IU football Insider roundtable: What's a Curt Cignetti team look like? Time to find out.

There's a new dawn in Bloomington with the arrival of Curt Cignetti as IU football head coach. All but one assistant coach is new, and the Hoosiers ' roster had more shuffling than a Vegas blackjack dealer.

To get caught up on fall camp's impressions and vibes heading into Saturday's opener vs. FIU (3:30 p.m., BTN), IU Insiders Zach Osterman (IndyStar) and Mike Niziolek (Herald-Times) provide their insights.

Insider: Cignetti’s coordinators know him well — they’ve followed him for years

Cignetti has settled on a QB. But that's not most important news of IU camp.

IndyStar sports editor Matthew Glenesk: The obvious place to start is with Curt Cignetti . Most seem to be impressed with IU's hire: a proven winner at lower levels, who is always handy with a good quote. What have been your initial takeaways on Cignetti's first months on the job?

Osterman: I think it's fair to say in the eyes of IU fans, he's gotten a lot right. That's of course caveated by the reality that everyone knows wins and losses will be the final judge. But his hiring, his portal work and the progress that can be quantified on the field have all engendered an enthusiasm no first-year coach has known around here since at least Terry Hoeppner.

IU is in this weird spot where it's widely considered one of the lowest-expectation teams in the conference — and frankly with good reason — yet at the same time, there's a belief because of the schedule, because of Cignetti's track record, because of the post-Big Ten East vibes, that Indiana can be a bowl team this fall, and it's fair to say that belief extends even beyond Bloomington. I don't know if there's a better endorsement of Cignetti's resume or work so far in this job than that.

Niziolek: I wasn't around for the whole Tom Allen era, but last year one of the reasons things went off the rails was because he struggled with implementing a consistent vision for the program as evidenced by the way he bungled the quarterback competition and basically to start from scratch on offense midway through the year.

Cignetti isn't going to have those kind of problems.

One of the quotes that stood out to me this fall came from his news conference on Monday when he said, "everything in this program has to fit and align with my philosophy." He's come in and put his firm stamp on all areas of the football team — he often refers to his "blueprint" — and he believes that will provide the foundation for a successful future as it did at his previous stops. While it's his first Power Four job, the confidence he has in that vision makes it feel like he's been at this level for years.

Glenesk: IU keeps popping up on lists of teams who did well in the transfer portal. What do you attribute that perceived success in the portal to?

Niziolek: Some of that is just in the sheer volume of players Indiana landed.

They were able to offer substantial playing time at almost every position on the roster and that's a big selling point. The resources Indiana committed to NIL for football didn't hurt either, but the biggest factor is Cignetti scooping up all the players who earned All-Sun Belt honors for him at JMU in 2023 and many of them were multi-year starters.

The true test for Cignetti and his staff will come after this season when they won't have the benefit of those past relationships. He's said multiple times that IU will have to be just as active in the portal after for 2025 since they are relying on so many players in their last year of eligibility this fall.

Osterman: I'm fascinated by this. The conscious decision Indiana made to go old in Cignetti's first season. Yes, every program has to live in the portal in modern college football, and yes, Indiana just had a sheer tonnage of snaps to fill that was always going to require a measure of quick reload. But coupled to a lot of Cignetti's "we're not waiting to win" pronouncements, and his willingness to acknowledge his schedule is more forgiving than the average, it feels particularly relevant that IU was intentional about going out and landing a lot of players it knew had a defined expiration date. It can cut both ways, but it speaks to a couple possibilities. One, that he knows early success will buy him some grace if the short-term strategy throws up some long-term obstacles. Or two, probably more interestingly (at least to me), that this is just kind of how he wants to run it, and while this year's numbers are made extreme by the coaching turnover, something broadly like this is what we should expect most of the time.

Glenesk: With so much turnover, both in playing personnel and on staff, IU under Cignetti seems like a big unknown. What does a Curt Cignetti team want to do? What will this team's strengths be?

Niziolek: Curt Cignetti is going to want to spread the ball around on offense and take advantage of all the athleticism the team added at the skill positions. The overall talent level of the wide receiver room is particularly impressive, and they have a bunch of varied skill sets too from a perfect speedy slot guy (Myles Price) to a contested catch specialist (Donaven McCulley) and a sure-handed possession receiver (Elijah Sarratt).

That strategy is dependent on Kurtis Rourke having a strong season. He will have a few weeks to ease into things against some lackluster competition (FIU and Western Illinois), so the true test will come when IU heads out west to face UCLA.

As for the defense, the Hoosiers are going to be an aggressive team under Bryant Haines, at least to start out the year. I still think there are some questions in the secondary that could complicate leaving corners in man coverage on a regular basis while bringing heavy pressure.

Glenesk: You mentioned Kurtis Rourke. What's the vibe around the team/coaches on what he can bring to this offense? Obviously, it all starts with the QB.

Osterman: I think it's fair to be encouraged by the tools on the table more generally, first of all. The offense has a long track record of success, it's Cignetti's and he's brought coaches with him that know it really well. Four of the six hires from James Madison were on that side of the ball (QBs, WRs/play caller, RBs, TEs). And that group has had success with transfer quarterbacks, probably fair to say ones with less pedigree than Rourke. The receiver group got a big boost from the portal, the running back room is completely overhauled from a season ago and IU's probably got what it needs at tight end. The biggest positional concern will be offensive line, which was shaping up nicely but now has to account for Nick Kidwell's injury. It can probably just about plug one more hole, but depth will run out fast if anybody else meaningful picks up a serious injury.

All that sets the table for Rourke, who by all accounts is healthy and has clearly been in the driver's seat of this quarterback competition (if it was even a competition) all offseason. He's got nothing left to prove in college football at any level except the one he's at right now. Indiana seems to have improved the skill groups around him meaningfully. And again, the staff has a track record with transfer QBs.

Glenesk: There are going to be a lot of new names for IU fans to learn this fall, who has stood out to you so far, or is a name that continuously gets mentioned by coaches? In the non-Kurtis Rourke category.

Osterman: I'd pick out two: Elijah Sarratt and D'Angelo Ponds. Both are JMU transfers, but perhaps notably, guys that opened their recruiting process to other schools before picking Indiana. Sarratt was hyperproductive (74 receptions, 1,076 yards, eight TDs) last season, and even if the adjustment up a level depresses that production somewhat, he'll be playing opposite a receiver who can absorb some of the attention he'd otherwise be getting, in Donaven McCulley. The staff talks about Ponds as a potential game-changer in man coverage, the sort of player that shrinks the field for the rest of the defense with his 1-on-1 coverage skills. He's on the small side, but that's a bigger issue at the next level than it is at this one. Both guys make a lot of other stuff make sense on their respective sides of the ball if they're healthy and producing.

Niziolek: Mikail Kamara is at the top of the list.

He's easily the team's most proven pass rusher and a breakout season last fall with 41 quarterback pressures, 18.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks. Indiana hasn't had an edge rusher put up that kind of production in a long time. His teammates from JMU say he spends more time than anyone at the football facilities and describe him being in the best shape of his career.

On offense, don't overlook tight end Zach Horton, a player Cignetti loved last season. I talked to him in the spring and he said the staff really started trusting him last year to be a bigger focal point in the passing game. He has the athleticism to line up anywhere on the line of scrimmage and he was like a security blanket for Rourke in the spring. He could benefit from defenses focusing a lot on guys like Sarratt and McCulley.

Glenesk: Finish this thought: IU makes a bowl game if...

Osterman: Rourke stays healthy and has the same kind of success Cignetti's quarterbacks at JMU did.  Indiana also needs to stays healthy in the trenches. The Nick Kidwell injury could be a story that looms large this season if the Hoosiers suffer another injury on the offensive line.

Indiana's cupcake schedule really sets Cignetti up for success in his first season.

Niziolek: Rourke stays healthy, the offense clicks early and the defense causes some havoc. We've talked a lot about the momentum IU can theoretically build with the way its schedule progresses, but I don't know if we've paid enough notice to how it starts. One of Tom Allen's legitimate complaints about his tenure was that he was handed a Big Ten team in the opener in four of his six non-COVID seasons, and he never got what essentially amount to preseason games to smooth things over before his teams got thrown into the fire. Cignetti gets two of those games (FIU, Western Illinois) before he faces a Big Ten team. If Indiana can make use of those two games and polish its rough edges, then win at least one of its first two league games, the Hoosiers will exit September at worst 4-1, and they will in all likelihood be looking a lot like a bowl team at that point.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IU football Insider roundtable: What's a Curt Cignetti team look like? Time to find out.