Coach Curt Cignetti to INDIANA

[Alford Bailey 12,303]

Don’t really have a favorite as of yet but I hope we use the opportunity to invest in and change the perception of the program. Time to get serious or we will fall even further behind with expansion.

[Lebowski 2,273]

2 hours ago, 8bucks said:

Assuming we are not going to offer enough money for a absolute HR hire as football coach, there seem to be 3 routes.  1) A prior HC who may have struggled elsewhere (bigger program or perhaps some other baggage) 2) A top D1/NFL assistant who may not have had HC responsibilities or 3) A top D2 coach who has been amongst the best at D2

Option 3 may be the least exciting but there have been a few examples where it worked (Tressel).  For fun i looked around the D2 ranks and found this example Brent Vigen - Football Coach - Montana State University Athletics (msubobcats.com).  There may be some with midwest experience that could be a better fit.  Finding someone at this level who has had excellent results may yield a guy who is great at teaching/coaching and if they have had some experience at a D1 school recruiting then it is an interesting option.

 

I brought up his name here. He's also under the Bohl coaching tree. 

1 hour ago, LamarCheeks said:

Several of these guys being bandied about are a bit long in the tooth ... 

Bohl (65)
Rich Rod (60) -- though I'd give him a thumbs down. He was good at WVU, but stunk at Michigan and was mediocre at Arizona.
Kill (62) -- and if memory serves, he had some health issues
Cignetti (62)
Patterson (63)

Though, as has been mentioned, Woody is 65 and seems to be progressing pretty well. 
Guess one school of thought would be to give an older, established coach a look -- one who either wants one last crack at a P5 school or a first crack at a P5 school -- and hope he can get get the program headed in the right direction during his time as coach. I think Hepp was in his late 50s when we hired him. 

My thought was more of trying to land a coach that has had success (winning records) with more than one program and left their previous schools in good shape. That means, most likely the ages of this type of coach will be older than 45 and more likely in their 50s or 60s. For me it's about establishing a foundation. Will it work? Who knows, we're talking IUFB here. 

 

 

 

[Lebowski 2,273]

2 hours ago, rcs29 said:

Jake Dickert would, imo, be an absolutely grand SLAM hire. Could be had given the uncertainty of WSU and their conference affiliation. Currently only makes around $2.5m

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Would someone like Dickert (Also under the Bohl coaching tree) come to IU? I think the biggest hurdle we are going to have with coaches like him is that we are IUFB. I guy in his position can easily pass on a program like ours when he's already sitting pretty in the program he's currently coaching.  But I do like the idea of landing a guy like him. I'm just not sure we have the persuasive power to do so.

Personally, I don't think we'll land the vast majority of names already being thrown around in this thread just because IUFB is what it is. The saving grace we have is that we are in a conference that coaches want to coach.

This should be interesting once the official coaching search begins. Looking forward to it actually. 

[rcbowla 6,874]

Would someone like Dickert (Also under the Bohl coaching tree) come to IU? I think the biggest hurdle we are going to have with coaches like him is that we are IUFB. I guy in his position can easily pass on a program like ours when he's already sitting pretty in the program he's currently coaching.  But I do like the idea of landing a guy like him. I'm just not sure we have the persuasive power to do so.

Personally, I don't think we'll land the vast majority of names already being thrown around in this thread just because IUFB is what it is. The saving grace we have is that we are in a conference that coaches want to coach.

This should be interesting once the official coaching search begins. Looking forward to it actually. 

I agree with you with that many coaches wouldn't want to come to IU for obvious reasons. Only reasons I brought him up were that WSU is kind of in limbo right now, he's 40 and is showing he can coach. Another problem we are going to be fighting is the MSU job also being open at the same time and being a much more heralded job. You're also right that we likely won't get any of these names. The best route is the same route that landed us Wilson. Find a good OC at a winning program.

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[Lebowski 2,273]

24 minutes ago, rcs29 said:

I agree with you with that many coaches wouldn't want to come to IU for obvious reasons. Only reasons I brought him up were that WSU is kind of in limbo right now, he's 40 and is showing he can coach. Another problem we are going to be fighting is the MSU job also being open at the same time and being a much more heralded job. You're also right that we likely won't get any of these names. The best route is the same route that landed us Wilson. Find a good OC at a winning program.

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The Dude abides. Got to add Northwestern in there as well. 

Finding a DC/OC that has HC experience (ie Kalen DeBoer) would be preferred for me if I had any say in the matter, but I digress. 

[Hovadipo 54,258]

21 minutes ago, rcs29 said:

I agree with you with that many coaches wouldn't want to come to IU for obvious reasons. Only reasons I brought him up were that WSU is kind of in limbo right now, he's 40 and is showing he can coach. Another problem we are going to be fighting is the MSU job also being open at the same time and being a much more heralded job. You're also right that we likely won't get any of these names. The best route is the same route that landed us Wilson. Find a good OC at a winning program.

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Like Lebowski kind of alluded to, I think our search would collide with NW moreso than MSU. Kinda hoping NW just keeps their guy in place to have one less team riding the carousel. MSU not having to deal with the full Mel contract probably lets them shoot for the stars.

Also, I'm with you and ALL in on Dickert if that were ever to be realistic.

[Golfman25 4,864]

17 minutes ago, Hovadipo said:

Like Lebowski kind of alluded to, I think our search would collide with NW moreso than MSU. Kinda hoping NW just keeps their guy in place to have one less team riding the carousel. MSU not having to deal with the full Mel contract probably lets them shoot for the stars.

Also, I'm with you and ALL in on Dickert if that were ever to be realistic.

I think the IU job is potentially a better job than NW.  Fitz was an aberration at NW -- he was going to be a lifer there, no matter what.  That gave the program some stability these past 15 years.  Their stadium renovation is going to get caught up in political piss and moan and they still have an admission issues with potential recruits -- it's tough to get in.  Their NIL will likely lack the rest of the Big10 as well. 

[Hovadipo 54,258]

2 minutes ago, Golfman25 said:

I think the IU job is potentially a better job than NW.  Fitz was an aberration at NW -- he was going to be a lifer there, no matter what.  That gave the program some stability these past 15 years.  Their stadium renovation is going to get caught up in political piss and moan and they still have an admission issues with potential recruits -- it's tough to get in.  Their NIL will likely lack the rest of the Big10 as well. 

I would agree with that. What Fitz did there was really something.

I think we're both pretty far behind what MSU is capable of though.

[Golfman25 4,864]

Just now, Hovadipo said:

I would agree with that. What Fitz did there was really something.

I think we're both pretty far behind what MSU is capable of though.

Yeah, plus there might be a few more.  Who knows about Michigan and Harbaugh?  

[Hovadipo 54,258]

9 minutes ago, Golfman25 said:

Yeah, plus there might be a few more.  Who knows about Michigan and Harbaugh?  

Yeah, I think this might be the year that finally sends Harbaugh back to the NFL, but I don't think there are going to be a ton of openings on our "tier" fortunately. Potentially Northwestern, maybe BC and Syracuse. Arkansas and Baylor, but those 2 could out-spend us with what their donors pull out of their bellybuttons. I really do think this is the year to Do It and not just because he stinks.

Of course, lord only knows what will actually happen with the coaching carousel. There could be 10 jobs open on our level for various reasons before we even pull the trigger.

[OGIUAndy 746]

4 hours ago, rcs29 said:

Cignetti will get a better job than IU. Bohl is interesting although he hasn't been setting the world on fire at Wyoming.

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I have no idea what "Hero Sports" is but interestingly enough they just published this: https://herosports.com/fbs-potential-power-five-landing-spots-jmu-dukes-head-coach-curt-cignetti-cpcp/

Also, I had know idea he already coached at Indiana! ;) 

[Lebowski 2,273]

20 minutes ago, OGIUAndy said:

I have no idea what "Hero Sports" is but interestingly enough they just published this: https://herosports.com/fbs-potential-power-five-landing-spots-jmu-dukes-head-coach-curt-cignetti-cpcp/

Also, I had know idea he already coached at Indiana! ;) 

His brother, Frank Jr., is also a coach and is currently the OC and QB coach at Pitt. He's spent time in the NFL as well. 

[Hovadipo 54,258]

34 minutes ago, OGIUAndy said:

I have no idea what "Hero Sports" is but interestingly enough they just published this: https://herosports.com/fbs-potential-power-five-landing-spots-jmu-dukes-head-coach-curt-cignetti-cpcp/

Also, I had know idea he already coached at Indiana! ;) 

HeroSports is pretty plugged into FCS ball. Definitely worth reading. 

[OGIUAndy 746]

8 minutes ago, Lebowski said:

His brother, Frank Jr., is also a coach and is currently the OC and QB coach at Pitt. He's spent time in the NFL as well. 

Personally if IU hired a guy like this, I would be happy. I want some buzz or a guy with a LOT of experience both calling plays and as a HC working his way up the ranks.

[OGIUAndy 746]

Just now, Hovadipo said:

HeroSports is pretty plugged into FCS ball. Definitely worth reading. 

I am not a huge college FB fan, so I am not surprised I didn't know. 

[spe317 444]

What are your thoughts on some “gimmick” style? With the unrealistic future of IU ever being perennial B10 champs, maybe explore some ideas to make IU unique? Like some crazy weird offense—like a vintage Oregon or crazy air raid? Even though the wins didn’t come with Wilson, those teams were fun to watch slinging it around the field.

Id be over the moon with bowl games 75% of the time with a crazy offense where we score 49 points a game but defensively allow 56. Just a thought. 

[TTT 834]

Unfortunately, I have seen this similar scenario play out for over 60 years.  Just like all the lateral to lower level MAC type recruiting with all the excitement of hope and dreams…this and that player/s are going to take IU football to the promised land (some temporary success once in a while) the coaching eras end up eerily similarly the same.  And now another short era comes to an end (wondering if player/s almost thinking boycott or probably transfer elsewhere) and a new probably short coaching era will begin.  
Since 1887 It’s IU MAC conference football playing in what will now become a more competitive Big Ten conference.

IU’s best hope is once 18 to 20 teams get into the Big Ten is to break football into 2 conferences like the top half of teams called the Big Ten Conference and the other lower half of teams called the Little Ten Conference.

Then, though nothing really changed on who is the best but everyone could feel a little better.

The lower teams in the top half what would be the Big Ten could rise to the top once in a while.

The lower half what would be the Little Ten could have a more equal win distribution.  
It’s a better feeling already.

Criteria could be set up for a Little Ten team to move into Big Ten and Big Ten team move into Little Ten based on performance over a given period of time.

[LIHoosier 25,438]

8 hours ago, TTT said:

Unfortunately, I have seen this similar scenario play out for over 60 years.  Just like all the lateral to lower level MAC type recruiting with all the excitement of hope and dreams…this and that player/s are going to take IU football to the promised land (some temporary success once in a while) the coaching eras end up eerily similarly the same.  And now another short era comes to an end (wondering if player/s almost thinking boycott or probably transfer elsewhere) and a new probably short coaching era will begin.  
Since 1887 It’s IU MAC conference football playing in what will now become a more competitive Big Ten conference.

IU’s best hope is once 18 to 20 teams get into the Big Ten is to break football into 2 conferences like the top half of teams called the Big Ten Conference and the other lower half of teams called the Little Ten Conference.

Then, though nothing really changed on who is the best but everyone could feel a little better.

The lower teams in the top half what would be the Big Ten could rise to the top once in a while.

The lower half what would be the Little Ten could have a more equal win distribution.  
It’s a better feeling already.

Criteria could be set up for a Little Ten team to move into Big Ten and Big Ten team move into Little Ten based on performance over a given period of time.

Intra-conference promotion and relegation? Seems more realistic with all the TV contracts in place than what others are proposing. Gives the networks a guarantee of prime matchups every year and hey!...in the oft chance IU gets promoted we only have to play Michigan and O$U once a decade or so.

[Chris007 43,367]

What about Jon Gruden? He's got some IU ties

[Artie86 1,794]

3 minutes ago, Chris007 said:

What about Jon Gruden? He's got some IU ties

He would definitely be a huge upgrade and get, but I can't imagine IU would even sniff at this one. He would have some major "splaining" to do for anyone interested.....

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/11/sports/football/what-did-jon-gruden-say.html