What are some attainable names Troy Dannen has
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I had mentioned Vigen before we named Rhule. Not sure he would make the splash some of our donors of substance would demand.
I think it's coming out of the 600 million stadium project
This feels like revisionism based on the recent contract Cignetti has received.
Cignetti did it with a talent composite in the 60s, pieces nobody else was clamoring for. They weren't battling Ohio State and Georgia for guys like Kurtis O'Rourke and the Mendozas, Cignetti identified those guys and went all in.
Furthermore, Cignetti coached James Madison in both FCS and their transition to FBS. By year 2 in the FBS, they were getting fringe playoff whispers en route to an 11 win season and a Sun Belt Championship.
So yes, the guy really just is that good.
I remember this and you deserve credit for itI had mentioned Vigen before we named Rhule. Not sure he would make the splash some of our donors of substance would demand.
Well, as I said, and for whatever reason you cut off that part, it's both. He is undoubtedly a great coach. But that Indiana 180 turnaround almost overnight doesn't happen, at least on that timeline, without the Cuban money.
Your original point was that you didn't think Indiana outspent us, they just have a better coach. And I'm telling you they both outspent us and have a better coach. Probably substantially on both.
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I find it very hard to believe Indiana spent a kings fortune on a collection of 3* players, and so should you.
Additionally, Rhule being outperformed by a coach with lesser talent isn't some anomaly that needs an a supernatural explanation, we see it in practically every conference game.
This was the first off-season where Indiana started getting the top names, and frankly I won't be surprised if they regress as a result.
You seem insistent on giving the full credit to one or the other and I'm telling you it was both. One doesn't happen without the other. It doesn't have to be a kings ransom. A nice cushion from one big donor can mean a few key players which can be the difference between having a really nice season and having a national championship season.
Nothing you can tell me will ever make me believe Indiana's national championship happens last year without Mark Cuban's undisclosed, first time ever "big amount" (Cuban's words) donation to the football program.
You just can't dismiss the the significance of those circumstances. Well, maybe you can, but I won't. I mean, you're acting like Indiana just took that check and said, thanks but we're good without it. That didn't happen.
Yes, Cignetti is a hell of a coach. MUCH better than ours. And Yes, they had more roster money to spend, largely thanks to Mark Cuban.
No, not really. I believe Cignetti is the match and gasoline to start the fire, and Cuban started throwing him firewood shortly after they got trounced by Notre Dame, as was widely reported.
I don't think the jump from 2024 to 2025 was the most impressive part of what Cignetti did, I think taking over a 3-9 team and reeling off 11 wins and a playoff trip immediately is much more impressive and relevant to the topic of this thread. He did this by importing JMU's roster and a QB that was on nobody else's radar. You're not going to convince anyone that JMU's roster was commanding a fortune in NIL.
I'm not falling for the "$40MM roster" propaganda that began circulating when they beat the brakes off Alabama, because Cignetti has proven at other stops that he is fully capable of elevating guys to a new dimension of play.
Would Vigen even take the Nebraska job? He's turned down multiple FBS jobs, so he doesn't seem to be motivated by money. He seems to love Bozeman.
Yeah, okay then we agree. As I've been saying, the National Championship doesn't happen without that firewood Cuban threw him.
Again, okay we agree. Cignetti is a hell of a coach as evidenced by his prior success and what he did in year 1 at Indiana.
I don't know what the number was, but it's pretty clear that is was more than his first year. Mark Cuban doesn't write a "big check" and have it not play a role. Probably a pretty significant role. Hell, there's no doubt their other donations after year 1 of Cignetti's success went up significantly even without Cuban's new influx.
I honestly don't even know what you're arguing at this point? Seems like you're saying Cignetti is so great that his 2025 team wins the National Championship without an increase in NIL from 2024? Or are you saying that Nebraska's NIL in 2025 was equal to Indiana's? I think you're wrong on both.
There's also an extremely high likelihood that Cuban's first donation in 2024 is relative pennies compared to his donation in 2026 (which we have yet to see the fruits of).
Billionaires don't start writing checks when they don't anticipate a sizable ROI.
Sure, maybe they would. Is it such a stretch of the imagination to believe a team who made the playoffs the year prior was still good the next season? It's plenty easy to argue Indiana was a top 3 team in 2024.
I'd flip it to you and ask you how Indiana dwarfed us in NIL spending, and yet our talent composite was 52 spots ahead.
Specifically who on their 2025 roster was getting paid the ungodly amount? It seems like you wanna just fill in the cracks you can't explain with "musta been a lot of money!" which is just lazy thinking.
2026 will be the first Indiana roster full of guys other teams were clamoring for.
Yes, Billionaires do write checks all the time without anticipating any ROI. At least monetarily. They're called hobbies. You ever heard of a yacht? Those cost far more than a measly few million dollars. The fact that you're trying to argue that point tells me you have no clue what you're talking about.
Never said "dwarfed us in NIL spending" and never said "getting paid the ungodly amount." If anyone is filling in cracks, that would be you.
And the only reason there are cracks to fill in is because it's all undisclosed. Seems you just want to completely dismiss a billionaire, heavily involved, former sports team owner's confirmed, new, "big check" donation as if it didn't factor in. And chalk it all up to just Cignetti is the greatest coach ever in the history of evahr and he would have done it without NIL money. Talk about lazy thinking.
I'm just using basic common sense to known that it's a combination of both.
Again, I don't even know what point you're trying to argue any more. But, let me know and I'm happy to keep discussing. Until then, we can agree to disagree on whatever point you're trying to make. Because right now it feels like I'm playing whack-a-mole like Rhule hires assistants.
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Right, the ROI in the case of a yacht is the enjoyment derived from its usage.
Similarly, I'm not buying Cuban said "here Cig here's $20MM to go build a roster, now you can get all those G5 and ACC castoffs nobody else wanted".
Common sense, and the evidence I graciously provided for you, would suggest he ponied up for Cignetti's extension (and sizable assistant pool), but didn't start the serious NIL checks until the 2026 offseason.
He secured the LTI of the head coach, saw that 2024 wasn't a fluke, then began pouring in.
So it's undisclosed, but also 50% of their success, but also Cignetti is just some guy from a little school who couldn't win wihout massive NIL endowments, but also he did do that in 2024.
Are you planning on picking an angle here or are you just gonna keep slowly conceding that I'm right while nit-picking semantics?
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And the ROI in the case of Cuban is the enjoyment derived from being involved again in the success of a sports franchise that he cares about.
He didn't. It's been well documented that he didn't give them restrictions on the usage. If you think they had his "big check" with no restrictions for usage and they didn't use any of it for NIL, I don't know what to tell you. I'm saying they did. Probably even a substantial amount of it. You apparently don't think so and I guess since there's no way to prove it, again we can agree to disagree.
Oaky. Not saying he didn't do that too. I still say his donation played a role by way of NIL after the first year. You can think what you want.
I never said either of those things. Not a single one. Much like your "dwarfed us in NIL spending" and "getting paid the ungodly amount" comments from earlier. You keep having to lie, which means you've clearly already lost the argument.
My point has been clear. IT. WAS. BOTH.
I usually agree with a lot of your posts, but I'm starting to see why so many people on this board find you so insufferable.
Yes, thank you for following along and repeating the point I made for you.
For the second time, I'm going to hold your hand and direct you towards Indiana being 72nd in the nation in talent composite.
Do I need to explain why that's at odds with your conspiracy, or can you handle this one on your own?
When you have to feign outrage over adjectives, its clear to everyone that you've let your emotions get the best of you.
LMAO
So you're going to cry over "50/50" being some massive misrepresentation then pound the table "IT WAS BOTH"? Please be a serious adult, because you proved the following statement 100% correct:
Yep . Texas Tech is a prime example. They bought a playoff team but got clocked in the playoffs . Will that be enough of a ROI or will they give Joey more money to get over the top? Or will they expect him to win more with the money they gave him? If itās the latter and he doesnāt take the next step the big checks may stop coming in .
Yep...show me the superstars IU outbid everyone for....
That is the part I am a bit skeptical on as well.
I don't even think that Mendoza was all that costly, maybe he was though, I don't know.
I honestly can't even name another player on their team.
Quick google search...
$2.6 million for 2025-26 alone. Top five highest paid players.
Curious which jobs he's turned down, too. I mean, we ain't what we used to be, but we're still a blue blood program (barely) in a power conference with a ton of resources and support.
I think this is a pretty dumb idea. He has been a head coach at Utah for exactly one game. His team played a very bad, poorly coached team. True the Utes had an easy time of it, but do you really think this justifies hiring him as the next Husker coach. I absolutely do not. He has no track record to judge him by.
Reportedly Washington State and Oregon State.
Oregon State was was pretty well-known last year.
Wazzu this year was quieter, and I'm admittedly just repeating what I've heard from Montana State alum in my family.
@Harry Caray I don't think money is the issue. You can look no further than guys like Bobby Hauck and Jeff Choate who took the wrong job after killing it in FCS as reason for why these guys aren't going to settle for under-supported, small fish programs.
I think it is going to be pretty tough to get a quality coach to come to Nebraska. All the shiny new facilities and money are not going to make up for the sh^T show it has become in Lincoln. I believe the problem runs deeper than our completely inept coach and his apologist AD Troy Boy. I think the blame goes all the way to the top of UNL's leadership and the state government leadership (governor) as well.
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Why not? The Service Academies compete at the FBS level and both Army and Navy have both posted double digit win seasons and finished in the top 25 recently.
I have a theory that service academies are a collection of disciplined players that are always going to overachieve and not 100% reflective of the coach.
I guess the Utah AD and those involved who hired him are pretty dumb too, eh? Utah could have hired someone else had they wanted to, we'll see how things shake out for the Ute's the next couple of years, maybe he'll be a total bust. I'd put my money on the opposite.
Who doesnāt love Bozeman? Heās making good money there and could live his whole life there. That said, we could easily double his pay IF it ever came to that.
Bozeman's Rocking R Bar is one of my favorite bars. I first had drinks there when I was in my early twenties (It was the original bar before it blew up) and I last had drinks there a few years ago.
Double is a hilarious understatement.
Geep and Aurich are making double what Vigen does.
Rhule makes almost 20x as much as Vigen
Yes, because James Madison is known for its huge NIL. Just imagine hiring a coach from James Madison, he brings a ton of players with him, he wins a natty in two years and people say it was because of big money.
Well they sure do now Cuban and Mellencamp combined put in $60M.
There are no names in his desk drawer. He tied himself to Rhule for at lease 3 yrs