The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast - Klatt’s Midseason Awards and Indiana Head Coach Curt Cignetti joins the show!

Episode Date: October 15, 2025

As we enter the 2nd half of the season, FOX Sports’ lead College Football analyst Joel Klatt reveals his Midseason Award winners for the major awards in College Football. He gives his 5 candidates for each and picks his winner for awards like the Heisman Trophy, Defensive Player of the Year, Biletnikoff, Coach of the Year and more. Klatt then welcomes in the Head Coach of Indiana, Curt Cignetti to discusses his team’s landscape-altering win at Oregon over the weekend and get into the secrets behind the Hoosiers’ rise to the top of college football. 0:00-1:53 Intro1:54-3:20 Joel dives into the mailbag3:21-6:40 Heisman candidates6:41-8:57 DPOY candidates8:58-11:47 Biletnikoff candidates11:58-14:49 Doak Walker candidates14:50-20:44 Broyles Award20:45-26:04 Coach of the Year26:05-42:12 Curt Cignetti joins the show! Use my code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/KLATT10Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I sort of had to be out there a little bit, and I made some comments, let's face it. We really don't talk about championships and stuff like that. We talk more about what goes in to being the best you can be. If there were 25 hours in a day, he'd spent all 25 preparing. What he's done over the last year and a half at Indiana is remarkable. He's the best player in college football. That's the most dominant unit in college football. That's why we love college football.

Hey, what's up everybody? Welcome into the Joel Clatt show. I'm Joel Clatt. This show is brought to you by graduate by Hilton. We thank them for their support, as always. Cannot wait for today's show. We got some mid-season awards coming at you through the mailbag, plus a very special guest, Kurt Signetti,

after that big win over Oregon last weekend, is going to join the show here. Today, we cannot wait for that. That's coming up in just a little bit. Hey, first, remember, subscribe to the show. We continue to grow, and we thank you for that growth. If you are already subscribed, just share it with a friend. That would be awesome.

And if you haven't subscribed yet, go ahead, click that button down below. And that would help us out. We very much appreciate it. If you want to follow us on social media, we're out there as well. You can get our content in shorter forms throughout the week and throughout the year. That is at Joel Clat Show, wherever you like to social media. Like I said, we're going to get into the mailbag today. Plus, we've got Kurtziknetti.

And I was going through and we solicited some questions out there on social. And it kind of like hit us. And there was a lot of questions in this vein. about kind of like mid-season. And where do we stand? Who are the players that are playing best? And we thought, how about we go mid-season awards? So who's got questions?

Let's open up Joel's mailbag, presented by graduate by Hilton, the smartest place to stay in your favorite college towns. You know, I love to stay there. All of these different places that I go, not only do I get to stay in a great hotel, but it's got that college feel, the nostalgic feel. The graduates are awesome products.

I highly recommend them. Anytime you're in these college towns, they're really awesome. So let's get into the mailbag, and we've got this one from Jeff V. Jeff throws us a question. He says, big fan of the show. Thank you, Jeff. Now that it's halfway through the season, which players have looked the best to you?

Can't wait to watch you call the Washington game this weekend go Huskies. Yes, I can't wait to cover Washington. Jedfish has done a remarkable job. That team should be ranked. There's no doubt in my mind. Demand Williams is fantastic. They travel to Michigan. Big noon Saturday, Gus Jenny and I on the call on Saturday, live from the big house.

So we took that question and it's like, hey, why not we just go superlatives? And we take stock and where we're at as far as all these college awards. So I'm going to go through a few of these awards. I'm going to talk about the Heisman, Coach of the Year, the Broils Award, Bolitnikov, Doak, Doak Walker, defensive player of the year. And I'm going to list to you five candidates that I think have played the best or coached the best in every one of these categories. Then I'm going to fall on like my mid-season. winner in every one of these categories. So here we go. Mid-season awards. Let's start with the

Heisman Trophy because what we thought was going to be a real quarterback-centric race with, you know, Cade Klubnick and Archmanning and Garrett Nussmeyer, all of those guys have fallen off. And there's new quarterbacks that have risen up this board and are right now, I think, in my top five for the Heisman trophy. I start with Ty Simpson. These are, by the way, in no particular order. Then I'll pick my mid-season winner. Ty Simpson at Alabama has been absolutely great for Bama. He makes huge throws, the fourth down throw against Missouri, the throws that he made against Wisconsin,

the game that I was preparing, watching, and preparing for that Wisconsin-Michigan game, or unreal. This guy is fantastic, and when they protect him, he's tremendous. 16 touchdowns just one interception. He's certainly a candidate. Fernando Mendoza from Indiana, leader of that Indiana offense, which right now looks like as balanced and as good of an offense

as there is in college football. He's got 19 total touchdowns, only two turnovers. So this guy's playing out of his mind. He's a terrific fit there at Indiana. Carson Beck at Miami, certainly in the running, has shown no effects of that elbow injury that we were concerned about last spring. He's leading this Miami team. And they're number two in the country, number three in my poll. That is clearly one of the best teams in the country. So Beck, absolutely in the conversation to get to New York. A couple of guys here that maybe wouldn't show up on everybody's list, but certainly on mine. And this is one, guys, he's just, he's the best player in college football, Jeremiah Smith at Ohio State. He draws so much attention because otherwise he's just going to destroy you.

He's got eight total touchdowns and only six games since he stepped foot on campus in Columbus as a true freshman. No one has been more dominant on the outside than Jeremiah Smith. So he's in there for me, one of the candidates. And then Haynes King from Georgia Tech rounds out my top five for the Heisman. They're undefeated at Tech. He's running for over 100 yards per game against power four opponents this season. He's only got four passing touchdowns, but nine on the ground. And any big game, I just immediately think to myself,

Haynes King is going to play well. So he's in there for me in my top five. So there you go, Simpson, Mendoza, Beck, Smith, and King. And my mid-season winner for the Heisman Trophy right now, the leader in the clubhouse, if you want to call it the clubhouse, or at the turn. I should say at the turn, right, if that's halfway through, is Fernando Mendoza. He has led Indiana to now a top five ranking, and this is Indiana folks. They're top three in the country and touchdowns. He has taken what is a really good offense and what was a very good offense a year ago and taking it to another level.

His efficiency and accuracy, he's tremendous. they've got great wide receivers on the outside. Cooper and Elijah Surrat. They can run the football. The offensive line has been good, but he has been really the catalyst. He makes such good throws. He's very accurate. Love when he throws it to the back shoulder. And he has orchestrated what I think is the best win of the season for any college team, what they did last week at Oregon, in particular, coming back after the pick six, and he comes back and puts together their best drive and a great back shoulder throw for the touchdown to take the lead. So there you go. There's my mid-season for the Heisman Trophy, Fernando Mendoza at Indiana.

Let's go to the defensive player of the year. You know, we can call it the Nogerski, if you will. All right, here's my five, no particular order. Ruben Bain from Miami has been outstanding, an absolute force on that defensive line from Miami and one of the best units in college football. That defense has been terrific. Arvel Reese at Ohio State has been an absolute missile on the field at all times.

He's highly impactful on that defense. and what has been the best defense in college football. Cassius Howell at Texas A&M, he's tremendous. If you have not seen Texas A&M play defense, they are playing as well as anybody out there. In fact, their ability to get off the field on third down right now is becoming historic. Their last three opponents are two for their last 33 on third down.

A big part of that is Cassius Howell and his ability to rush the passer. He's been unblockable this season. He's got eight sacks. So Howells in the top five. David Bailey at Texas Tech. That's another defense that not many people expect to be great, but their turnaround has been significant. They play really good defense, and it starts up front.

He's tied for the FBS lead with eight and a half sacks. He leads the country in quarterback pressures. The transfer in up there up front for Texas Tech, David Bailey has been terrific. And then similar in the Jeremiah Smith vein, the best defender is Caleb Downs. So he's in my top five. And Downs is a type of guy.

I've never heard offensive coordinators as worried about a non-pass rusher in my life in college football covering this sport. Every single coordinator that I talk to that is going to face Ohio State or talks about Ohio State's defense. They talk about the versatility of Caleb Downs and his impact on the game. He's tremendous. He's in the top five. But my winner at the mid-season point at the turn is going to be Ruben Bain from Miami. I don't care that he only has a couple of sacks this season. He is wrecking every single game that he plays in.

His energy, his ability to stop the run and rush the passer has been incredible. They've got a great win over Notre Dame. They've been dominant in other games. Granted, they got a little tired at the end of that Florida State game and allowed the Seminoles to get back in that game. But, man, Rubin Bain has been terrific. So he is going to be my defensive player of the year here at the Midway Point. Let's go to the Bolitnikov, the wide receivers out around the country.

Who do we got? top five. Let's start with no particular order. Mackay Limited USC. He's currently third in the country in receiving. He's got 114 yards per game, and he's been tremendous. And they've been doing this at points without Jacoby Lane on the other side. So he's been the focal point of that offense at times, and he has come through. He's got a great feel for space. He's got great hands. He's tough. He goes over the middle and catches a lot of those passes from Miyava. And USC's offense has been maybe the best offense in the country during the course of this season. So Makai Lemon is in there.

Bolitnikov top five Mario Craver, Texas A&M. So Lemon and then Craver, he's a big threat at every turn. His speed, we saw it against Notre Dame. He went for over 200 yards in that win in South Bend against Notre Dame. And Notre Dame has proven to be a lot better. You know, everyone's like, well, is Notre Dame very good? Yes, they're still very good. Remember, they went in there and just absolutely pounded Arkansas.

It's an Arkansas team that was within three of Tennessee on the road. So Craver is in there. Obviously, Jeremiah Smith is going to be in there in any Blitnikov conversation because he's the best wide receiver in college football. His ability to win and draw attention makes them a better offense. So he's in the top five. How about Chris Brasel from Tennessee? He has been tremendous in that deep choice offense for Josh Hyple.

They've been great. Joey Aguilar has been terrific at quarterback. Brazell has three games with over 100 yards, including that incredible performance against Georgia. He's got seven touchdowns on the season, so Brazell's in the top five. He's been fantastic. And then Elijah Surat at Indiana, seven touchdowns this season. The last two games, he's gone over 120 yards against Iowa and Oregon. Those are two good defenses now.

All right. And Sarat, he is open all the time because he's great in the contested catch on the back shoulder. he runs clean routes, and he has become somewhat of a safety blanket for Fernando Mendoza. So I love what he's doing so far this season. And my winner is Jeremiah Smith. We don't need to overthink this. He's the best wide receiver in college football. If you're going to give an award to the best receiver in college football,

it's going to go to Jeremiah Smith. Eight total touchdowns in the six game. The only reason he doesn't have huge number is because he's double-teamed almost all the time. Ohio State hasn't needed to step on the gas yet. when they shift into third gear and then into fourth gear. This guy is going to continue to have a monster season. Obviously, Tate's been great on the other side, but this guy is the best individual player in the sport,

and he would be my Bolitnikov at the mid-season point. All right, we go to the Doke Walker Award. All right, let's talk about some of these running backs. Ahmad Hardy at Missouri, been tremendous. Again, no particular order. Hardy leads the power for in rushing in his first season at Missouri. five straight 100-yard games before that Bama game. He was not great against Bama. Probably prevents me from picking him here, but maybe I will. I don't know. We'll have to wait and see.

This is a type of guy, though, that allows them to be balanced with Bo Perbula. Missouri is very good. They had a chance late in that game against Alabama. And with their schedule, you never know if they could get themselves back in a position to potentially go to Atlanta and play for the SEC championship game. Justice Haynes at Michigan has been tremendous. I know he got banged up against USC, but he's a big play threat for Michigan this year. He's got five runs of over 40 yards. So Justice Haynes has been clearly one of the five best backs in college football. Another guy that got banged up and he probably won't be here at the end of the season,

but at this point has to be included is Wayman Jordan, USC. Jordan's averaging over 100 per game. He got hurt obviously against Michigan, but he was on his way to another 100. and really that disrupted what they needed to do against USC. Unfortunately, he's going to be out four to six weeks. He's got a tightrope surgery on that ankle, so hopefully he can get healthy and get back in the lineup before Michigan. They'll certainly miss him this week when they take on Washington.

Jeremiah Love for Notre Dame has got to get included in these lists because after a slow start against Miami, he's now at 115 scrimmage yards per game. He's got 11 total touchdowns over his last five. He's a dominant player. And when they lean into that balance, he makes them better. And he makes C.J. Carr better. Their quarterback who's been tremendous as a freshman, probably one of the best freshmen in the country.

So Love is in the top five. And then a guy I'll see this week, Jonah Coleman. Again, no one's paying attention to Washington. But Jonah Coleman at Washington has been outstanding. He's fifth in the country in scrimmage yards. He leads the FBS in touchdowns with 12. So he's got a nose for the goal line. and when you watch him play, he is electric.

I really love what Jonah Coleman does, and he's been doing it behind an offensive line that's been banged up for the most part. Lost their really good left tackle. They'll be without that left tackle for this weekend's game against Michigan. So Coleman is in the top five. And my winner, even though he didn't play great

against Alabama in the second half in particular, is going to be Ahmad Hardy. He has not missed a beat, transferring in from Louisiana Monroe into the SEC, nearly seven yards per carry this season for 130 yards per game. So he's just been the most productive guy in the country. And that's why I'm going to go with Amad Hardy. I probably would have gone with Justice Haynes or Wayman Jordan,

except for the injuries that they suffered last weekend in a game against each other. But I'm going to go with Amad Hardy here from Missouri. I think he's been absolutely tremendous. All right, let's go to some coaching awards now. Let's go to the Broils Award. Braw's Award goes to the top assistant in college football. A lot of good candidates for this one, by the way. Some really great performances from coordinators around the country.

Let me start with Blake Baker, the defensive coordinator at LSU. He has led what has now become a top five defense. And last year, they were 59th. 59th. So this drastic turnaround for LSU, that was a big question coming into this year, was how Blake Baker was going to be able to handle or fix this defense. and he's done a marvelous job. They've been tremendous on the defensive side.

I think the shocking part for a lot of us is how they've struggled offensively with Garrett Nussmeyer and what we thought was going to be a high-powered offense has never materialized. So they've had to lean on the defense, and Blake Baker has shown up. He's done a marvelous job for them on the defensive side. How about Bryant Haynes, the defensive coordinator at Indiana? They shut down Oregon's offense last week. They shut down Illinois' offense, which scored 16 against.

Ohio State. They only scored 10 against Indiana. Haines does such a unique job of attacking the specific weaknesses of the opposing offense. It's really wonderful film to watch. And they do it in a unique nature. They let their linemen play. Then the linebackers fit off of that, which is not the norm in college football. I know that's some technical stuff. But it's unique. And he's been with Cignetti since James Madison. He brought a lot of those James Madison players to Indiana. And that defense has been absolutely tremendous, like one of the best defenses in all of college football. The best defense in college football is Matt Patricia and Ohio State. So he's in the list.

Patricia has been fantastic. Oh, I missed one. Sorry. Mike Shanahan, the offensive coordinator at Indiana also gets thrown in here. They were really good last year, but they've been even better this year. So Mike Shanahan gets thrown in there and then Matt Patricia. Shanahan, top offense, I think in college football in a lot of ways, They attack your weaknesses, their top five in the country.

Their balance is tremendous. And Shanahan has been doing this now multiple years in a row and now with a new quarterback. Then we get to Patricia. Sorry, I went a little out of order there. Kudos to the staff, by the way. We got the best staff in America at the Joel Clashio. They're on point. They handle all of my mistakes.

And that's just evidence right there. Patricia, defensive coordinator at Ohio State. Leader of the number one defense in the country, and that's a defense that lost all of those. NFL players a year ago. There was big questions about what this defense was going to look like. They lost Jim Knowles to Penn State. And, you know, I like Jim, but this seems like an upgrade. And he's, he has orchestrated right now what has been the best defense and the most intricate defense from a scheme system. They run an NFL style of defense, and he's taught those guys so

well. They're really fast, hybrid players that are also very smart. And that, combination has been tremendous. Last guy in here, Sheel Wood, the defensive coordinator at Texas Tech, he took over a defense that last year was 122nd in scoring. 122nd. Guess where they sit right now? 6th. Sixth. Shield Wood came from Houston, and now he's a coordinator for Joey McGuire, and he's been tremendous. I thought about Mack Leftwich as well, their offensive coordinator in this list, but their offense was really good a year ago. And, and, so he didn't orchestrate the turnaround that now Sheel Wood has orchestrated. Jacob Rodriguez, their linebacker, is probably a guy that could have easily been on my top five for the defensive player of the year.

He's certainly going to be right there when you think about the Buck Kiss Award as the top linebacker in the country. And their turnaround has been drastic. Sheel Wood has done an incredible job. It came down to he, Sheel Wood, and Matt Patricia for my winner. I'm going to go with Patricia because, again, you lose all those draft picks. and then that's the most dominant unit in college football. So Patricia has come in with that NFL system and he uses those guys and he puts them in a position to succeed.

Patricia has been really a revelation in a lot of ways at Ohio State, taking a side of the ball that already finished number one in the country a year ago and he has improved them after losing all of those draft picks, having to replace every starter on the defensive line. He's been tremendous, a joy to talk to, really enjoy talking. football with him. Guys won Super Bowls, and he's brought that mentality into Ohio State. That's a defense that is a staggeringly good defense.

And again, it has allowed them to be patient on offense and just bring their young quarterback up to speed through really the halfway point of the season. Hey, Clatio fans, it's time to get out and do something fun, whether it's catching a game, seeing a concert, or attending another live event. So I want to give the sponsor of today's episode, Seat Geek, a massive shoutout. With over 35 million downloads, Seatgeek is the number one rated ticketing app. They've got more than 70,000 events listed, everything from sports and concerts to festivals and much more. We're in the thick of college football, the NFL season, MLB playoffs, all are going on.

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Here we go. Kurt Signetti is going to be on the list, obviously. One coach of the year last year and has his Indiana team in a position where they're even better. And, you know, I saw this stat. If you look at the talent composite, a lot of teams that are in the top 10 and playing at the top of college football right now, they have a top end roster. If you look at the composite roster for Indiana, which the players play better than this, they're more mature and I don't love this stat.

However, it just gives you some idea of the level. of coach that Kurt Signetti is, their talent composite is in the 70s. So that means that they're, I think it's like 74th, I want to say something along those lines. I could be wrong, but right around there, mid-70s as far as the talent on the roster in college football. And yet here they are, top five, win at Oregon, thump Illinois at home. And you look up, they absolutely could be and should be 12 and 0 in Indianapolis facing like that. the Buckeyes in the Big Ten championship game for the right to have the top seed in the college football playoffs. So Kurt Signetti is clearly in there. Mario Cristobal at Miami, he has built

Miami into a team in his own image. They're physical at the point of attack, both sides of the ball defensively and offensively. In the trenches, they can win. It makes them real. It makes them real. So Cristobal has done a great job. Joey McGuire at Texas Tech. How about this? Because remember, it's not just about what you do on the field, it's also how you build your roster. And this is a guy that went out and transformed his roster with a tremendous investment from all of their boosters, and that's been well documented. But he has orchestrated them and hired the right assistant coaches, in particular, these two new coordinators, and now has them in the top 10.

And what is, in my estimation, the clear favorite in the Big 12. This is absolutely a playoff team. They're very good. And they're battling some injuries right now, defensive line injuries, quarterback injuries, and yet they keep trucking. really thumped Kansas, even with their backup quarterback in there for the bulk of the game. Mike Elko, at Texas A&M, he's been tremendous. Just his second year in college station, he's got the Aggies in the top 10, and in a lot of ways right now,

in the driver's seat in the SEC. Their defense has been great, and that's his specialty, but their offense has also been balanced and very good. They've thrown the ball to win at Notre Dame. They've been able to run the football. Their quarterback, Marcel Reed, he's tremendous in terms of the way. that he runs the ball. And I just have this feeling that they're going to be hard to beat. They're going to be very hard to beat. I fully expect Mike Elko and the Aggies to be playing in

Atlanta for the SEC championship. I think that they're that good and he's done that good of a job. And then the last one is Ryan Day. He loses 14 draft picks and they might even be better this year. So when you think about roster retention and building and then having a culture in a system that can be better year over year. They win the national championship. They have 14 draft picks and here they are the unquestioned number one team in the country. He has done such a good job. Remember, he's got the highest winning percentage right now in the history of college football over 880. And they just don't dip. And, you know, Day has been tremendous. I know that there's always a lot of talk about Ryan Day and his own four record in the last four

years against Michigan, but man, that's a good program. And in a lot of ways, he has elevated them as the defending national champ and the number one team in the country right now as the preeminent program in the sport. But the winner at the midseason point for me is going to be Kurt Signetti. Again, this is not a roster that you would expect to compete in top 10. And yet, here they are, not only competing, but dominating in the top 10. That win at Oregon was a ground shift. shaking win in college football. It is a seismic event when you take a program like Indiana that has had little to no success in their history, certainly in modern vintage. And then now all of a sudden they're sitting there and there are a bona fide national championship contender. What he's

done over the last year and a half at Indiana is remarkable. Up there with some of the great turnarounds in the history of the sport. I think about Bill Snyder and what he did at Kansas State. I think about what Gary Barnett did at Northwestern, taking them to a Rose Bowl. Those are the turnarounds that I look at, and I think to myself, man, that's as good as it ever was in college football as far as taking a place that hasn't had success and turning them into a national power. And here he's done it with Indiana in a day and age that, let's be honest, I think it's harder to do so with the brand name and the ability to nationally recruit, the ability of

these big boys to go out there and pillage the transfer portal. And here he is with a roster that's in the mid-70s in the composite. And they're clearly a national championship contender. So Kurt Signetti is my coach of the year. And he just so happens to be on deck right now on the Joel Clash Show. And here he is Kurt Signetti, head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers. Coach, thank you for joining us, man. How are you? Doing great, buddy. Trying to get a first down, you know, Tuesday. That's normal down the distance and second and long. Here's what I love about you is that you downplay everything. So this is, by the way, this is our, when we go in for meetings with Kurt Signetti and everything, how are you doing?

He's like, well, we're just trying to get a first down. Even though you just beat Oregon on the road and they were 41 and one in their last 42 home games. So you're doing a little better than that. Pretty good win. Oh, man. I love it. So here's the deal. I want to make sure, that I am doing you and your players, not just a solid, but treating you guys the right way. There's no doubt because of your success, people are going to put you on the shortest of short lists for whatever coaching opening there is out there. But I don't want to ask you about that. I don't think it's fair to you.

I don't think it's fair to your teammates or your team more specifically. In particular, being a former player, I don't want to hear my coach talk about that. So I don't want to talk about that out of respect for you and your players. What I do want to talk about, though, is this idea and plan that you at Indiana can not only build something special, but be a perennial power. You know, there seems to be a decent financial backing. I'm sure you want to see that increase. There's obviously a large revenue share from the Big Ten, which is the biggest revenue conference in America. and there's also the news of that private equity deal that could potentially infuse every Big Ten team with a quiet amount of resources.

So this idea, coach, that you can be a perennial power at Indiana. How does that sound? Well, sounds good. I'll take it. How much it costs? We've come a long way in a short amount of time. And Pam Whitten and Scott Dulse and Pam being the president have really committed to football financial. And obviously it takes a strong financial commitment. Being in the Big Ten, obviously, brings a few more dollars. And, you know, we've come a long way, but, you know, facility-wise, there's things we want to do.

And obviously, with RevShare and NIL, you know, you want to be in the top third league in resources, you know, to be able to compete and get to where you want to get to. I don't think that far down the road in terms of perennial this or that. I'm more focused in on today and trying to get the most out today, which is today, you know, Michigan State and trying to get a few first downs to maybe kick a field goal. But, you know, all the oars are paddling in the same direction here, which is important. and, you know, our team knows that, you know, I have 100% commitment to developing this football team to its full as potential. I love the people that I report to, love living here. People in Bloomington have been great.

The response in the state of Indiana has been terrific. But I also understand that, you know, success is very temporary. You know, like coming off a big win at Oregon, a great football team. extremely well coached, a lot of good players. And it was a great program win, you know, that now it's time to rip off the rearview mirrors, so to speak, and the whole key is going to be our response because tomorrow's next week's big news will be all based on what we do today.

And, you know, this team's met every challenge up to this point because how we prepare and our ability to focus, eliminate the noise and the clutter, control the controllables, we have high standards. And, you know, you got to stack meetings and days, and put yourself in the best position to be successful on Saturday, but then you've got to put it on the field and play one to 150. And, you know, proud of the way we play, first, play to last play.

Really, in all three phases, been pretty consistent this year. So, you know, I really believe in college football this time of year, it's who shows up ready to play. Yeah. Like the first game or two, everybody shows up ready to play. After that, you know, who's got the right mind? set, who's prepared, because 95% of teams in P4, anybody can beat anybody on any given day. And Michigan State's a good football team. They got good players. They got good coaches.

And, you know, we need to be at our best. So if you wouldn't mind just leaving that rearview mirror up for just a moment, because that was, you know, a seismic win in a lot of ways throughout college football, the ripple effects throughout college football. You guys are clearly a top-end team that, yes, any given week can beat anybody in the country at this point. And now that's evident. And I think that you could win a national championship if you play to that level every week. Now, that's the question. But in that game, what impressed you most about the way that your guys played and handled that environment? Well, you know, I thought we had a great mindset going in.

You know, you don't go on the road and have a great win. without a great mindset, you know. And one thing about our team, we have a lot of veterans that have had a lot of success at this level. At Big Ten Media Day, somebody had thrown a stat at me that we had more games started on our roster than any other team in the Big Ten and by far.

So not only are we a veteran team, but we have great character and leadership on this team, you know, which is important. What impressed me was, you know, was a physical hard-fought football game. But the way we responded to adversity throughout the game, we never doubted. We had an indomitable will, so to speak, you know, and very resilient and found a way at the end. And, you know, we took a tomb physically. In fact, our defense was just outstanding in the second half. I mean, held them to three points, two interception,

41 total yards other than the last prevent defense drive. And, you know, six sacks on the quarterback, eight TFLs, offensively responded to every one of their scores, two nine, play 75-yard touchdowns, and a great drive with 24 seconds going a half, kicked 58-yard field goal. And that's two weeks in a row. We've done that now.

And special teams were huge. So our team rose to the occasion. They never doubted. and, you know, they played the first play, the last play, didn't look at the scoreboard, the circumstances of the game. And, you know, they were happy, you know, it was a big win for the program, obviously, on national scale. But I was very confident going into the game.

There's always a question about how you're really going to match up because they're extremely impressive on tape, and let's face it, against the high state Notre Dame, we didn't do so hot. So, yeah, good news. day, pretty good day. There's, here's, I'm going to, I'm going to throw myself under the bus, because why do you think people and pundits, myself included, have been slow to come around on you guys this year after what you were able to do a year ago? Well, I think, you know,

last year, we were kind of like the media darling until, you know, the playoff rankings started come out around week nine or 10 whenever that was. And, and let's face it, I was kind of out there last year too publicly. You know, when I got the job here day one, there were a lot of things that kind of rubbed me the wrong way, you know, the vibe I was getting just a general reaction to football. And, you know, I sort of had to be out there a little bit. And I made some comments, let's face it. It was a little bit out of character for me, but I thought that's what this program needed, someone to kind of carry the flag, lead the charge, to create the vision, you know, not afraid of the big boys.

I feel like we established ourselves last year, and this year can just sort of focus in on coaching football and the process of coaching football. So I think a lot of people were maybe a little down on us going into the year because of the way we played against Ohio State and Notre Dame. And let's face it, you know, college athletics, college football has really changed a lot.

you know, in the last five, 10, 15 years. And there's a division. There's no doubt about it in the media. And a lot of it's tied into whatever TV network is covering which conference. And then you're going to have sports writers that support those schools and are against the other schools. So there is definitely a great divide. Let's go into that process. You just mentioned it right there.

You're now 17 and 2 at Indiana, you know, since you came in and you were frustrated with how people viewed football. And, yeah, I mean, you were out there. But by the way, that provided a tremendous amount of energy to your program. And I feel like a level of confidence for your players that their coach believed that they could go out and do it and do it at the highest level. You've won everywhere you've been famously. And everyone wonders in like, well, what's the secret? And I have a feeling, you know, for you, the answers that you've always given me is about the process. So what is the process that allows you to be this successful? Well, I mean, you got to have a blueprint and a plan, but it's all about people.

You got to surround yourself with the right people, on your staff, and on the roster, too. You know, I'm big in recruiting high character guys. I think there's a lot of guys out there that can play winning football, and a big part of our job is development. You know, what we do with them in the wait room, off-season program, but also on the practice field and in the meetings. So we're highly structured and organized. We have really high standards and expectations. And there's accountability throughout the entire program, how you do something's how you do everything.

So, you know, we want to be where our feet are and improve as much as we can every single day. And we really don't talk about championships and stuff like that. We talk more about what goes in to being the best you can be. You know, the commitment level, the discipline, the work ethic, the consistency and performance. the attention to detail, positive energy, things of that nature. And, you know, the kids have bought into the program through the years.

I've been very fortunate to have great consistency on my coaching staff. You know, my offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, I hired as part-time coaches at the D2 level for about $8,000. And those guys have been with me, you know, 11, 12 years. And Grant Kane, and that would be Bryant Haynes and Mike Shanahan. and Grant Kane, my special teams coordinator, has been with me about six, seven years, and we're in top five in the country lately at the end of the year,

you know, in teams, and we've been really, really good this season. But a number of other people in the organization have been with me a long time. So they know how we do things. They know how I am, the expectation level. I try to keep those guys fresh, you know. I mean, when we're in here, we're efficient,

we're organized, we're working, we don't waste time, and when we're done, I tell them to go home. And I'm the same way with the team and meetings and on a practice field. I mean, we're a really short practice operation. I mean, we'll have about a 35-minute walk-through on Mondays, and on Fridays we'll have about a 25-minute walk-through. And Tuesday through Thursday, I mean, we're on that field about hour, 35, hour, 40 minutes, and off. Because I just believe in keeping people fresh and healthy.

And the better people feel physically, the better they're going to be mentally, too. So there's a lot that goes into it, but it's done with people. And, you know, we have great people. So earlier in this show before I welcomed you on, I was going through kind of mid-season awards and guys that have played the best, coached the best. And Mike and Bryant were two guys that I had on my list for the Broils Award. I think that they've done that good of a job for you. Another guy that I think has been tremendous and is going to start to garner. a lot of attention for the most prestigious award in college football as your quarterback, Fernando

Mendoza. People are starting to come around and mention him for the Heisman Trophy, and rightly so for the way that he's played. What did you see in his game and personality and character that made you believe that he would be the right fit at Indiana this year? Yeah, well, it was a pretty easy decision. And, you know, we had his younger brother, Alberto, in the program. Alberto won a couple state championships and has a lot of a lot of great qualities. So the family was very familiar with how we run the program and the history of success we've had with the quarterback position. Fernando on tape had a lot of physical talent. You know, he's big, he's really smart. He's got a whip, a quick release. He can make all the

throws, and he's mobile, and he's tall. When we got him, he needed a little bit of work in the pocket. We had to calm him down a little bit, work on his, footwork processing. The progress he has made since he got here is unbelievable in the pocket. But as much as he has improved, he still has that much more he can go because of his physical ability. One thing about him, he's a great person, strong values, extremely intelligent, cares about people, very active in the community, is he spent, if there were 25 hours

in a day, he'd spend all 20. preparing. I mean, he wants to be great and he does everything he can to be great. And teammates love him. Well, I can't wait to cover you guys and get a game. There's a chance that one may be coming up, then we may be coming into town unofficially. So we'll see if that takes place. And I'd be certainly looking forward to do that. My last question, and it's just because I wanted to, like, I like cookies and brownies. So, like, which one is it? Cookies or brownies? brownies. I don't know where that came from. I'm kind of like second guessing myself. I said to my wife last night at home, I said, that was kind of a weird comment. She goes,

no, I like that one. I'm a cookie guy. Chocolate. Okay, good. There we go. By the way, immediately when you said that, I thought to myself, heck, with a little vanilla ice cream, I'll take both. Absolutely. That's right. Oh, man. Hey, Kirk, great job last week. obviously the challenge is to continue to move forward and maintain that level of consistency and urgency and urgency and precision and the way that you play moving forward. And we all hope that that is the case moving forward. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you taking the time to join us today. And good luck this Saturday against Michigan State. Appreciate it, Joe.

Have a great one. You got it. There he goes. Kurt Signetti of Indiana. Another big thanks to Kurt Signetti for joining the program. Hope you enjoyed those midseason awards. We'll be back tomorrow with another Joel Clat Show. Picks and previews for this Saturday. Again, Gus Ginny and I are going to be in Michigan as they host Washington in a big game there in the Big Ten.

So can't wait for that. Subscribe to the show on YouTube if you would, please. And then follow us on social media at Joel Clatshow. We'll be back tomorrow with picks and previews.