'Too much inconsistency across the board' for Indiana football as Spring Game approaches

Since Curt Cignetti first took over as head coach of Indiana football over a year ago, he has stressed the importance of avoiding complacency. 

With less than a week until the spring game, Cignetti is now trying to light a new fire as his team battles inconsistency in spring camp. 

Before taking any questions Cignetti began his weekly press conference following the 10th practice of spring camp by ripping into his team’s effort. 

“I think today we squandered an opportunity to improve as much as possible,” Cignetti said. “We were inconsistent in too many areas. Probably not mentally prepared to come out and do what it takes to have a successful practice and improve as much as possible.”

With the season opener still a long way away, it can be difficult to maintain focus — and according to Cignetti, Indiana football is clearly struggling with that.

There is still plenty of time between now and the season opener in late August, but Cignetti felt they wasted an opportunity this week.

“It was too much inconsistency across the board at all positions; whether it was a lack of detail, focus, or preparation, which leads to a breakdown in execution,” Cignetti said. 

“Good players want to be coached. Great players, you can’t coach them enough, you can’t give them enough, they want more [coaching]. Inconsistent players want to be coached on their terms. And today we had too many inconsistent players.” 

Today’s press conference felt like a public wake-up call to his team as they near the end of spring camp. 

Wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. was a name Cignetti mentioned during his press conference.

“Omar Cooper’s got the ability to be an outstanding football player. He’s got to do it day in and day out,” Cignetti said. “He’s gotta get rid of the inconsistency, set higher standards for himself, and have the discipline and commitment to achieve his goals and become what he wants to be.”

After a solid season in which he had 594 receiving yards and eight total touchdowns (seven receiving), Cignetti believes he can take another step – if he puts the work in.

While he was hard on his team today, Cignetti shared that his team’s effort had been solid prior to today’s practice, but they set a standard that was not met.

“It’s a race to improve as much as you can and, up to today, I think the effort and the improvement is on track,” Cignetti said.

Since establishing his standards for Indiana football, he’s never been shy to say when they aren’t being met. It’s a big part of the reason for his success.

The culture he has built has been one of the biggest contributors to his success and calling out complacency and inconsistency have been critical to that. 

The good news for Cignetti is that there is plenty of time to fix the problems he’s witnessed on the field thus far. 

“We just didn’t have enough juice out there today. Too many coaches yelling to get going because guys weren’t [ready to practice],” Cignetti shared. 

“I am not saying every guy, but [a good number]. Up to today, I think the practices have been; they are never perfect, but effort and energy has been good.”

While he was clearly unhappy with his team’s effort, the issues seem correctable with the season still four months away. 

With so many key returners from last year’s College Football Playoff team, Cignetti will be able to rely on his veteran leaders to help reset the tone moving forward. 

Cignetti also shared his thoughts from the team’s first scrimmage last weekend during his press conference.

“I thought it was a typical first scrimmage: good competition, too many penalties, sacks, turnovers. About like every first scrimmage I have ever been around,” Cignetti shared. 

“I want to see it be cleaner on Saturday in all three phases. Cut down on the missed assignments, getting eleven guys to do what they are supposed to do consistently, play in and play, at a high level, and finish plays. Playing winning football.”

Indiana football has scheduled their second scrimmage of the spring for this Saturday and improvement will be key for his team.

There’s no other way to put it, today’s press conference was brutal. Cignetti pulled zero punches when calling out his team.

The question now is – how will his team respond moving forward?