IU football coach Curt Cignetti’s biggest takeaways after Day 1 of Fall Camp
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (WRTV) — Fresh off a national championship-winning season, Indiana University football got back on the field to kick off the 2026 season.
Curt Cignetti’s squad finished up the first day of Fall Camp on Wednesday, and the third-year head coach set the precedent heading into a new season.
“The goal is being to develop players,” Cignetti said. “Develop position groups, individually, collectively, develop the intangibles as we get closer to Game 1, and the team mindset and identity so that we’re ready to play football and play the way we want to play. So today was a decent start.”
The last time Indiana football stepped on the field as a team was over three months ago, during the team’s Spring Game back in April. As Indiana ramps back up, Coach Cignetti described what he looks at to determine a good practice from a bad practice.
“I kind of look at the first practice as just the flow,” Cignetti said. “Did we have any major organizational snafus? Was the ball on the ground a lot? A lot of times early in camp, spring ball, working new centers, center snaps can be an issue, six, eight balls on the ground. We didn’t have that today. The flow was good. The competition was good. I thought the guys did a decent job of sustaining practice. I didn’t think they got overly fatigued, but I think it was a very manageable practice. And nobody got hurt.”
During the back half of last season, wide receiver Charlie Becker evolved into one of Indiana’s most dominant players. Becker’s big breakout game came during the Hoosiers’ 27-24 road win against Penn State. Becker totaled seven catches for 118 yards, including a big catch in the fourth quarter, which put Indiana in the red zone on the final drive.
As Becker heads into his junior season, Coach Cignetti described just how big his impact could be this season.
“He’s playing with more confidence and belief,” Cignetti said. “I thought he had a pretty good camp last year. Maybe the biggest change is how we look at him. He was just a guy, and he had an opportunity. He was a special teams demon for us in ’24, and early in the year, when he got in the games, he took advantage of his opportunities. When Sarratt got hurt, the guy was our leading receiver in seven of the last eight games. Had a great summer too.”
Through two years as Indiana’s head coach, Cignetti holds a 27-2 overall record and is still without a loss inside Memorial Stadium.
