New Coach Curt Cignetti, Indiana Begin Spring Football Practice Thursday

The Indiana football program, led by new head coach Curt Cignetti and a slew of new Hoosiers, began spring practice Thursday. Cignetti sees the next month as a time for teaching, development and competition.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Almost everything is new around the Indiana football program. New head coach Curt Cignetti just learned today the fastest way to get from his office to the Memorial Stadium turf, he said after the Hoosiers first spring practice Thursday.

Indiana will have 13 spring practices, culminating with the spring game on April 18 at 8 p.m. ET at Memorial Stadium, then 22 or 23 fall practices. The real games begin for the Hoosiers on Aug. 31 against Florida International at Memorial Stadium, time to be announced later.

Until then, Cignetti is focused on building the pillars of his program this spring, and that starts with promoting competition at every position. Indiana landed Ohio transfer quarterback Kurtis Rourke this offseason, who has a major leg up on redshirt sophomore Tayven Jackson and true freshman Tyler Cherry from an experience and production standpoint. Rourke took first-team reps Thursday, followed by Jackson with the second team and Cherry with the third team. But Cignetti won't simply hand Rourke the starting job.

"Everything is earned, not given," Cignetti said. "And no one has a job."

Without wins and losses, Cignetti measures success in the spring by keeping the team healthy and installing Indiana's offense, defense and special teams. 

Cignetti also strives to teach the way he wants to practice, which should emulate a game, develop players and figure out who can do what. Though Indiana wasn't in full pads Thursday, just "pajamas," Cignetti called it, he was fairly pleased with the flow of the first spring practice, which spanned about an hour and 55 minutes.

Indiana lost starting defensive tackle Philip Blidi to the transfer portal on Monday, an unexpected move from Cignetti's perspective. Indiana is also dealing with injuries to right guard Nick Kidwell, defensive lineman James Carpenter, linebacker Jailin Walker, and defensive ends Lanell Carr and Venson Sneed, which has left the defense a bit thin for spring practice. 

Cignetti said Indiana still had enough bodies on both sides to go three teams deep Thursday, but he also tried some new things. Nic Toomer, who played cornerback for the Hoosiers last season, took reps at strong safety. Indiana lost starting safeties Phillip Dunnam and Louis Moore to the transfer portal but returned several starting cornerbacks.

The transfer portal opens up again from April 16 to 30, and that means further recruiting, roster retention and developmental focus for Cignetti.

"[Blidi] did what he did," Cignetti said. "That is all I am going to say about that, and we will keep it to our guys."

"Have to be light on your feet around here, to be a Power 5 or any kind FBS or any kind of college football coach now a days, because it is crazy."

Part of the spring will be spent getting a new-look roster acquainted with each other. Roster turnover is common at every program, as players have the ability to transfer without sitting a year. But it's especially prevalent at programs like Indiana that are going through coaching changes. Indiana fired Tom Allen following a 3-9 season in 2023 and hired Cignetti, who replaced the entire coaching staff aside from offensive line coach Bob Bostad.

Of 110 players listed on Indiana's spring roster, including walk-ons, 51 have played at a different college at some point in their careers. Following the 2023 season, 24 players left Indiana for the transfer portal This offseason alone, Cignetti added 22 players from the transfer portal and brought in a 17-man freshman class, though only seven freshmen left high school to enroll early for spring practice.

Indiana lost all five captains from last season, leaving somewhat of a leadership void. Filling that leadership role Thursday was Kaelon Black, a running back transfer from James Madison, but Cignetti expects these roles to evolve as the spring goes on.

"[Black] talked one time last year and had a lot of juice," Cignetti said. "We want that guy to kind of grab everyone's attention."

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