The Indiana Hoosiers kicked off spring practice this past weekend on Saturday in Bloomington, the first of roughly four weeks of spring practices. The Hoosiers will not practice during the spring break at Indiana but will reconvene after the break to continue spring practices.
The first practice on Saturday is light, with no pads and no contact, as the players are just starting to get back into everything. In spring practices, there are only 15 practices, and only 12 of them can include contact and only eight of those 12 may include tackling. Of those eight tackling practices, only three of them can be considered 11 on 11 scrimmages, one of those being the annual spring game.
The Hoosiers held their first no-contact practice on Saturday, and head coach Curt Cignetti was pleased with what he saw. With this being Cignetti's second year with the Hoosiers, things ran a bit smoother this year compared to last since not everything and everyone is new to the facility.
With many returning players, there were also 33 new players, both transfer portal players and high school recruits who enrolled early, as well as new additions to the coaching staff. After the first day, Cignetti spoke to the media, sharing what he saw and liked with the team, but made sure to show was he is emphasizing this spring practice.
"It's spring football, so we want to develop players," Cignetti said in his press conference. "We want to improve daily, we want to promote competition, we want to install our offense, defense, special teams, learn about our team, and everybody is going to come out of spring football undefeated."
The Hoosiers exceeded expectations in 2024 in Cignetti's first season. They had their best record in program history, numerous players broke countless program records, and Indiana appeared in the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history. With a season like that, 2025 will come with expectations.
However, in 2025, the Hoosiers will look vastly different than in 2024. With numerous players moving onto either the next phase of their lives and some trying to break into the NFL, Cignetti had to make sure he had players coming in either from the transfer portal or from their recruiting trail. Quarterback Fernando Mendoza is one player everyone is excited to see next season, and this spring, fans will get a look at the young gun-slinger.
One thing Cignetti has to make sure of is that players aren't getting complacent, resting on Indiana's success from last season. Even after a fantastic season, Cignetti knows there is more to get out of this team, and he is determined to do just that.
"This is a football team that didn't finish the football season very well," Cignetti said. "Went up and played in the College Football Playoff and didn't play like we wanted to play, we have some things to prove."
The Hoosiers do have a lot to prove in 2025, one thing being that they aren't just a one-and-done team, but they are a team that can win consistently. Spring practices will show whether or not this team has what it takes.