Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti addressed the media on Monday afternoon following the Hoosiers’ 38-0 win over Western Kentucky and ahead of their Big Ten opener against Northwestern on Friday.
Cignetti responded to quite a few questions and you can typically tell the ones that really get to and interest him based upon said response. If he goes long, it’s a reasonable bet that it’s something that’s been on his mind or sticks out to him.
Here’s three notes from his presser:
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Aidan Chiles is different under Chip Kelly
Indiana has seen Aidan Chiles before, facing him in 2024 and 2025 when he was still at Michigan State under Jonathon Smith. Chiles completed 66% of his passing attempts for a single touchdown and a pair of interceptions at home in 2024 and completed 81% for another touchdown in 2025.
Chiles has since transferred to Northwestern and is working under new Wildcats offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, another name Indiana has seen before, albeit in the same role at Ohio State in 2024. Quarterbacks have performed well under Kelly in the past and Chiles is no exception.
Chiles has completed 67.4% of his passing attempts for four touchdowns through two games, with three scores through the air this past week against Colorado.
Indiana’s secondary is going to need to tighten up quickly to fend off Chiles, who’s improved his accuracy with time and will be at his best under Kelly. That’s not even mentioning his ability on the ground, where he was able to hurt Indiana in the past.
Cignetti noted the difference in system under Kelly.
“He’ll drop back, play-action, out-of-pocket, multiple formations, personnel groupings, spread the ball in the pass game,” Cignetti said. “Hasn’t thrown an interception yet all season long and can extend plays, tuck it and run, which we saw. I think he broke one for about 60 on us last year. He’s a really good player. He’s a really quality player.”
Not looking too far ahead
Cignetti has gotten tired of hearing about 2025 and the comparisons between this years team to that of last year. He’s much more worried about where this group is at relative to where it was three weeks ago rather than relative to where last year’s team was around the same time.
Asked if Indiana’s Big Ten slate can prep the Hoosiers for postseason play, Cignetti said that kind of thing really isn’t on his mind. He’s more focused on the here and now, Northwestern in particular, and the improvement he’s seen in these first few weeks.
“We’re playing a really, really good football team,” Cignetti said. “That’s my total focus. I think there is too much focus on we are this or we are that and, oh, compared to last year.”
Defending Josh Hoover
Cignetti took a moment toward the end of the press conference to defend his quarterback against what he views as unfair criticism.
Asked about Hoover’s willingness to take accountability after Indiana’s win over Western Kentucky, Cignetti said he believes there’s been too much scrutiny on him at the moment. The tape, Cignetti said, showed just one missed throw from Hoover against the Hilltoppers. Instead, he said some of Hoover’s misses were on progressions and poorly run routes.
“We had to kind of hash that one out as a staff to make sure we were on the same page what was going on,” Cignetti said.
He finished by stating that he’s glad Hoover is Indiana’s quarterback.
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