A big part of Indiana football’s rise under Curt Cignetti has come before the games ever start. It’s been built in the evaluation room, in the way the staff identifies the kind of players Cignetti wants, and in how closely the whole department has had to line up with that standard.
IU Director of Player Personnel Mike Ferrara, speaking on the Up Close In Personnel with Alex Brown podcast, gave a clear look at how that process works and how quickly it became obvious that Cignetti’s eye for talent came with a very specific checklist. Ferrara spent two years at LSU before joining Indiana in 2024, and he said the early stretch of Cignetti’s tenure was a revealing one for the recruiting staff.
Ferrara pointed to “competitive toughness” as a trait that shows up again and again in his evaluations. He said it can come through in conversations with recruits, whether on the phone or during campus visits, and that those interactions help reveal “the inner-workings of who that player is as a person.”
He also noted that Indiana got an early read on several players who transferred in from JMU and then showed exactly why Cignetti had trusted them before. Seeing them in spring practice and fall camp gave the staff a chance to compare the traits Cignetti valued at JMU with what would translate to the Big Ten at Indiana.
One player Ferrara singled out was Aiden Fisher, the No. 4 linebacker who has been with the Hoosiers for the last two years. Ferrara called him one of the toughest players he’s been around, describing Fisher as physical, aggressive, smart, and unwilling to leave the field. He said Fisher’s competitiveness is matched by leadership and a willingness to put his body on the line.
Ferrara also explained that Cignetti’s film study goes far beyond the obvious stuff. It isn’t just about whether a player can make a play with the ball or chase one down. For defensive backs and receivers especially, Cignetti wants to know whether they block, run the alleys, and throw their bodies around.
That mindset hit Ferrara early, when the staff watched film with Cignetti during their first weekend together. Ferrara said he was surprised when Cignetti zeroed in on how a receiver blocked, even though the player could obviously catch. Cignetti wanted to know whether the receiver was physical, aggressive, and willing to “put his face on someone.”
Ferrara said that moment changed the way the department thought about evaluation. None of them had worked with Cignetti at JMU, so they had to adapt their own approach to match his. The message was unmistakable: receivers had to block, and every player had to be ready to put his body on the line once he stepped between the white lines.
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