Indiana
Indiana Football Coach Curt Cignetti Unhappy With Thursday Practice Effort
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – During spring practice, Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti speaks with the media once per week.
Up until Thursday, Cignetti’s assessments of practice had been largely positive, but on Thursday, Cignetti came off the field frustrated with the way the players approached the day.
He said so, unprompted, to start his Thursday morning press conference at Memorial Stadium.
“It’s a race to improve as much as you can, and up to today, I think you know, the effort and the improvement is on track,” Cignetti said.
“I think today, we squandered an opportunity to improve as much as possible, and we were inconsistent in too many areas. Probably not mentally prepared to come out and do what it takes to have a successful practice. And improve as much as possible,” Cignetti continued.
Cignetti elaborated further on what bothered him about the way the Hoosiers went about their business.
“It was too much inconsistency across the board at all positions. Whether it’s a lack of detail, focus, preparation, which leads to a breakdown in execution,” Cignett said.
What also concerned Cignetti was that the coaching he wants his staff to deliver wasn’t being heeded by the Hoosiers.
“Good players want to be coached. Great players. You can’t coach them enough. You can’t give them enough. They want more. Inconsistent players want coached on their terms. And today, we had too many inconsistent players that didn’t come out prepared, ready to improve and live up to the standard that we’ve set for each individual and the team and offense, defense, special teams,” Cignetti said.
“We just didn’t have enough juice out there. There were too many coaches yelling to get going,” Cignetti continued. “Up to today, I think the practices, they’re never perfect, but the effort and energy has been great.”
Cignetti lated noted that he did not let the players leave the field without conveying how he felt about their approach to practice on Thursday. Cignetti observes practices from his own vantage point, usually by himself, as he makes the effort to try to see as much of the practice as possible, leaving the detail work to the coordinators.
“That message got sent on the field during practice. I didn’t wait until after practice to send it. Sometimes it’s a little X-rated message,” Cignetti said.
Thursday was practice No. 10 for Indiana. The Hoosiers had their first scrimmage last Saturday and will have another this Saturday that will be closed to the public.
After that, there is one more practice before Indiana plays its spring game at 8 p.m. next Thursday at Memorial Stadium.
Cignetti isn’t focused on the spring game or the season to come in the fall. He wants to drive the point home, in no uncertain terms to his players, that spring preparation is what leads to fall success.
“I’m sure I’ll go in and look at the tape, it’s never as good, never as bad (as you think), but that’s where we are today. I’m really not worried about what it looks like four months from now. My focus is on, what were we today? What did we put on tape?” Cignetti said.
Indiana
Wawa opening with free coffee. What to know about Indiana’s newest store
Firefighters beat police in ‘hoagie building’ contest
Firefighters defeated police officers in a “hoagie-building” competition to honor the opening of a Wawa convenience store and gas station in Florida.
Motorists braving the extreme cold this week will have a new travel center at which to fuel their vehicles and bodies in Indiana
Wawa is slated to open a location in Richmond on Jan. 29.
The grand opening at 2600 Williamsburg Pike will commence at 7:55 a.m. with the doors opening at 8 a.m.
The first 250 customers will get free t-shirts.
All customers through Feb. 1 will get free hot coffee, any size.
The 8,000-square-foot store will offer Wawa’s signature made-to-order hoagies, fresh-brewed coffee, hot breakfast sandwiches, and a dinner menu that includes burgers, soups and sides.
The store will have interior and exterior seating areas; 16 liquid fuel spots for passenger drivers; 20 EV charging stalls; five high-speed diesel fuel lanes accepting over-the-road (OTR) payments; and a pet relief area.
Richmond will be Indiana’s ninth Wawa location.
The Pennsylvania-based convenience store chain entered the state in May 2025 with a store in Daleville, and quickly followed with openings in Noblesville and Clarksville.
The chain plans to open 60 stores in Indiana, including a location at 7140 E. Washington St. in Indianapolis scheduled for early 2027.
Contact reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cjackson@usatodayco.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on X.com: @cherylvjackson or Bluesky: @cherylvjackson.bsky.social.
Indiana
How does this winter storm measure up to the Blizzard of 1978 in Indiana
INDIANAPOLIS — For long-time Hoosiers, when snowstorms are in the forecast, the Blizzard of ’78 comes to mind.
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How does this winter storm measure up to the Blizzard of 1978 in Indiana
That’s the case for Faith Toole, who lives in Pittsboro now. She lived in Noblesville in 1978, and she had a one-week-old baby during the blizzard.
“We actually saved water. We got buckets and pans,” Toole remembered of the blizzard. “We had oil heat at the time, so we had to make sure our oil was good.”
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The blizzard became a benchmark of sorts, since it set many weather records.
“I really thought it would be a once-in-a-lifetime, but we got so close this time around. We really did. I’m just thankful we didn’t,” Toole said.
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The winter storm that happened across Central Indiana on January 24 and 25, 2026, did pack quite the punch for Hoosiers, with an event snowfall total of 11.1″ in Indianapolis and frigid temperatures.
Did the storm compare to the historic Blizzard of ’78?
The blizzard occurred over the period of January 25, 26, and 27, 1978. It was the first time a blizzard warning was ever issued for Indiana.
What is a blizzard? It doesn’t entail snow totals. Instead, it focuses on the impact of gusty winds (gusts over 35 mph) and low visibility (less than a quarter mile) that lasts for an extended period of time (three hours).
During the storm in 1978, wind gusts over 50 mph lasted through the 26 and 27 of January.
“The wind, I’ll never forget the wind, how it blew!” exclaimed Toole.
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The National Weather Service recorded visibility less than a quarter mile for 25 hours straight.
The wind in the 1978 storm also created blowing and drifting snow, with some drifts 20 to 25 feet.
How does this compare to the 2026 storm?
Wind gusts stayed less than 30 mph, so this time, we did not reach blizzard criteria.
We did see quite a bit of snow: 11.1″ in Indianapolis, with other areas in Central Indiana seeing even higher totals.
In 1978, it snowed 15.5″ across the three days.
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1978 was also unique because there had already been a bit of snow on the ground before the blizzard got started.
To this day, the Blizzard of ’78 still holds the record for the most snow on the ground in Indianapolis, set at 20″.
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“It felt like it snowed a lot longer. Had we had the wind, it would have been ’78 all over again,” Toole said.
It was very cold, with lows near zero degrees, and wind chills near -50 degrees during the blizzard.
Similarly, in 2026, we have frigid air temperatures, meaning it will be difficult to clear the snow this week. Temperatures may not climb above freezing until next week.
The roads and businesses that have been shut down following the storm in 2026 are a reminder of the closures in 1978.
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Toole says she stayed at home following the blizzard, mainly focusing on sleeping when she could (because of her one-week-old baby).
“Reading, we were into word search at the time,” Toole remembered how she spent the time indoors. “We didn’t have devices to do anything. We had the TV, and that was it.”
Luckily for Hoosiers, technology has come a long way since 1978, meaning there was more to do while cooped up indoors during the 2026 storm.
“It wasn’t as boring, because it was 24/7 news coverage for the weather!” laughed Toole. “And you know, I had my games on my phone to play, movies to watch.”
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Indiana
Frigid week ahead across central Indiana | Jan. 26, 2026
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Extreme cold settles in for the extended period with several nights of overnight lows below zero.
Today:
The state is under an extreme cold warning for today and Tuesday, as windchills could dip to 25 below zero or lower. That can lead to frostbite occurring on exposed skin in 15 to 30 minutes.
We should see plenty of sunshine for our Monday, but it will not help temperatures as arctic air settles in over a very deep snowpack across the area. High temperatures will top out in the upper single digits and lower teens.
Tonight:
Temperatures will dip to below zero across the air, and there will be mainly clear skies overnight.
Tuesday:
Tuesday will be slightly warmer under partly cloudy skies. The one concern we do have for Tuesday is winds will start to pick up a bit, gusting up to 30 mph. Now, well, much of the snow should settle in after a couple of days. There will be the potential for some blowing and drifting with any top layer of light snow that hasn’t frozen in completely. This could lead to some drifting and some lower visibility at times through the day.
Bitter cold:
Unfortunately, the rest of the week looks frigid, as several Arctic air masses will continue to push into the region. Eyes will be in the mid teens for the rest of the week, and overnight lows will be at or below zero.
7 day forecast:
Very limited precipitation chances in the extended forecast. There could be some isolated snow chances to start off the weekend Saturday, with a strong north flow bringing down some lake-effect snow showers across the area.
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