IUFB Recruiting and Transfer Portal Updates

[BtownStrength]

5 minutes ago, Pagoda said:

Our photoshoot props keep leveling up.  Love it!  The poor Brass Spittoon has been thrown in the closet. 

Agreed. The championship has really enhanced the after-visit X and IG posts. Rings and trophies make excellent accoutrements. 

[Pagoda]

The Hoosier Huddle guys keep saying (as they have for months) they expect most commits to start happening in June and July.

So, while it looks like we're behind for 2027 high school recruiting, this is the plan.  We'll probably get some color on why once the class signs.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

In this extremely busy graphic, look in the upper left corner.

 

[DChoosier]

1 hour ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

1 hour ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

In this extremely busy graphic, look in the upper left corner.

 

2029!!!!!!!!

If I had a choice of devoting time and resources landing a proven/productive portal QB in a two week window vs “showing the love” to a 15 year old considering 10 schools (and maybe more in the future) for 3 years……it would be an easy decision for me.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Iosua Stephens @IosuaStephens

AGTG! Extremely blessed to announce I’ll be joining Indiana University Football as a walk-on. New chapter, same mission. Let’s work!

[Stuhoo]

39 minutes ago, Class of '66 Old Fart said:

Iosua Stephens @IosuaStephens

AGTG! Extremely blessed to announce I’ll be joining Indiana University Football as a walk-on. New chapter, same mission. Let’s work!

6'2" QB that was on Valpo's roster last season. From Brownsburg

https://www.espn.com/college-football/player/_/id/5300251/iosua-stephens

[Lebowski]

Good article by Mike Schumann explaining some of Coach Cigs recruiting philosophy and priorities. It links to an On3 article that is behind a paywall.

https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/why-doesnt-iu-football-have-a-top-5-2027-recruiting-class-listen-to-curt-cignettis-words/

According to Schumann, in the On3 article Dolson said IUFB spent 18 mil on last year's roster and Coach Cig allocates a 45:45:10 ratio with the budget. 45% retainment, 45% transfer, and 10% high school recruits. 

With these ratios, last year's budget allocated 1.8 mil to 2026 high school recruits (22 total) averaging 81.8k per recruit. Or maybe that 10% was actually being counted to the 2025 high school recruits(23 total) averaging 78.2k per recruit. Regardless, that doesn't mean each recruit is getting paid that much, it just means that's the average per commitment. Factor in the market jumping 3 to 5 times from last year's market and you're looking at no less than around 235k (3x jump) per recruit for a signing class of 20+. At the lowest (3 times market jump) IUFB would of had to allocate around 30% of its budget from last year to sign high school recruits of that size. That means you don't sign folks like Fernando Mendoza or Pat Coogan. You can now start to see how this might be a cause for concern for IUFB and for most if not all of college football.  I just don't see how this can be sustainable. 

The silver lining, coaching matters and those that sign out of high school have the potential to dip into that retainment allocation should they prove their value. And it absolutely fits the model of Coach Cig's mantra that everything is earned, not given. 

Does anyone know of a valuable resource/website that shows how some of the these NIL contracts are structured? For example, are they structured a lot like the pros where bonuses kick in for accomplishing certain milestones?

[Pagoda]

A few thoughts for fun:

- $18M for last year's roster honestly seems too low.  We at least put something like $14M rev share to FB, so just $4M NIL on top of that?  Seems a little light... not a lot, just a little (I thought $21-22M seemed about right).  But hey, maybe I am wrong, and regardless, Scott is countering the silly "bought a title" narrative, which is nice to see.

The fact we went 16-0 and won it all beating teams with 50% to nearly 100% more spent on their roster than we did is just the most amazing thing I've ever seen in college sports and likely will ever see.

- Cig said in a recent interview that we're top third of the B1G in resources now.  Which is pretty darn great considering some of the big boys in the conference.  IU's roster budget is way, way up from 2025.

- The article says 3-5x increase for HS talent... that seems a bit of an exaggeration.  Though I'm sure it's up quite a bit. 

- Something to keep in mind with our class is we don't know what IU is paying our commits.  This is obviously very important and I suspect with all we can offer, we don't have to be the highest bid (as in if the money is equal, we'll get a player over a lot of other programs).  If some school is blowing a lot of budget on high school kids who generally won’t contribute much for a year or two… well then enjoy the ranking on On3 or 24/7… but I doubt that’s a wise way to spend.

- Rev share deals can have performance incentives, NIL does, as it technically cannot be tied to playing, even though it's pay for play.  But with the rev share fixed at $21-22M, I kinda doubt there are a ton of incentives… makes it hard to budget.  What I think happens is when a player does well more NIL opportunities flood in.

Here is an example NIL agreement the B1G uses.  https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26460883/uw-nil-agreement.pdf.  I haven't seen a rev share contract.

[Lebowski]

Appreciate your link @Pagoda Thanks for sharing. 

I do know Coach Cig has said multiple times that he wouldn't have taken the job unless there was a guarantee IUFB would stay in the top 3rd of the conference regarding budget resources. He mentioned in his latest interview with Adam Breneman (I think it was this interview) that there was a set amount agreed upon prior to the hire but that changed within the first few months on the job and the top brass made adjustments to fulfill their promised obligation. I see the top 3rd rule giving the staff a competitive chance to retain and bring in proven talent. That was something the previous staff didn't have. As long as Pam Whitten is calling the shots IUFB will be competitive, FINALLY!!! lol. 

Since the 18 mil comment came from the employee directly responsible for allocating the budget of the whole department I'm taking that value as is. Whether or not he's lying to the media isn't something I am privy of. Regardless, the amount is closer to 15 mil and not 40 mil. It also stays within the top 3rd rule promised to Coach Cig.  

Regarding the 3-5x jump, that came out of Coach Cig's mouth during an interview. I don't recall where, maybe it was on BTN? I don't recall. And yes, it seems like an exaggeration but I'm going to take what he says at face value. I'm not privy to any of the market jump this year. However, I am somewhat privy to last year's market. It might be a jump specifically for IUFB? Because of the success? Or it might be an actual complete market jump? I don't have a clue but again, I'm taking Cig's word for it. 

[go iu bb]

17 hours ago, Lebowski said:

Regarding the 3-5x jump, that came out of Coach Cig's mouth during an interview. I don't recall where, maybe it was on BTN? I don't recall. And yes, it seems like an exaggeration but I'm going to take what he says at face value. I'm not privy to any of the market jump this year. However, I am somewhat privy to last year's market. It might be a jump specifically for IUFB? Because of the success? Or it might be an actual complete market jump? I don't have a clue but again, I'm taking Cig's word for it. 

Winning games (and championships) while also greatly increasing players draft positions doesn't increase the cost of players, it decreases it if there is any change at all. So it's not an increase because of IU's success. It was a change in the market as a whole.

[Pagoda]

Good update here for Wiltfong, who is pretty close to the program.

With respect to Monshun, he expects an announcement date soon and he still predicts IU.  So, we’ll see.

[Stuhoo]

1 hour ago, Pagoda said:

Good update here for Wiltfong, who is pretty close to the program.

With respect to Monshun, he expects an announcement date soon and he still predicts IU.  So, we’ll see.

Many signs of Monshun to IU. Not much buzz for anywhere else. I like our odds quite a bit.