watches each offensive play with the team’s offense.
Sometimes, he cuts out a few plays to watch with the defense, but he’s an offensive-minded coach who trusts defensive coordinator Bryant Haines to correct his unit’s flaws. Cignetti and Haines have worked together for 10 years, and Cignetti said earlier this season he doesn’t need to look over Haines’ shoulder.
While in the offensive meetings, Cignetti becomes more hands-on. His attention to detail grows apparent, fifth-year senior offensive tackle Trey Wedig said.
“With Cig, sometimes he says some really pointed things,” Wedig said. “You’re like, ‘Why are you focusing on that?’ But it makes sense sometimes.”
Once the Hoosiers depart their Sunday meetings, Cignetti and his staff move onto the next opponent. They start by watching explosive plays — runs of 12-plus yards and passes of 15-plus yards — then view anywhere from three to five games together. Thereafter, the group splits. Cignetti spends another hour or two watching a variety of other plays on tape.
Leading into the Hoosiers’ victory over Michigan State, Cignetti started his Monday morning by re-watching a few concepts on the Spartans’ defense, then viewing their previous two games on offense. He’d already seen parts of their offense while studying other opponents but took a deeper dive at the beginning of game week.
Indiana practices common down and distances on Monday — a walkthrough day — and Tuesday nights. Wednesdays are for third down, and Thursdays center around red-zone, two-point and two-minute goal line plays.
If the Hoosiers are on the road, they travel Friday. If they’re at home, they’ll go to a team hotel to ride the bus to the stadium Saturday — and win, as they’ve done in each of their first 10 games this season.
Then, Cignetti heads home, and when his head hits the pillow Saturday night, he sets his alarm for 4 a.m. Sunday, starting the process — which, by the end, includes 80 hours of film — over again.
“He definitely is a film junkie,” sophomore cornerback D’Angelo Ponds said. “He doesn’t really talk too much, but he watches a lot of film.”
Sixth-year senior quarterback Kurtis Rourke said he’s tried to improve his film watching habits for a long time. His approach hasn’t necessarily been altered by Cignetti’s tape tendencies, but the effort and time he spends doing it has.
“Knowing how much Coach Cig watches film shows how much he cares, and that makes you want to watch even more,” Rourke said. “I definitely recognize — and we all recognize — how hard he works, and it makes us want to work hard as well.”
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Cignetti worked with six of his 10 current assistant coaches at James Madison. Haines, offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan and special teams coordinator Grant Cain have spent a combined 25 years coaching under Cignetti.
With experience comes trust. Thus, Cignetti lets his coordinators handle their responsibilities while he holds more of a game management role on the sideline.
“I like to stay on top of what's going on in the game,” Cignetti said. “See what's going on in coverage defensively and also game situations — (I’m) always thinking a play or two ahead.”
If it’s third down and the Hoosiers’ defense is on the field, Cignetti will ask Cain over the headset whether he thinks Indiana should try to block or return the opponents’ punt. Cignetti then adds his own input.
He’ll switch to other channels, spending time with the offense before flipping to the defense. He wants to hear what’s happening on all three phases — a desire that often leads him to the other side of the field from where the ball is snapped.
“I'm trying to manage the game, be on top of the game, and stay out of the way, too,” Cignetti said. “But I've learned through the years game management is a critical component of being successful. To do the best job I can, that's where I feel like I'm the best, is a little bit removed, let the coaches coach.”
Game management, Cignetti said, consists in part of deciding whether to go for it on fourth down, how to handle two-minute situations, when to call the timeouts and when to be aggressive in end-of-half scenarios.
But it also includes having a pulse on his team’s attitude.
Fisher recalled a moment when Indiana’s defense started a drive on its 5-yard line, right on the edge of giving up a touchdown. Cignetti spoke to the Hoosiers’ defenders, and they responded by getting four straight stops to get the ball back to the offense.
Cignetti used a different example.
Indiana went three-and-out on its first two offensive possessions against Michigan State. Before the third, Cignetti rallied his team.
“I said, ‘Look, a lot of game left here. One play at a time. Nobody has to do anything special,’” Cignetti said. “And that's the way I operate.”
Cignetti, a Pittsburgh native, is a revolving door of viral quotes. He said Purdue, Ohio State and Michigan “suck” on his first day in Bloomington and hasn’t stopped since.
But when the cameras aren’t on him, Cignetti is reserved — until he needs to flip a switch.
“During games, he doesn’t talk much, but when he does, everybody’s listening,” Fisher said. “His words really do mean a lot when he comes in the huddle.”
Yet Cignetti, unlike his predecessors and colleagues who sell dreams with words but fail to deliver on the sideline, stays true to his word.
Now, Indiana prepares for a road trip to face No. 2 Ohio State at noon Saturday in Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. It’s perhaps the Hoosiers’ biggest game in program history but Cignetti — as he’s done throughout the year — said it’s only the most important contest because it’s the next one.
After all, any other approach would be riding the rollercoaster of emotions. And Cignetti, if nothing else, has proven he wants the Hoosiers nowhere near the proverbial amusement park.
“A lot of people will say certain things and go about their business in a different way — that's not the case with him,” Fisher said. “He walks what he talks. It's huge, especially going into games like this — there’s going to be moments where you’re low, you’re high, you’re having good plays, you’re having bad plays.”
But through the ebbs and flows of games, Indiana has found ways to stay in the middle and often distance itself from opponents. The Hoosiers, ranked No. 5 in the country and with more wins this year than the last three combined, are entering uncharted territory Saturday: the first top five matchup in program history.
Implications are large, from College Football Playoff seeding to the chance to sweep Michigan and Ohio State for the first time since 1987. But don’t tell Cignetti or any of the Hoosiers’ players.
They’re focused on film, walkthroughs and, as Cignetti said in his intro, stalking complacency.
Cignetti said he’s heard comments about the Hoosiers adopting the personality of their head coach, and he thinks it’s a good thing. Considering his resume, film habits and apparent low heart rate, few others would disagree.
“I think we have a confident team that believes,” Cignetti said, “and takes care of business.”
Follow reporters Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and columnist Jhett Garrett (@jhettgarrett) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
