The standard has been raised once again. Entering year three at the helm of the Indiana Hoosiers, what was once good enough is no longer the case under Curt Cignetti. In two years leading the team, Indiana has made the College Football Playoff twice, won a national championship, and has only suffered two losses. The Indiana of old is a distant memory, but now is not the time for complacency.
When asked about how his team played during IU's spring game on Thursday night, he offered this.
"We got a lot of work to do. Gotta have a great summer. We're not a good football team right now, but we don't need to be until we run out of the tunnel for the first game. So we got a lot of work to do. It's going to look a lot different in the fall."
On the night Fernando Mendoza got drafted No. 1 overall, Cignetti had this to say about Josh Hoover.
"I thought as he went along he made a couple of plays. We gotta protect him. It's been an issue kind of all spring. We're not game-planning anybody. He's got some things he's gotta clean up, but he finished on a positive note."
For a guy sitting on top of the college football world, Cignetti does not seem like Indiana is still there.
"We got a lot of work to do. Gotta have a great summer."
— Indiana On BTN (@IndianaOnBTN) April 24, 2026
Curt Cignetti on @IndianaFootball’s spring game takeaways 👇 pic.twitter.com/LTbP9ixrK3
What should fans glean from Cignetti's harsh comments about his team after Indiana's spring game?
Curt Cignetti is not going to settle for anything but the best at Indiana
While Indiana may have one of the most complete teams in the country, Cignetti knows there are so many weaknesses to be exploited. Indiana has to replace two players who went in the first round in Mendoza to the Las Vegas Raiders and wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. to the New York Jets. He also has to overcome not having stars like Pat Coogan and D'Angelo Ponds part of next year's team, too...
The biggest takeaway from Cignetti's interview during the spring game is the offensive line does not appear to be as cohesive of a unit as it was a year ago. That should come as no surprise. It is all about finding the right five guys to make it work together. While that position group should be able to come together quite nicely, this team will only go as far as its TCU transfer portal quarterback will take them.
Simply put, Hoover has to be a galvanizing force for the Indiana offense. He is not the next Mendoza. No one is. He needs to be himself. What is so important is he has to take better care of the football. That was an issue that plagued him during his three-year run in Fort Worth playing for Sonny Dykes. Again, it is only spring practice for Indiana. However, every little thing matters when trying to repeat.
The great news for Indiana fans is Cignetti will not let his team take its foot off the gas for one second.
Add us as a preferred source on Google