Indiana Hoosiers Hardly Practice At All

[BigBalls]

No full speed tacking. Kinda blows up a few myths.

https://www.wsj.com/sports/football/indiana-curt-cignetti-fernando-mendoza-510bc45a?mod=wknd_pos1

In case you hit a paywall:

“ Curt Cignetti has turned the Hoosiers into the best team in the country by basically not practicing. While the NCAA allows up to 20 hours per week, Indiana only uses about six of those for actual on-field work. Walk-throughs are short, practices rarely hit two hours, and there’s almost no full-speed tackling. It’s all about mental prep, situational work, and keeping players healthy. Transfers say it’s the opposite of the “grind you into dust” programs they came from.

The surprising twist is that Cignetti comes from Nick Saban’s system, where every detail is drilled endlessly. He tried that early in his career, but found it led to unnecessary injuries and tired players. His adjusted philosophy: practice to the point of proficiency, then stop. When they finally faced a close game for the Big Ten title, their heavy emphasis on mental reps and late-game scenarios paid off.

 

I’m not sure how much of Indiana’s success is tied to Cignetti’s light-practice philosophy versus the fact that their roster is loaded with older, more experienced players who already have a lot of reps under their belt. That probably makes it easier to lean on mental prep instead of physical grind.

Still, it’s interesting that such an unconventional approach has worked at the highest level. Hard to argue with the results they’ve put up.

 

[LA Duck]

Read that article too.  Pretty eye-opening, and completely counter to my understanding of Lanning’s POV on practice – Lanning is definitely a Saban disciple.

Curious to see how well Indiana does in the playoffs this time.  I predict they may win 1 game, likely flame out after that.  Tremendous coaching, but probably not enough to make it to the national championship game alone.

I trust in the Blue Chip Ratio school of thought – ESPECIALLY now in the extended playoffs where you have to win 3-4 games straight.  That kind of attrition will undoubtedly have those schools with the higher BCR rise to the top (as they almost always do).

A few ratios from August 2025 included below per link:

#1 Georgia 74%

#2 Alabama 73%

#3 tOSU 73%

#4 LSU 71%

#5 Oregon 67%

#18 USC 40%

#26 Texas Tech 20%

#27 Washington 19%

#37 UCLA 12%

#45 Indiana 8%

https://www.puntandrally.com/viewpowerratings.php?whichyear=2025&whatstat=bluechip

[GTrojan2]

Have to disagree LA.  Indiana went 13 and 0 this season, so they had plenty of week-to-week football.  Your assessment is more hope than fact based IMO.  Your approach should work against JMU.  LOL!

[LA Duck]

Ummmm….I beg to differ, GT.

It’s one thing to play 13 games spread across 3+ months with only 3 of those games coming against teams in the top 15 of the blue chip ratio.

It’s a whole other thing to play 3 games in a row against teams in the top 15 of the blue chip ratio:  First Oklahoma or Alabama, then Texas Tech or Oregon, then likely tOSU or Georgia (Texas Tech being the only outlier here at #26).

Fun part is we’ll get to see exactly what Indiana is made of soon enough!

[GTrojan2]

LA, you’re saying that IU, should they win, will be facing nothing but BCR teams from here on out and by that fact alone they are not built for such a path.  Total nonsense IMO.  What you apparently have not considered is the fact that IU, like every other winner, will have a week to prepare for their next opponent.  How will IU prepare for their next opponent?  The same way they prepared to meet Oregon at Autzen Stadium, and the same way they prepared for the OSU game, and the same way they prepared to play Iowa at Iowa, by not banging their heads together in grueling practices, but by limiting contact and focusing on nailing down their assignment responsibilities.  IU will be physically fresh for every opponent and thoroughly prepared for whatever their opponent throws at them.  IU has had no trouble handling the high BCR teams this past season and they will be healthy, fresh, and well prepared for them in the CFP.  Will they win it all? Maybe and maybe not, but the BCR formula will not be a big factor in the outcome either way.  The high BCR teams using high contact practices may, however, suffer injuries and exhaustion problems through the month-long process of one BCR team after another.

Oregon will at least be exempted a little from that grind as you get to play the only FCS quality team in the opener.  LOL!

[LA Duck]

Case in point, GTrojan – Indiana just lost arguably their best DL – to an injury sustained during a post-game congrats with a fan!

Despite the hilarity of such a situation, Indiana is now down one of their best defensive players.  I wonder what other 3 star guy they have to fill his place from now through January 19th, should they make it that far….??

My point is all about attrition – the kind of attrition that happens when you have 3-4 games in a row that are win or go home where you play your hardest and there’s no tomorrow – and playing against the very best teams from the season.  Those teams who can successfully surf the waves of injuries are the ones more likely to win it all.  And those teams with higher BCRs are the ones with the better surfboards.

This has nothing to do with the regular season where you play an Oregon, then a Michigan State, then a UCLA and then a Maryland (just like Indiana did this season).  Now Indiana has a murderers’ row of teams to play to win the championship.

That is the difference and that is my point, good sir! 🙂

[GTrojan2]

You make a good point LA and if IU suffers from much attrition it will certainly harm them more than the high BCR teams.  IU and the other three teams with byes only have to play 3 games to win a championship, and Oregon playing JMU is in a somewhat similar situation, although injuries could occur even playing a JMU.  What type of injury happened to the IU player?  Is he out for the playoffs or will he be back after a months recovery time?

[LA Duck]

Likely out for the playoffs per Cignetti.

Apparently DL Stephen Daley was already the back up to another player who was injured in October.  Completely counter to my point above, he ended up actually being as good or better than the starter!  Only starting in late October, he had 19 TFLs which is 2nd in the whole FBS.

But at this point it sounds like they have to go with inexperienced guys per the article below.  Which IS my point.  Quality depth matters.

https://www.aol.com/articles/indianas-daley-cfp-due-unbelievable-222228830.html

 

[GTrojan2]

I never said quality depth didn’t matter, as it certainly does.  This thread is focused on IU’s approach to game preparation which I believe even high BCR teams should consider.  It’s brilliant what Cignetti has done with such a low BCR rated roster.  Oregon or other high BCR rated roster teams have to mature their depth, so maybe Cignetti’s approach may hinder their development over the course of a season, but for the CFPs it should limit the attrition risks and also improve the players’ attention to their assignments.  JMO

[Java]

Oh wait but the same people who praise Cignetti as the second coming are the same ones who said usc is soft and never hits in practice and real coaches bash each other all week?

 

fraud.  Pasabeta. Grocery stick?   Does Cignetti suck?

[Fraud]

Riley has proven that you can not have soft practices and have a soft undisciplined HC and compete for championships. Cignetti is not a soft, undisciplined coach.

[Java]

It was as Helton that people knocked for having soft practices.   Try to keep up

[Fraud]

Riley’s teams never hit a practice either. Even less than Helton.

[Java]

So I guess we will cross Cignetti off your wish list

 

He’s soft  Probably buys donuts

And rents an ice cream truck

 

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