On the wall outside of the team meeting room in the north endzone complex of Memorial Stadium sit empty plaques — one for each regular season and potential postseason game of the 2025 Indiana football season with each holding four empty spots for players of the game. A hundred yards north of that wall, sweat was dripping, whistles were blowing, and steps were being taken to fill those empty plaques in, and do it as part of a winning effort each week.
Football activity was back up and moving on the practice fields outside Memorial Stadium Wednesday morning as Indiana opened up its fall camp with the first of 20 practices.
By watching practice, it becomes clear that everyone involved in the Indiana football program is on the same page about one message: operate as a team. Coaches encourage their players. Players encourage each other. Everyone moves together. No time is wasted. Each repetition is treated as an opportunity to improve. Before, during and after practice, the standard and messaging does not change.
Following the two-plus hour session in the blistering heat, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti spoke to the media.
As Cignetti and his staff look to mold their team together over the next month, the success of the 2024 season is well beyond their concerns. These fall practices represent a clean slate with new players and a new journey, but the same expectations.
“Every year you've got to start over regardless of how long your tenure has been or what your record was the previous year,” Cignetti said. “You always start at ground zero and build it from the foundation up.”
Indiana may be starting at ground zero once more, but the foundation is supported by consistency in the coaching staff and roster from year one to year two. Apart from Tino Sunseri leaving for UCLA, Cignetti’s impressive 2024 staff remains intact. Defensively, Indiana returns 2024 All-Americans in Aiden Fisher, Mikail Kamara and D’Angelo Ponds. Each member of the aforementioned trio was named to the watchlist for the 2025 Bronko Nagurski Award, honoring the national defensive player of the year. Offensively, Indiana returns All-Big Ten honorees including Elijah Sarratt (third-team) and Carter Smith (honorable mention). While Cignetti is obviously looking for these veterans to keep their individual performances up, maintaining the foundation is crucial.
“They've got to, number one, commit and have the discipline to achieve their goals and understand that you can't rest on your laurels. That just doesn't happen on its own,” Cignetti said.
Cignetti spoke about turning pieces into a team at Big Ten Media Days last week and aims to continue putting that process in action over the next month. As fall camp progresses, Indiana is looking for the returning veterans to assist in establishing the culture and standard with not only the incoming freshman, but the veteran transfers as well.
“I think the staff, we know what to expect from one another. The experienced guys that we have a long history with, the same,” Cignetti said. “To bring in experienced guys from other programs is good. We just have to assimilate them into our way of doing things, which we began doing last January.”
Looking forward, Indiana has just over a month until its week one matchup against Old Dominion Aug. 30. Cignetti, a former Sun Belt Conference member at James Madison, made it a point to talk to his team about the danger of complacency against teams like ODU.
“These Sun Belt teams are very capable. They have a history of knocking off P4, or in the past they were called FBS teams. We beat Virginia. Marshall beat Notre Dame. App State beat A&M. Louisiana beat Mississippi State and on and on and on. They're good teams. When you play them early in the year when they're healthy and they're at full strength, they're especially dangerous,” Cignetti said.
Regardless of the opponent, the standard does not change for Indiana. Memorial Stadium will likely be sold out when the Hoosiers host the Monarchs, Aug. 30, but the next 19 practices and 31 days is all about the success when nobody is watching.
