Curt Cignetti Monday Media Q&A -- Week One, Florida International

all right well it's game week finally here so a lot of work to be done obviously before we kick off got to have a great week of preparation starting with today uh to put ourselves in the best position uh you know be successful to play our best FIU um coach McIntyre does a great job has throughout his entire career extremely dangerous quarterback dual threat kind of guy that uh throws the ball well extends plays can run and we'll have to do a great job on him uh they've got a deep stable receivers returning two or three receivers and adding uh more guys from the transfer portal impressed with the running backs uh the guys all return that they played last season experienced in the secondary at safety and Corner uh a leading tackler returns linebacker Specialists are good kicker Long Snapper punter return people so you know it'll be a challenge and uh we'll have to play well and uh you I want to see us play fast and physical and cut out some of the you know mistakes we made in the first two scrimmages penalties Miss assignments things of that nature but also play smart disciplined and poised um so there's fine line there uh but we do want to attack uh be that kind of team and we'll play well JMU any of the ones you guys had there and how is he kind of developed um as a leader um Tyson Lon was telling us he kind of brought the group together after the first scrimmage um and and really you kind of lit fire under them how what have you seen from him in the locker room kind of getting the guys together yeah he probably reminds me of Cole Johnson who we had for two seasons his uh his last year with us he had tremendous year had about 41 touchdown passes four interceptions threw for over 4,000 yards um they're both uh more pocket guys but still can uh gain positive yards with their legs really smart heady he's played a lot of football uh respected by his teammates um he's not a real raw raw guy on the field which is fine uh you know you lead kind of by example and how you do on the field but uh he's got the respect of all his teammates Kurt I guess um just your philosophy as much as anything else on how you handle freshman that you might want to see get some snaps where you maybe set the bar for guys that you don't worry about the red shirt where you maybe set the bar for guys where you think let let's give him a couple games and kind of see where he gets to just how you kind of handle basically the question of whether guy's going to red shirt whether he's going to play and retain it or whether you just sort of throw it off well the best guys play really um and we're we're a veteran team even though we got a lot of new guys we got a lot of seniors on this football team so I wouldn't anticipate seeing many freshmen out there uh it doesn't mean you might not see one or two but it's all based on uh you know who can help us be successful who's ready to play winning football so um and things change every week so right now going into the first game I don't see many freshman have a very significant role in this game hey coach um obviously after Nick kid went down you guys have had a competition there at o line not just because of him but overall just kind of with you know not naming names but just where you guys at with that competition how do you feel about the Five Guys right now that look like they may be the starters I feel good and like I said uh previous uh right now you're looking at Drew Evans Bray Lynch and Tyler Stevens uh you know three guys for two spots and they all can snap also so uh and you know we'll see who we Trot out there uh for the first series Curtis uh you mentioned fiu's quarterback Keon Jenkins uh what do you feel like what do you feel like is the biggest thing that causes trouble and what is the biggest thing that you can cause trouble for him on Saturday yeah well you know he's an extremely capable passer but when he gets out of the pocket he does a really nice job of extending plays and even though he's a really good athlete that can tuck it and run and gain a lot of yards you know he's going to look to throw first and does a nice job of finding people when he extends plays and you know we got to win up front you know our defensive line and we got to put pressure on him and keep in the quarter keep him in the pocket and uh not give him much time to throw we got we got to get to him you know and uh we need a game from our D line yeah Kurt how with with this first game of the season how much do you kind of see this as an opportunity to set the tone for what this era of Indiana football will look like I don't look at it that way uh this is the opponent I'm spending every second of my day uh with a sense of urgency trying to help put us in the best position to be as good as we can be and that's how we look at things as coaches I think across the country coach we know that you're a process oriented guy I'm curious what the process looks like now that it's a game week you're away from Fall Camp how do the meetings go when does Preparation start for next week's opponent Al all things like that yeah well you know all eyes are on this opponent and today and you know typical in season I was up at 4:00 a.m. and in the office before 5 and uh you know we'll we'll have a light practice tonight and then tomorrow is uh first and second down and Punt and punt return and then Wednesday's third down and Thursday's red area and go line 2 minute and uh you know we the mornings and afternoons are spent preparing for those situations and we put it all together back hey coach yeah uh Omar Cooper been mentioned as a guy potential breakout guy to use the generic phrase um those of us saw him a lot in high school saw the potential that was there what are things he needs to do this season to go from potential to make a few plays here and there to be maybe the breakout guy who really can be consistently an impact guy for you guys I think he just has to take what he's done on the practice field and take it onto the game field which I'm confident he will and can yeah I I want to say was I think we had Shanahan in here a few weeks ago we had Walker we had lton who each mentioned this winning mindset that you have what kind of shape you know your specific mindset and you know again for a team that's when I want to say nine games the last three years how have you maybe approach trying to um you know add that here in the culture here well I think that's well documented at this point but you know we came in and changed the roster uh and then you got to change the way people think uh the mindset the culture the identity of your football team and I think we've made progress but you really can't measure it till you play and then uh every week uh you know um chapter one of a 13 page book so um I'm excited to see us play we do have a lot of work to do uh before we kick it off and um I'm confident in this team uh you guys have a few uh cornerbacks down um do do you feel like you have a a good grasp of the kind of rotation going into the season opener we really don't have a few down um we've got we had one miss some practice time in Fall camp and he's mending very quickly so we anticipate being close to full strength you've been a part of multiple rebuilds and reboots going into this week I know you'll know a lot more after you play but how do you feel about your offense now as comparative to other places where you've gone into that first game I I feel good about our offense uh we have a lot of veteran players we have a veteran quarterback and um you I think we have a chance to be good offense and defense and special team teams and you know but as a coach you you've always got concerns too I've never had a team I didn't have concerns about something um so um but my focus right now is on preparing these guys and help them uh be as successful as possible Saturday and you know feel good about the pieces we have in place talked before about how small the margin of error is once the season starts what aspects through fall Camp have you seen Less in that margin and what parts you think this week really needs some work well I think we were more consistent in practice as Camp went on um you know we weren't an up and down team um we still have to more consistently get everybody doing what they're supposed to do uh assignment wise technique wise but part of that is the challenge of Camp too because you install everything so the plate is very heavy now uh you get into the first game and that plate will lighten up a little bit and you want to free free them up from thinking too much so they can play fast and let their ability take over right what have you learned from previous stops along the way or previous new jobs that has helped you make this transition as smoothly as possible what lessons have you previously learned to help you this year well you know I think you just in in every area that matters you know leadership recruiting development retention managing staff messaging how to practice game day philosophy I think every year you do this you get a little better you learn lessons so you know this is my 4 second year I think in this business and um so there hasn't been much I haven't seen but I'm sure there something will come up one day that I haven't yet blue Freedman from the SE Pap um you mentioned getting up at 4 in the morning going to the office by 5 how late are you staying we'll get off Field tonight about 8:15 so it's a long day has the pace been that way pretty much since when December you you've been going about a thousand miles an hour it seems like oh yeah and December was very much that way but we've got some rest banked right now coaches and players so you know we should have a full tank heading into this week hey coach um can you talk a little bit about the running backs in general and loton in particular what you expect from them what what you hope to see from them yeah um you know when you look at lot and black and Allison they're all very similar uh you know they can take it between the tackles they can get the ball outside they can catch the ball out of the back field and they're good pass Pro guys and then uh Elijah green uh is a good back as well as vanhorse um lton is uh capable making the big play catches ball extremely well he's good inside the 10 and uh you know he's got an extra gear and uh he's had a lot of success he's confident guy and doesn't talk very much he really he doesn't say much but on game day uh you know he shows up and you know who he is do you have both coordinators uh in in the booth and does the quarterback communication now that they've installed for this year change your kind of game day operations at all and how you kind of um organize everything on the field and in the in the booth yeah in the past we've had uh Mike up in the booth and Brian's been on the field still talking through what we'll do uh this year I have pretty good idea what we'll do but um the game day communication can change things somewhat uh whether you huddle a little bit more uh to start a new series uh do you huddle or gather them up on the sidelines so uh there's some things I think you'll see across the country that are a little different than last season thank you thanks guys