Indiana Football head coach Curt Cignetti pulled no punches with the media after his team's 10th practice of the spring. He was not happy with the team's mental preparation to make the most of practice. Cignetti spent the first 1:51 of his press conference explaining what went wrong.
"I think today we squandered an opportunity to improve as much as possible. 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." Cignetti said.
Spring practice can get monotonous with the lack of an actual opponent and game, but that is no excuse for what Cignetti saw on Thursday.
"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. 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 coached on their terms. And today we had too many inconsistent players. We didn't come out prepared, ready to improve and live up to the standard that we've set for each individual, the team, offense, defense, special teams." Cignetti added.
The Hoosiers want to be a great team again in 2025, which means focus and consistency needs to be high. There are times when the team has to provide their own energy. That didn't seem to happen on Thursday.
"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 said. "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."
The good news for the Hoosiers is that they do not play a football game that counts in the standings for another 4.5 months.
"I am sure I will go in and look at the tape and it is never as good and never as bad, but that is where we are today. I am really not worried about what it looks like four months from now." Cignetti said.
