Indiana's coaching staff has been together for years under Curt Cignetti. Current Miami defensive coordinator Corey Heatherman was part of that group for three years at James Madison, and he learned a lot. Now they all square off in Monday's national championship game.
MIAMI, Fla. — Corey Heatherman is the defensive coordinator of the Miami Hurricanes, but he cut his teeth under Curt Cignetti, the head coach at Indiana. Heatherman faces the biggest challenge of his coaching career on Monday night, trying to slow down Indiana's high-powered offense.
Heatherman worked for Cignetti at James Madison for three years before moving on two Rutgers for two years and Minnesota for one. Last year, he was hired at Miami. Heatherman spoke at media day on Saturday, and cherished his time with Cignetti.
"I think it was a great experience. Obviously we had a lot of success on the field when we were together at James Madison. I learned a lot. I learned a lot of football,'' the 42-year-old Heatherman said. "One thing I've been very lucky in my career, a lot of the people I've worked for, I've been blessed to learn from people, different details, fundamentals, techniques, different situations, and had a lot of really good experiences there.
"We had a chance to be very successful in the postseason, get to a national championship when we were together at the FCS level. And learn his approach to the game, game management, the style, different situations, what the expectations were in those situations. Then just the day-to-day, the detail in how we were recruiting and the detail of how we approach practice and player management, player load. I learned a ton of football from him, and I learned a ton of situational football. It was a great opportunity to be a part of.''
Heatherman has three years of Big Ten experience, and knows how tough the league can be. He's still not surprised that Cignetti has turned Indiana around so quickly.
"To me, it's not a surprise to see what happened, because it's very process-driven, very detailed,'' he said. "They stick with exactly what it is every day that you have to get accomplished, what you have to get done. There's not a lot of outside factors. They block out the outside noise on things.
Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines was in Heatherman's wedding. They're that close, but this week it's different. They both understand the task at hand.
"It's probably the same for both of us. I think we're both competitors. Both of us, it's all about being 1-0,'' Heatherman said. "For us there's nothing that changes. It's block out the distractions, block out the noise, and focus on what you can control. As long as we can control the controllables and focus on pulling 1-0 and the normal process we have every week, that's what it's all about for us. It's no different than any other game the way we look at it.''
Heatherman is impressed with Indiana's offense, which executes at a high level. They've only had one fumble all year, and quarterback Fernando Mendoza has 41 touchdown passes and just six interceptions.
"I think they do a really good job moving the football, and they do a really good job executing in the red zone,'' Heatherman said. "Obviously for us, I would say bend but not break. We're an attacking style defense. We try to dictate tempo.
"Obviously the goal is to get stops. Get three and outs, get the ball back to the offense. They do a really good job staying ahead of the sticks. We have to make sure we stay ahead. If we do get in a red zone situation, we have to take away the four-point play.''
Indiana's veteran offensive line makes things happen. They play penalty-free most games, and rarely getting outmuscled.
"I think they do a really good job,'' he said. "There's not as many third down off-tracks. They do a really good job getting a third-and-1 to third-and-2, or a third-and-3 or 4. For us, we've got to stop the run. They do a really good job of running the football and staying on track. They do a really good job of keeping the pocket clean for the quarterback, because they put themselves ahead of the sticks in a lot of these situations.
"We've got to do a good job early in the game and stop the run. Then they do a really good job mixing it up. RPOs, quake game or shots early in the down. We have to try to make sure our guys are detailed. We have to stay on track and stay ahead of the sticks and force them to be in situations where they have to drop back and pass. We have to change it up.''
Heatherman, obviously, is also impressed with how well Mendoza manages a game for Indiana. His efficiency is obvious. In two playoff games, he has eight touchdown passes and just five incompletions. He hasn't thrown a pick and has completed 89 percent of his passes.
"Yeah, here's a reason why he won the Heisman. There's a reason why he's going to go where he is going to go in the draft right now. He is an unbelievable football player,'' Heatherman said. "He's a really good competitor.
"You watch him and how he responds to different situations, I always go back to where gets hit that first play of the game against Ohio State and gets knocked out of the game, and then he bounces right back in there and is playing at an unbelievably high level the rest of the game.
"You watch some of the hits he took in the Iowa game or Penn State. They struggled a little bit early in the game. They get to him and get a sack, he had a couple of hits on him, and the way he responds in those situations. The pick he throws at Oregon, pull that game a little bit tighter. Then to have the composure and the amount of detail to respond from that and go right back out and put the ball in his hands and make some of the throws that he makes, I think he's a complete player. he does a really good job.
"You can see he runs what they're trying to do very well. He keeps them on track. He understands when to check the RPOs and when to take the access throws and when just to hand the ball off and stay ahead the sticks. I think he's a complete player. I think he's very good. He's going to be a hard challenge for us. He's the best quarterback we've seen this season.''