Hoover and Hoosiers Making Spring Progress
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - It’s coming, head coach Curt Cignetti says, the Indiana football excellence he demands as spring practice rolls on.
It’s not there yet. Not even close. That’s what the 13 spring practices are for, and then summer workouts and then fall camp in preparation for the Sept. 5 season opener against North Texas and beyond.
“We can’t make progress fast enough with a lot of new people in the program,” Cignetti says. “Treat every practice like it’s a game. We have 13 practices and we prepare the same way in terms of the things we demand on the practice field so we can form winning habits and get rid of losing habits. Clean our ball up. There is still lot of improvement to be made, but we’ve made progress to this point.”
Take Josh Hoover, the heralded transfer quarterback out of TCU who hopes to follow the excellence displayed from Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza last season, Kurtis Rourke the season before that, and multiple other standout quarterbacks from Cignetti’s time at James Madison.
Hoover threw for 9,629 yards and 71 touchdowns in four seasons at TCU while completing 65.2 percent of his passes.
Cignetti and offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan thrive with transfer quarterbacks, and it starts by demanding their best at all times. They are coaching Hoover hard, as is quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri. The previous results are impressive – their quarterbacks win conference offensive player-of-the-year honors and their teams win. They also score – Indiana led the Big Ten in scoring the last two seasons at 41.6 points and 41.3 points.
Then there’s this -- Cignetti’s philosophy of taking production over potential and a player evaluation process that’s second to none.
“We’re still learning about him,” Cignetti says of Hoover. “We’d like to see him play a little faster in practice, play with more urgency. Drive every ball. I don’t know what was asked of him from where he came from in terms of practice. No plays are like a throw off, even in walk through.
“We get on wide receivers for running half speed. We want our quarterbacks to drive every football. Throw it like it was in a game.”
TCU coach Sonny Dykes has talked about Hoover’s turnover issues, but Hoover is now in a difference system that maximizes the run-pass balance. TCU threw around 60 percent of the time last year. IU ran it 60 percent.
For Mendoza, that resulted in completing 72 percent of his passes for 3,535 yards and 41 touchdowns after transferring from the University of California. He also ran for seven TDs. Not only did he win the Heisman Trophy, he led the Hoosiers to their first national championship and projects as the No. 1 pick in this month’s NFL Draft.
IU also had one of the nation’s best defenses in Cignetti’s two Hoosier years, and another powerhouse unit is projected for this coming season.
“I’m excited about Josh,” Cignetti says. “He has a body of work in terms of winning games and passing yards, touchdowns, touchdown passes.
“He has to clean up some of the turnovers, obviously, which Coach Dykes made light of.”
Cignetti pauses. Winks.
“When (Hoover) got here, he met his two new best friends -- a great defense and a really good run game. He was never the same after that.”
Beyond quarterback, IU had one of the best offensive lines in the nation last year, and returns three starters with Carter Smith, Drew Evans, and Bray Lynch. Also back is Adedamola Ajani. IU has added Wisconsin transfer Joe Brunner. A big key will be replacing standout center Pat Coogan, who excelled as a player and as a leader, and is positioned to get drafted.
Cignetti says the Hoosiers might have as many as 17 offensive linemen in fall camp, including a pair of walk-ons.
“You have to play five, and we want quality depth,” Cignetti says. “That’s what we’re trying to develop. That’s why we’re practicing. We’re trying to develop some young guys. We need some young guys who have been with the twos to grow up fast and become quality guys before that first game.”
The defensive line also ranked among the nation’s best last year. While standouts Mikail Kamara, Stephen Daley and Kellan Wyatt are gone, Mario Landino (32 tackles, 6.0 for loss, 5.0 sacks), Tyrique Tucker (40 tackles, 12.0 for loss, 6.0 sacks) and Daniel Ndukwe (13, 3.0, 2.0) return, along with promising younger players such as Tyrone Burrus Jr. Transfers are Tobi Osunsanmi and Chiddi Obiazor from Kansas State, and Josh Burnham from Notre Dame.
“We have a lot of bodies there with returners, transfers and high school guys,” Cignetti says. “A lot of guys are getting work right now. It looks like we have a chance to be decent there.
“Landino and Tucker are the returners. Ndukwe started a couple of games. We’ve added some pieces in the mix so it will be interesting to see how it shakes out.”
Tight end was another strong position last season with Riley Nowakowski and Holden Staes. Both are positioning for the NFL Draft
Blake Thiry and Andrew Barker, both redshirt freshmen, return. True freshmen Parker Elmore and Trevor Gibbs are in the running as is Brock Schott, a redshirt freshman from Miami of Florida.
“We’ll bring in another tight end in the fall,” Cignetti says. “That position will look a lot different in fall camp. Both guys practicing now are getting better. I can see them making progress. I’m excited about Schott and Gibbs. I think they’re outstanding prospects.”
Overall, Cignetti says, “We’re starting to get a bead on every guy in the program and where they’re at in terms of their development and what buttons to push to help them become the best they can be.”