Don't forget little Mendoza, little brother. In the time on the field he's seen, he's freaking sharp. He's on the team as number 2 NOW!
Indiana next season
- Thread starter JerseyCityHawk
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What a e they going to do with their million- dollar qb transfer from TCU? Indy must not be entirely sold on his his ability to step right in.
keep in mind that qb stats are always inflated playing in the Big 12 so who knows how Hoover will fare in the BIG
Indiana is a unicorn. The abominable snowman. The Loch Ness Monster.
They've done what everyone else in the bottom 90% of the FBS has been trying to do forever and it didn't seem possible. They turned a pumpkin into a carriage.
And they aren't winning games 62-58 with some dazzling new offense that no one can figure out. Or 7-3 with a once-in-a-lifetime defense. They are a complete team with no apparent weaknesses. I think they are the best team in the country.
Sure, they might "step back", but they aren't going away.
They've done what everyone else in the bottom 90% of the FBS has been trying to do forever and it didn't seem possible. They turned a pumpkin into a carriage.
And they aren't winning games 62-58 with some dazzling new offense that no one can figure out. Or 7-3 with a once-in-a-lifetime defense. They are a complete team with no apparent weaknesses. I think they are the best team in the country.
Sure, they might "step back", but they aren't going away.
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If they keep staff and "resources" intact, they'll likely regress to some degree at some point. But it'll be more along the lines of the regular success of Wisconsin during the Alvarez/Bielema years, MSU under Dantonio, Iowa from Fry to Ferentz or Northwestern under Fat Pat. The floor will be like 8 wins and a nice bowl trip, and the ceiling every few years will be the sky.
Yes, this year they've managed to super-size the accomplishments of Wisky, Sparty and the Hawks in their various "up" years...no question about that. But even with all the money and coaching, LONG-TERM this feels more like an Iowa/MSU/Wisky/Kansas State/Northwestern type of emergence from the depths vs. them indefinitely occupying an irrevocable seat at the CFB grown-ups table.
So while they likely won't be able to continuously, year after year, decade after decade, compete at the very top of this conference in particular or the sport in general, they also are extremely unlikely, at least under the current regime, to ever revert back to anything remotely resembling their "losingest program in CFB history" ways either.
You might be right.
The biggest problem IU has faced in it's history has been recruiting real talent. Draw a circle around Bloomington and you get tOSU, MSU, Mich, Notre Dame, Purdue, Cincy, Louisville, KY, NW and Illinois. And there are a bunch of MAC schools in there as well. IU simply didn't have anything to offer, other than being a top music school.
Now, with a B1G championship and possibly a Natty under their belt, along with Cuban and Mellencamp, recruiting should get a lot easier.
Still, you have to have coaches. IU struck gold with Cignetti. They have the money to get the next one right, but it's not as easy as some think.
Nope, it most definitely is not.
And while NIL is a brave new world, the fact is over the past 30-40 years, plenty of the elite of the elite have had considerable periods of mediocrity, including (but not limited to) Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma, USC, Florida State, Penn State, Michigan, etc. It wasn't that long ago Florida was a dominant player under Urb and before that Captain Visor. Now, they're up-and-down...but recently, pretty darn down. LSU won a natty in 2019 and since has had a couple of truly bad years mixed with decent to very good years, and a revolving door installed on the head coach office.
If blue bloods / near-blue bloods like those with virtually unlimited resources, unmatched histories of on-field success at the very highest level, and unquestioned fan support can suddenly find themselves experiencing occasional (or even more than that) "Tier 2" type results, there's no reason to believe Indiana, which has lived in Tier 3 or worse for more than a half-century, will somehow be totally and completely immune from it.
Cignetti to Pittsburgh?
Born there.
Should IU win the Natty, not much left to accomplish.
Born there.
Should IU win the Natty, not much left to accomplish.
The new "recruiting pitch" is the old "cheating". Here's a bag of money, have at it.
Indiana is also upgrading their football facilities. They aren't going anywhere, and are actually the new model for NCAA football.
What gets me is they say they practice less and the coaches stay in office less and more time at home.
Stranger things have happened, but I certainly don't expect it.
He's had an excellent career, but nothing close to what he is experiencing now. Lifetime college coach. He's making $13 million.
I can't see it.
To your point, the difference between being great or being so-so at all of these up and down schools has never been the money. The money is and always has been there. It has always been and always will be about the staff. Indiana doesn't have more talent than any of these schools in the CFP. They are a bunch of 3 and 4 star guys playing against 4 and 5 star guys. Mendoza turned down way more money from Miami because he wanted to play for Cignetti. The key to sustained success at any school is keeping the staff together and in place. Do that and success continues.
Ol' Doodle agrees completely. They won't win 11+ games every single year from here on out. They're inevitably going to have their down years. It's just that now 8-4 will be the definition of "down" instead of 2-10.
Exactly right. Just read the board here and the grumbling. We win 9 games and were a play or two from beating ISU, Oregon, AND Indiana and yet...Success builds expectations. It will be the same for Cig....
concur. Cignetti is 64 years old and will not be there forever, but I can see fiveor even ten more years of prosperity. The thing is, though, as Hawk-a-Doodle-Dooo said, it is no easy task to find the next Curt Cignetti, and I am betting that they probably will not. could easily be like a Nebraska type of situation.
Hire the JMU AD and your problem is solved. He just keeps nailing it with his coaching hires.
Edit: Can't hire him, he retired in 2024. Was AD from 1999-2024.
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And they were pretty lucky with injuries overall, and with opposing team QB missing a wide open 5 yard pass.
What can happen in the future is their defense has just an average cornerback who teams can pick on, and maybe their Lbkrs or DLine is not quite as good, and it is hard to imagine they will have the same level of QB passing and running as this year. And how many of their starters do they lose after Monday.
But I would think they will still have a winning season most times
I highly doubt that. He has never coached in the pros. Forty years a college coach and I think he likes coaching young players. Plus at his age he has a huge contract, I think like $10 mill a year. Why when he can coach IU for 5 to 10 years then go sit on a beach or whatever hobbies he probably doesnt have yet
Every source I looked at says Cignetti made $600K+ at JMU. He made 11 mil at Indiana in 2024 and 14 mil+ this year. He's one of the highest paid coaches in the country.
I've been seeing NIL estimates that Indiana football was north of $20M this year. While a lot of people are viewing them as a "great story", I'd say that NIL has changed everything and that most any program could be a "great story" with that kind of payroll. That said, I'm sure Cignetti is making it all click.
Not sure where I saw it, but all the teams in the CFP (except maybe Tulane and JMU) were all north of $20M, and a couple north of $30M.
Short answer: I don't see Indiana dropping back down to the dregs of college football as long as that NIL budget remains anywhere close to where it apparently is.
Not sure where I saw it, but all the teams in the CFP (except maybe Tulane and JMU) were all north of $20M, and a couple north of $30M.
Short answer: I don't see Indiana dropping back down to the dregs of college football as long as that NIL budget remains anywhere close to where it apparently is.
You nailed it on the head it’s like college football is the minor leagues in the NFL… kinda wish the portal never happened as players think they don’t work out one year so they jump ship and try another place a total hit or miss with this system and who knows who will be the next Indiana … money talks and ******** walks as they say sad but true
Incorrect. Indiana found the money AFTER they found out what they had. Cignetti was hired on as one of the lowest paid B1G coaches. Their NIL budget was a fraction of other schools until this year. Cignetti is the difference.
Well then he needs to give his national championship trophy to Iowa after they win it tonight, since they're gonna be winning so many more............
I’d take consecutive 1-10 seasons followed by a 2-9 record, 3-8 record etc etc to have Iowa experience the year Indiana is having.