FB: Under the Hood with Indiana Football - Week 1 (FIU)

F your fans welcome back to another season of Under the Hood presented by your Central Indiana Ford dealers proud sponsor of IU football remind to get out there visit your local Central Indiana Ford dealer today it is game week and we are ready to see this who's your team hit the rock and take on FIU coming up to kick off this 2024 season one uh that is filled with so much excitement and uh obviously a big reason for that excitement is this new era of hoer football and it is our great pleasure and and what an honor for us to to get a chance to begin this season of Under the Hood by welcoming head coach Kurt Signet to the program coach I mean I just I can't tell you about the excitement uh that we felt I know we talked about that a lot but I'm telling you as we get closer it just feels like it keeps building and building and I know you're kind of starting to get a better glimpse of what this team is going to look like what has you fired up about this team right now well I think we've made uh great progress really as a program and a team and uh still we got to way to go yet we got some things we got to cover and get better at uh but uh I'm looking forward to seeing this play you learned anything about the way this team handles its business you know Cohen from spring now with with you know almost you know 15 practices and now we're we're we're getting close to to that number we're hitting that number here in the fall um is there anything that's stood out to you about the way this team operates well I I think that we're taking a businesslike approach to it and we're more consistent Play and play day out day in Day Out start to finish not we're not there yet and you're always you know striving for Perfection and then when you have a you know a good play or a good day you got to have the right mindset where you can come back and do it again because you either do get better or worse so handling success and failure uh Play and play out day and day out game and game out it's big part of it those are the intangibles and in the mindset that you've got to create your football team having high standards never lowering your standards and finding the edge and Coach it's well documented we've talked about your pensent and and ability and track record of turning around programs and doing it quickly and and having a winning season in year one two-part question here first part were there common threads with some of those teams in some of those programs whether it be roster composition strengths or toughness togetherness were there common threads with those teams in year one that allowed that kind of early success well yeah they I think they bought in and played the way we wanted to play you know physical tough uh get after kind of team uh that kept taking it to the opposition and uh you know in all those places we won some close games uh some big time comeback victories uh and which developed uh belief and confidence and momentum and and snowball um so but I think this Camp is very similar to a lot of the other camps what's different is now with the portal you got all the new guys and then uh then you have even more new guys that come in after Spring ball that weren't in so uh you know that part of it a little bit different but uh you know I think we've made a lot of progress and uh now you know we've got to be able to handle all the all all the things the season brings in terms of success failure adversity uh and be resilient Relentless and uh not be affected by circumstances of the game noise and clutter after a game Etc and the second part of that question you kind of touched on there a little bit is is you know are you beginning to see some of those Hallmarks with this team right some of those mile markers that you can point to for progress in in turning this thing around and finding a way to win in year one and is that something that you kind of continue to build especially in year one as you get through you know let's say the early part of this season absolutely it's day-to-day week to week process uh no question about it and and I have seen uh you know the things we're looking for from this team uh but you know you got to keep strengthening those the JMU crew coming in has really helped coming from a championship culture and then some of the other new guys from winning programs that have great attitudes and we've had a lot of the guys that have returned uh you know I mean the offensive line you know they're always blue collar with Bob and uh and but you know I've seen a lot of progress and uh but still ways to go yeah and Coach when you think about you know where you were when you left the spring right there was still a lot of work to be done roster wise and you made a lot of that a lot of movement there you know in the time between spring and fall um if you compare it now to where we were in the spring and and where you're at now are there there players in position groups that have have taken a step forward in your mind well I think the defensive line for sure has taken a big step forward and needs to be a strength to this football team uh because you know defense travels and it all starts up front and uh we need them to be great every day every game every play uh and play with a high standard and Pat count you know he does a good job of making sure in Buddha that that happens but uh that that group looks a lot different than it did in the spring yeah and and as you look at that unit as a whole on the defensive side what stands out to you about the way that they're going to try to attack offenses well I think that you know our goals to be really good against a run and be disruptive and put pressure on a quarterback and I think we have the ability to do that now we just got to hold up on the back end yeah exactly right um and you know that was gonna hit on that too because you know you you go back and look at it historically your defenses with Coach haes have been able to stop the run and they've been able to get after the passer and wreak a little bit of that Havoc right in the opposing team's uh Back Field um do you feel like you you have the the the Personnel to get after the passer that way the way you have in the past you do you have to scheme some of that up as well and is it kind of a combination of both guys winning their one-on-one and then putting them in a position maybe to to find some advantageous matchups as well yeah you're exactly right I mean uh you know you're always going to look for to create positive one-on-one matchups or free guy up on a blitz uh so it's always changing there's a lot of moving Parts with our defense and week to week uh there'll always be new looks so I do think we have the ability to put pressure on the quarterback uh you know I think we've got some guys that can rush the passer and uh and stop the run so and I feel uh really good about our Corner situation a lot better than the spring uh you know with pawns and uh jir Johnson uh has really had a nice Camp so um you know I think that group uh has definitely looks a lot different than it did in the spring and it sounds like uh you know they've been tough covers uh tough tough outs as you've gone through Camp based off some of the things that that you've said following practices so how much better do you feel like that's made how much more Improvement has that fostered in the offense and in the quarterback position and the wide receivers to have that kind of competition level out on the Edge at corner well no doubt iron sh sharpens iron and uh the competition has been good up front o line dline receiver corner and competition makes you better so so and there you know there's some positions on this team where we have more depth and more uh competition and there's a couple positions where we don't quite have the depth maybe you'd like to have and we're still working on developing that depth so uh you know but Camp Camp's been good practic has improved every day and uh starting finishing uh playing hard playing play out uh getting guys to do their job is always the key of the drill uh you know one play at a time 11 guys doing their job I say it all the time it's not not addition it's multiplication and then Coach you know from the quarterback spot I think you know I think we always just assume quarterbacks step into a leadership role although we probably shouldn't assume that right it is something that has to be earned and something that you know the respect that you have to earn from your teammates do you feel like you're getting that from from the quarterback here early on especially you know when you got a guy like Curtis coming in in relatively short order kind of getting getting acclimated with these guys well you I think all quarterbacks lead in a different way depending on their personality uh it's not always talk uh sometimes it's through their actions or their credibility uh or their performance and uh you know Curtis is a guy he's not the most vocal guy in the world uh but you know he he earns his Respect by the way he approaches his craft and the success he has on the field now we get into the season we start having success and more and more that you know he develops more and more uh credibility with his teammates I mean he's very highly respected as it is right now so um the most important thing to me is he plays quarterback real well if he does that then everybody's gonna follow rest Falls in line right um man the skill position group is so exciting to me you know from the tight end spot to the wide receiver spot to the depth at running back and I know you're going to rotate and roll through those guys um just looking at that from the wide receiver spot uh how many guys do you envision kind of rolling through and having significant roles uh from that group probably six or seven because we are deep and uh you know you want those guys playing fast all the time and uh you you roll them you get them playing fast you get into a two-minute one minute drill rooll you know keep them playing fast and uh because we have a lot of capable guys out there and then Coach I know the the Nick Kidwell injury was uh was one that was tough to handle your personal relationship ship with him and all that he's already come back from but there was already some competition at the other guard spot right how how has the the Kidwell injury kind of affected the competition overall in the interior that offensive line yeah well I look back you know last five years we've lost allamerican all conference player usually upfront defense or offense every year since 19 and had to overcome it and did and uh you know you got uh Drew Evans Bray Lynch and Tyler Stevens they're all capable Guys Tyler Stevens is play played a lot of football and uh Lynch and Evans have been here and have developed so uh they're capable doing the job and uh they're getting better every day and then Coach uh you know you bring in we talked about the transfers a lot but you you know had a really talented group of true freshmen coming in as well a lot of them we saw a little bit in the spring um do do you envision a number of freshmen having significant roles true freshman this year as As you move forward or is that something that's still yet to be determined and developed I I don't really see that right now I I we're a pretty veteran team we got 31 or 32 seniors on this team because we had to hit the portal so hard last year so off the top of my head I don't really see a freshman maybe a red shirt freshman that's been here uh you know playing significantly at least early in the year yeah and lastly here coach um some technology advancements on the sidelines this year I know you guys been working with the headset and the helmet communication um but did want to talk to you about the tablets uh here briefly because I know I know you're a film guy I know you're a tape guy how much of that are you going to be looking at uh as the offense and defenses come off the field now that you have access to it on the sidelines well that'll be more the assistance on each side of the ball because I'll be on the offensive headset when the offense is on the field and the defense headset when the defense is on the field and uh that's new and we've had some uh practice at it in in our scrimmages and uh you know from what the information we have is uh you got to use it you you can't get too absorbed in it you gota you know spend some time on the tablet spend some time on what's coming up adjustments and be ready to go uh but it it'll help yeah and then lastly how how's your you know your quote unquote Green Dot players how have they kind of handled getting the play calls in from the sidelines into the helmet and filtering that out through the the rest of the units yeah I think that's been really beneficial and um it you know it's a great technology to have and you just hope it never goes down that's right that's right I know you're prepared for uh for all eventual possibilities as well though coach uh this has been so much fun you've been so gracious with your time we appreciate it can't wait to see everybody out there packing the rock on Saturday as you guys get rolling against FIU uh it's GNA be a fun year coach thanks again thanks for and there we go first installment of under the hood presented by your Central Indiana Ford dealers thanks for being with us we'll catch you next week