The 2026 Big Ten Football Media Days are taking place this week in Chicago. The league's 18 coaches and multiple players from each program are set to make the rounds with the media and discuss all things college football heading into the new season.
Curt Cignetti is set to take the podium and address the media on Thursday afternoon. He will also be answering questions from media members during his time in Chicago. Coming off a National Championship-winning season, Indiana fans are eager to hear what Cignetti has to say. Here are three burning questions at the Hoosier faithful would love to hear Cignetti answer.
3. How close is the roster to 100% health after an injury-riddled spring?
Coming off an extended CFP run to a national title that saw the Hoosiers play 16 games last season, Indiana got a later start to spring practice. Of course, that is a good problem to have, but a decent number of players were unavailable throughout the spring. Indiana's annual spring game took place back on April 23, and the Hoosiers were far from being at full strength.
Leading up to the spring game, Cignetti stated that a total of 17 players did not practice that week due to injury. Most notably, left tackle Carter Smith and star wide receiver Charlie Becker both missed the spring game. After the game, Cignetti acknowledged that the team fans saw at the spring game was a much different team than what will be on the field in the season opener on September 5 against North Texas. Thus, getting a team-wide injury update is top of mind for Hoosier fans this week.
2. How has the standard inside the program changed from building something to sustaining something?
There's a popular saying in sports that it's hard to get to the mountaintop, but it's even harder to stay there. Cignetti and the Hoosiers have taken the college football world by storm over the last two seasons, and are coming off a perfect 16-0 season that culminated in a historic National Championship. That is among the greatest turnarounds in sports history. Few outside Bloomington saw it coming, but after leading IU to such an eye-opening accomplishment, Cignetti's focus has shifted from building the program to sustaining its success.
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Gone are the days where the Hoosiers are an afterthought on the gridiron. Now they will be every opponents' Super Bowl. Instead of chasing the mountaintop, the Hoosiers are already there and everybody will be looking to knock them down. Does that dynamic change Indiana's mentality heading into the new season? That would be interesting to hear.
1. How confident are you that the offense can maintain its identity with a significant amount of new personnel?
Indiana's offense will look a lot different this season from last season. Not necessarily in terms of playing style, as Mike Shanahan's RPO-heavy approach will likely be utilized once again. But Indiana's offensive personnel looks a lot different this season.
Departures from the offense include Heisman Trophy-winning QB Fernando Mendoza, WR Omar Cooper Jr, WR Elijah Sarratt, RB Roman Hemby, RB Kaelon Black, TE Riley Nowakowski, and C Pat Coogan. That leaves the Hoosiers with ton of production to replace. With so many new faces in the mix, how confident is Cignetti that the Hoosier offense can continue on without missing a beat?
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