When 28-year-old Bryant Haines interviewed to be head coach Curt Cignetti’s defensive line coach at Indiana University-Pennsylvania in 2014, he heard only one typical question.
The interview marked the first meeting between Haines and Cignetti, though Haines’ brother, Tyler, was the offensive coordinator at IUP, offering a natural talking point. But after asking the young Haines to tell a little about himself, Cignetti went from small talk to his true passion: football.
“He opened the door, pulled me into the foyer and we talked ball for an hour and 25 minutes,” Haines said Aug. 16. “That was a good interview for me, that was a fun interview for me. So, it was Day 1 I recognized, ‘Oh, this guy, this is a ball coach. This is a ball guy.’ And that’s what we are.”
Haines also realized he and Cignetti are like-minded philosophically, from their desire to field tough, physical teams to the manner they approach X’s and O’s. Neither leave football in the office — it’s an around-the-clock commitment to finding a competitive edge.
The result of their similarities is a decade-long working relationship, which includes stops at Elon University, James Madison University and now, Indiana, where Cignetti is the head coach and Haines the defensive coordinator at a program yearning for a turnaround.
Haines feels loyal to Cignetti, who has promoted him from defensive line coach to linebackers coach to defensive coordinator whenever the opportunity has presented itself.
But Haines’ commitment to his boss runs deeper than schematics and job offers.
“I think he believes in me; I think he trusts me,” Haines said. “I feel the same way about him.”
And he’s far from alone.
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Cignetti stood next to Indiana offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, sharing a brief chat while the Hoosiers stretched before their 13th fall practice. Once the stretching period ended, redshirt junior defensive end Mikail Kamara hopped, skipped and energetically shouted to begin the next drill, urging heightened effort.
It was just past 9:35 a.m. Aug. 19, but it just as easily could have been any year from 2020 onward. Shanahan followed Cignetti from James Madison to Bloomington. So did Kamara — along with 12 other players and a bevy of assistant coaches.
Shanahan has been with Cignetti since 2016 with IUP. Like Haines, Shanahan believes he and Cignetti are aligned in scheme, principles and values. But apart from their shared philosophies, Shanahan said he thoroughly enjoys working with Cignetti — and called it a “no-brainer” to stay on his staff across three different transitions.
“I feel like I get pushed every single day to be the best I can be,” Shanahan said. “He does a good job of making sure every person in the building is someone that has high character and is fun to be around. It makes coming to work every day more enjoyable, whether it is coaches or players, anybody on his staff.”
This sentiment resonates with the Hoosiers’ 13 transfers from James Madison. Among them is seventh-year senior running back Ty Son Lawton, who transferred from Stony Brook University to James Madison in the spring of 2023.
In 2022, Lawton’s final season at Stony Brook, the Seawolves slumped to a 2-9 record. Lawton, who won back-to-back state championships at Curtis High School in Staten Island, New York, wanted to get back to winning.
Upon entering the transfer portal after the 2022 season, Lawton chose the Dukes, who were 41-8 in the four years since Cignetti arrived. After the first day of spring practice in 2023, he understood the means behind James Madison’s success.
“Not to pat myself on the back, but at Stony Brook, I was kind of the guy there,” Lawton said. “To get to JMU, I kind of got humbled. I never really took practice as serious until I got under Cig. That made me a better player.”
Those same practice habits have now been implemented at John Mellencamp Pavillion, where the Hoosiers hold their offseason workouts.
Sixth-year senior defensive lineman James Carpenter said Indiana’s practice style and structure are the same as at James Madison. So is Cignetti’s message and how he expresses it.
But it’s not bland. Instead, it’s rooted in results — and Cignetti’s career record of 119-35 says more than any emphatic locker room speech ever could.
“I believe in it 100%,” Carpenter said. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. I have full belief in Coach Cignetti.”
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When Cignetti first addressed his new-look roster — which has only 38 returners from last year, third fewest in Division I — he didn’t isolate the past Hoosiers, the non-James Madison transfers or any other groups.
Instead, he created unity.
“As soon as he got here, he said, ‘We’re all Indiana,’” receiver Donaven McCulley said.
Building chemistry proved difficult early due to the number of new faces, McCulley said, but bonds formed over summer workouts. Cignetti approached relationship-building differently, having little conversations and trying to put smiles on his players’ faces, be it in the locker room or when he sees them walking around.
Every whistle blown and quip made is done with one intent: building what’s quickly become known as “the winning mindset.”
In its simplest form, the mentality is about swagger, confidence and never backing down. In modern terms, it’s about aura. No matter the parameter, Cignetti carries the mindset in spades, and it’s spread throughout the team, sixth-year offensive lineman Mike Katic said.
“I think Coach Cig brings that when he walks into every room he comes in,” Katic said. “He has that swagger, that winning mentality, and all the coaches follow suit. All the transfers from JMU bring that as well. So, it’s just everyone coming together, a big melting pot of players and coaches — it’s a big winning mentality and I’m excited to see how it goes.”
Carpenter noted the James Madison transfers hold the responsibility to preach Cignetti’s mindset to the returning Hoosiers. Senior linebacker Jailin Walker, who played at James Madison for the past three years, said he’s trying to engrave it in the rest of the locker room.
For Walker, the mentality has been bred into him by Cignetti. For Indiana, which is 9-27 over the past three seasons, winning has been foreign. That’s why Cignetti overhauled the roster, culture and mindset of the program.
The result, Carpenter said, is clear growth in the “aura” within the Hoosiers’ locker room.
“When we got here in the spring, it maybe wasn’t there as much,” Carpenter said. “But I think now, over the winter, spring workouts and especially fall camp, these guys are picking up on it. I think we’re in a good place.”
Lawton initially planned on entering the NFL Draft after the 2022 season. His journey lasted two more years collegiately, and he’s spent both with Cignetti. This spring, he became one of four transfer running backs.
Even with goals of extending his playing career beyond college, Lawton embraced the deep room and lofty competition. Why? The fun of winning — something he plans on experiencing again this fall.
“Just the winning mindset,” Lawton said. “I just wanted to get that winning feeling again. Being 11-1 last year [at James Madison], I feel like we can do that again this year.”
***
Cignetti stands on the sideline with a play sheet in one hand and a pen in the other. It’s Aug. 19, and Cignetti’s head is turned to the right, watching as Indiana’s offense works through redzone simulations. After surveying the play, Cignetti puts notes on his sheet, describing what he likes — and doesn’t like — about the rep.
This isn’t new to coaching, but it is to Indiana.
Former Indiana head coach Tom Allen, who was fired due to a lack of performance at the end of last season, was known for his energy. He jubilantly bounced around the practice field, making stops at each position on both sides of the ball. He often carried a megaphone.
Cignetti doesn’t need the megaphone. He is, however, intentional with what he says. When the Hoosiers practiced a play action passing concept Aug. 19, Cignetti yelled at McCulley and fellow receiver Ke’Shawn Williams to be tighter to the line of scrimmage, communicate and point to who they’re blocking, hoping to sell opponents on the play’s fake handoff portion.
At other times, Cignetti pulls his players off to the side.
During practice Aug. 13, redshirt sophomore receiver Omar Cooper Jr. ran an over route from one side of the field to the other, but not as far up the field as Cignetti wanted. So, the 63-year-old Cignetti told the 20-year-old Cooper how the route is supposed to be run, noting he expects better from the Indianapolis native.
“On the field, he’s going to tough-love coach you,” Cooper said. “But at the end of the day, he’s going to come back to you and tell you if he’s happy about what you did and just trying to progressively get closer, find some way to get closer with us.”
Six days after his moment with Cooper, Cignetti watched Williams run a flat route toward the left sideline. As the horn sounded to end the second period of practice, Cignetti took five seconds to critique Williams’ route.
Cignetti’s coaching style is different from what Indiana had last year with Allen — and different, Cooper said, is better.
“I love Coach Allen, but last year, he wasn’t as hard on us and yelling at us to pick up the tempo,” Cooper said. “The fast-paced practice last year was kind of a little slower, so that was a little different. But I actually like how it’s fast paced and we’re able to get through it and go from one station to another.”
McCulley wore the brunt — at least publicly — of Cignetti’s hard coaching in the spring, when the latter said the former needed to step up his level of play. McCulley, Indiana’s leading receiver last season, told Cignetti this winter he wanted to be coached intensively, which he experienced at Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis but not as much under Allen.
The dramatic shift in personas from the exuberant Allen to the stone-cold Cignetti forced McCulley to adjust. Lawton, who faced a similar culture shock transitioning from Stony Brook to James Madison, said he now understands — and appreciates — Cignetti’s style.
“He’s a hell of a coach,” Lawton said. “I feel like he doesn’t really do any wrong. He takes care of us. We have scheduled practices some days. Some days, he’ll cancel them, give us an off day. He’s very good at taking care of his players.”
Redshirt junior defensive back Jamier Johnson, one of the carryovers from last year’s Hoosiers squad, said Cignetti has implemented professionalism, winning formulas and the notion that every day is a workday.
This wasn’t always the case under Allen — particularly as the last three seasons slipped away. In 2023, Katic, a captain, said it was difficult to keep his teammates mission-focused and together. He also said the Hoosiers won’t have any such problems this year because of the way Cignetti runs the show.
“I think last year as a team, we didn’t really stay as connected as the season went on,” Katic said. “People were kind of checking out early. Once we knew we weren’t bowl eligible, guys were just not practicing hard, not playing hard. I think the standard Coach Cig brings, it’s not going to be like that.”
At each stop, from IUP to Elon and James Madison, Cignetti has won, and won quickly. Shanahan believes such early success is due to Cignetti striking the right chords on priorities and helping players find habits that help be successful.
But also, Shanahan said, it’s from creating that mindset — the one that includes handling adversity, buying in to the culture and holding an undying belief in his team’s success.
Now, the Hoosiers will try to turn mentality into reality — and Cignetti’s era officially starts at 3:30 p.m. Saturday against Florida International University inside Memorial Stadium.
Much is new for the Hoosiers, from the players on the field to the concession stands off it. But there’s also something fresh inside the locker room: An identity, a mission, built not on rhetoric, but results.
Follow reporters Daniel Flick (@ByDanielFlick) and Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and columnist Jhett Garrett (@jhettgarrett) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
