BLOOMINGTON – Leaning into momentum created by Curt Cignetti’s hiring and subsequent team-building success, IU Athletics plans to alter the footprint of Memorial Stadium’s student section.
In an effort to centralize that section, as well as bring it closer to the band and DJ providing gameday atmosphere, Indiana will expand the traditional student section on the northeast side of the stadium. Where in the past overflow kicked students to the other end of the bowl, that section will now sweep all the way across the North End Zone facility, washing one entire end zone in student noise.
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Vacating that area will be regular season-ticket holders, some of whom have expressed frustration at having already selected seats in the NEZ, only to find themselves moved.
Eager to appease those fans — and receptive to their complaints —the department, IndyStar has learned, already plans to offer more premium seating to fans, faculty and staff displaced by the change.
Reseated fans will be placed in more coveted areas of the bowl, many of them with lower sightlines to the field. Some could move as close to midfield as the 30-yard line, and all will receive seatbacks placed on the stadium’s bleachers.
Positioning of the student section is one of a number of changes or adjustments fans should expect to see inside Memorial Stadium this fall.
On top of his success in the portal this winter and spring, Cignetti has been handed what could unfold into the most favorable IU football schedule in years. The Hoosiers host eight home games, with a forgiving nonconference slate, no USC, Wisconsin or Penn State, and neither Michigan nor Ohio State until November.
Once shackled to the rough-and-tumble Big Ten East, the Hoosiers look likelier to see at least some rub of the green in league scheduling in the new 18-team world.
Leaving behind required annual dates with the Buckeyes, Wolverines and Nittany Lions won’t always make life easier for Indiana. But if Year 1 under the new scheduling format is any indication, kinder paths through the autumn might be a little more common.
That, coupled to Cignetti’s roster overhaul, has IU fans dreaming big in their new coach’s first year in charge.
With an offense remade via both staffing and the portal, Indiana will hope to improve on some of the inefficiencies of last season. Experienced hands like Kurtis Rourke, Donaven McCulley, Mike Katic and Elijah Sarratt either arrived or stayed through the turnover, giving Cignetti’s staff plenty of talent and experience to work with.
On defense, the Hoosiers will need some luck with injuries. But the spring portal window added at least two potential starters (cornerback D’Angelo Ponds and tackle C.J. West), and added potential depth in areas coordinator Bryant Haines will have prioritized.
Spring practices appeared to pass without much incident in the way of serious injuries. A number of Hoosiers, including Venson Sneed, Lanell Carr and James Madison transfer James Carpenter, sat out the spring season rehabbing offseason procedures but are expected back on the field by fall camp.
Portal adds on both sides of the ball should also give Cignetti’s roster depth at multiple positions he certainly did not enjoy in his earliest days on the job, when — he’s fond of pointing out — he had 10 offensive starters and roughly half a defense in the portal.
Understandably eager to give Cignetti as much support as possible, Indiana hopes to maximize that home slate and continue his impressive streak of 13 winning seasons in as many years as a head coach.
Remaking the student section is just one piece of that effort. The move will not just unify the entire section, no matter how many students attend on gamedays. It will also put IU’s marching band dead in the middle of the section, the department hoping each adds energy to the other.
Snaking the section all the way around the north end zone also puts students more fully on top of not just the opposing sideline, but also an area of the field that could see key snaps in close games late.
Not intending to upset displaced fans, the department still plans to move forward with its expanded student section. Hence the willingness to offer more premium seating at reduced prices.
Indiana will host Cignetti’s first game as coach Aug. 31, when Florida International returns to Bloomington for the first time since 2015.
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