Curt Cignetti teams....

[Novaapp]

He mentioned beating us in the post-game presser when talking about his dad.

[Bootsy]

16-0 Cig wins it all at ...Indiana? Is a legend born?

Maybe. Given his penchant for whining, college football fans have a new team/coach to hate

[BallantyneApp]

16-0 Cig wins it all at ...Indiana? Is a legend born?

Not a question about it. Indiana had 3!!! All time bowl wins before Cig joined up. Three. We had more bowl wins in 4 years of eligibility than Indiana did in over a hundred. They were 3-9 th year before he was hired and had only 2 winning seasons since 2000.

I’m not saying he’s the GOAT (yet) but what he’s done at Indiana was more difficult than anything Saban or Smart or Dabo did singularly.

[Stonewall]

He has earned his accolades.

[appfanjj]

Cignetti will be the hottest name in coaching searches this year...VT & Penn St are going to throw all the money in the world at him

Don't know if they will but they should. UNC, VT, and Penn State would all be crazy not to go for him. Cignetti and Jon Sumrall both would be doing better at UNC than Bill and for half the money.

UNC always has the money to hire a great coach…but they always make the wrong hire.

UNC does not even come close to belonging in this conversation.

[Saint3333]

Indiana didn't either until 15 months ago.

This is the new CFB, hire the right coach, give them $10M+ to retain talent for 1-2 years and win a title. If a program like Indiana can win one there are 40 programs that can.

In a way NIL/TP opened the door for 20ish programs to compete with the 10-15 usual suspects, while creating a gap three times as large as before for the other 80. It is working as designed.

[BambooRdApp]

Most any Power school that wants to make a premium investment to attract talent has a chance. Indiana, Texas Tech.
It will be interesting to see what alumni bases will continue to contribute year after year if they do not win the natty after 4 to 5 years.

Let's say Ole Bill does not work out at UNC. UNC then decides to go back to hiring an up and coming assistant versus a splash hire. The up and coming assistant may be great. However will the "wine and cheese" donors give to a relative "no-name" as they are giving to Bill.

On a side note the whole UNC thing is interesting to me. Two portal seasons have passed and they have not been able to attract a really good QB.

[Bootsy]

Let’s be clear: I’m incredibly impressed in what Indiana Football has accomplished in such a short time…especially in this modern TP/NIL environment.

While the coaches and players deserve a ton of accolades, it took more than great players/coaching to make this happen. It shouldn’t be overlooked that IU university leadership, IU Athletics and a lot of others fully aligned with Cig’s vision early on, committed to it and worked hard behind the scenes to make this happen.

[BallantyneApp]

Indiana didn't either until 15 months ago.

This is the new CFB, hire the right coach, give them $10M+ to retain talent for 1-2 years and win a title. If a program like Indiana can win one there are 40 programs that can.

In a way NIL/TP opened the door for 20ish programs to compete with the 10-15 usual suspects, while creating a gap three times as large as before for the other 80. It is working as designed.

I think it’s quite clear we just need a bored billionaire to float all this along.

[BallantyneApp]

Indiana didn't either until 15 months ago.

This is the new CFB, hire the right coach, give them $10M+ to retain talent for 1-2 years and win a title. If a program like Indiana can win one there are 40 programs that can.

In a way NIL/TP opened the door for 20ish programs to compete with the 10-15 usual suspects, while creating a gap three times as large as before for the other 80. It is working as designed.

It’s been interesting to watch

The teams with the best network of bagmen like Alabama have taken a back seat to big ten AAU schools with ultra wealthy individuals backing them. U Michigan has 9 alum billionaires, the entire state of Alabama has only 1.

[AppFan11]

Let’s be clear here. There are not 40 Cignetti’s out there. I’d say there is only one. Money and the portal are part of it….. Cignetti did not do this with 4 and 5 star players….. he did it mostly with 3 star players…. and getting them to play so efficiently…. is HIS secret sauce. You do not see this anywhere…. oh wait… we saw this at JMU. He is already getting 5 star guys to commit for the ‘27 class. And that will be the next iteration of Cig’s team….. doing it with 4 and 5 star guys. IU is going nowhere but up. If you are a 4 or 5 star kid… wouldn’t you want to be coached by the best coach.

[MrCraig]

Let’s be clear here. There are not 40 Cignetti’s out there. I’d say there is only one. Money and the portal are part of it….. Cignetti did not do this with 4 and 5 star players….. he did it mostly with 3 star players…. and getting them to play so efficiently…. is HIS secret sauce. You do not see this anywhere…. oh wait… we saw this at JMU. He is already getting 5 star guys to commit for the ‘27 class. And that will be the next iteration of Cig’s team….. doing it with 4 and 5 star guys. IU is going nowhere but up. If you are a 4 or 5 star kid… wouldn’t you want to be coached by the best coach.

Yes, absolutely.
Some folks are seemingly hand-waving away Cignetti and Indiana's success because of NIL and transfer portal. The fact of the matter is, Cignetti is an excellent coach; possibly the best fruit of the Saban tree. He has been successful quite literally everywhere he's coached. He would be one of the best coaches in the nation regardless of NIL or portal.

My main argument against "NIL determines success" is, why aren't Stanford, Cal, Harvard, Yale, or Duke on top of the CFB world? They've got plenty of wealthy alumni. If all you need is the transfer portal and a lot of NIL, how come UNC isn't any better?

[Saint3333]

Let’s be clear here. There are not 40 Cignetti’s out there. I’d say there is only one. Money and the portal are part of it….. Cignetti did not do this with 4 and 5 star players….. he did it mostly with 3 star players…. and getting them to play so efficiently…. is HIS secret sauce. You do not see this anywhere…. oh wait… we saw this at JMU. He is already getting 5 star guys to commit for the ‘27 class. And that will be the next iteration of Cig’s team….. doing it with 4 and 5 star guys. IU is going nowhere but up. If you are a 4 or 5 star kid… wouldn’t you want to be coached by the best coach.

You can't go up from this season. Dynasties winning 3 titles in 5 years are a thing of the past.

There is too much parity in the top 15 programs now.

[hapapp]

Indiana didn't either until 15 months ago.

This is the new CFB, hire the right coach, give them $10M+ to retain talent for 1-2 years and win a title. If a program like Indiana can win one there are 40 programs that can.

In a way NIL/TP opened the door for 20ish programs to compete with the 10-15 usual suspects, while creating a gap three times as large as before for the other 80. It is working as designed.

Exactly. It means there is a good chance for a new national champ every year but is likely limited to about 25 schools.

[Saint3333]

Indiana didn't either until 15 months ago.

This is the new CFB, hire the right coach, give them $10M+ to retain talent for 1-2 years and win a title. If a program like Indiana can win one there are 40 programs that can.

In a way NIL/TP opened the door for 20ish programs to compete with the 10-15 usual suspects, while creating a gap three times as large as before for the other 80. It is working as designed.

Exactly. It means there is a good chance for a new national champ every year but is likely limited to about 25 schools.

Probably 15 schools per year, but some rotate in and out, so 40ish total over a period of time.

[ASUTodd]

Cig is one of the best coaches ever. It also helps you have Mark Cuban money to go with that. I like Cig and I like what he's done in Indiana. Kudos to what he's done there and hopeful that he can keep it going.

[Saint3333]

Crowning him one of the best ever, does this mean top 5, top 20? Seems premature and recency bias.

[appfanz]

Speaking of the game…..does that dive into the endzone by Mendoza look vaguely familiar?

[ASUTodd]

Crowning him one of the best ever, does this mean top 5, top 20? Seems premature and recency bias.

147-36 overall. Turned around Elon and went 14-9 in two seasons. 52-9 at JMU in 5 years. 27-2 at Indiana. Took one of the worst P4 teams in the world and made it a national champion. The fact he did it at Indiana (and what he did at the other schools) means he is one of the best. Its based on his last 9 years. He's won wherever he has been. Can he keep it up for the long haul? I don't see why he can't. He has a higher winning percentage than Saban did during those first 183 games. Saban had a record of 153-47 in his first 200 games (closest number I can find) with a winning percentage of 76.5%. Cignetti has a percentage of 80.33%. So yeah...he's one of the greats. That puts him up there with Sweeny, Stoops, Neyland, Saban, and others....

[Saint3333]

He has a chance to be one of the greats, but crowning him after two years at Indiana isn't something I'm willing to do personally.