Indiana’s success is breaking college football

[Magnanimous]

This actually began in 2020 when Indiana beat Michigan for the first time since 1987. Consider this moment rock bottom for the Harbaugh era of Michigan football, and we saw what ”measures were taken“ the following season...

Now Indiana‘s immediate success under Curt Cignetti is contributing to the rapid firing of coaches all over the country. “If Indiana can do it then there’s no reason why we can’t have immediate success as well!” This is misguided and is getting a lot of quality coaches canned prematurely or due to irrational standards from their own programs. It’s quite incredible to watch.

[AZ Hoosier]

It's also making a lot of coaches wealthy. Guys like Kelly getting $54M to not coach LSU. Stoops got $37M to not coach Kentucky. It's crazy. The expectations for the coaches and the programs are unrealistic and literal tons of money being paid out.

Athletics is a zero-sum game. Only half of the teams can win any given game, and of course the other half loses. So when Indiana goes 23-2 over 2 seasons where they were previously 7-17, that means other schools had to absorb those losses. 

[Old Friend]

Personally, I love that the rest of the country - the SEC in particular - believes that "if Indiana can do it, so can they."  Cignetti was a perfect storm and was both beneficiary and master of the portal and NIL.  He brought 13 starters from a ranked team with him.  He brought culture and expectations.  He brought a familiar, successful, and experienced staff.   The turnaround was rapid because of it and much bigger than any of us had a right to anticipate.

What he did here cannot be duplicated.  Ever.  It was a one time event, managed perfectly with a very defined and singular set of circumstances.  He was the perfect fit at the perfect time at the perfect place with the perfect circumstances.  Lane Kiffin isn't going to do any more at LSU than he did at Ole Miss and LSU paid $70 million to find out.  That will happen all over the country.  And here we'll sit with everyone else wondering how in the hell we did it.

They aren't paying attention to the why or the how.  They care only about the "what."   And we will watch them all go crazy trying to figure out what we already know.  Curt Cignetti - first of all - is one of one.   He's Bob Knight reincarnated....football version.  The circumstances under which he came here and succeeded won't ever exist again.  And it will never be "spending" that succeeds.   You have to have what he does....an acute understanding of "how" and the discipline to stay with it.  Anyone think Lane Kiffin can do that?

He also got every move right when he got here and has continued.  He is a leader and he builds leaders.  I wish I had a daughter so I could introduce her to Aidan Fisher and others.  I wish I were hiring and needed young people to grow and run my company.  How many kids on that team will kill it professionally?

I am going to truly enjoy the rest of college football chase and try to emulate what Indiana has done.   The fools will never understand and I promise we will be the beneficiaries of the craziness.

[IUHoosierJoe]

10 minutes ago, Old Friend said:

Personally, I love that the rest of the country - the SEC in particular - believes that "if Indiana can do it, so can they."  Cignetti was a perfect storm and was both beneficiary and master of the portal and NIL.  He brought 13 starters from a ranked team with him.  He brought culture and expectations.  He brought a familiar, successful, and experienced staff.   The turnaround was rapid because of it and much bigger than any of us had a right to anticipate.

What he did here cannot be duplicated.  Ever.  It was a one time event, managed perfectly with a very defined and singular set of circumstances.  He was the perfect fit at the perfect time at the perfect place with the perfect circumstances.  Lane Kiffin isn't going to do any more at LSU than he did at Ole Miss and LSU paid $70 million to find out.  That will happen all over the country.  And here we'll sit with everyone else wondering how in the hell we did it.

They aren't paying attention to the why or the how.  They care only about the "what."   And we will watch them all go crazy trying to figure out what we already know.  Curt Cignetti - first of all - is one of one.   He's Bob Knight reincarnated....football version.  The circumstances under which he came here and succeeded won't ever exist again.  And it will never be "spending" that succeeds.   You have to have what he does....an acute understanding of "how" and the discipline to stay with it.  Anyone think Lane Kiffin can do that?

He also got every move right when he got here and has continued.  He is a leader and he builds leaders.  I wish I had a daughter so I could introduce her to Aidan Fisher and others.  I wish I were hiring and needed young people to grow and run my company.  How many kids on that team will kill it professionally?

I am going to truly enjoy the rest of college football chase and try to emulate what Indiana has done.   The fools will never understand and I promise we will be the beneficiaries of the craziness.

This is spot on. There is nobody else coaching right now at any level that has the ability to demand what Cignetti demands and keep everyone bought in. There is no “next Cignetti” out there right now.

The answer he gave in yesterday’s press conference about whether the loser of the OSU-IU game deserves a bye is very telling. We know how every other coach in the country would have answered that question. Cignetti said his team needs to go out and earn it. Because he knows they will.

Enjoy and appreciate what we have right now, my friends. We are the envy of every fan base in the country.

[Lebowski]

13 minutes ago, IUHoosierJoe said:

There is nobody else coaching right now at any level that has the ability to demand what Cignetti demands and keep everyone bought in. There is no “next Cignetti” out there right now.

The only other coach I can think of that might be remotely close is Ben McCollum. We'll find out soon enough. I have a feeling we are going to hate Iowa basketball for a long long time. 

[Stuhoo]

1 hour ago, IUHoosierJoe said:

This is spot on. There is nobody else coaching right now at any level that has the ability to demand what Cignetti demands and keep everyone bought in. There is no “next Cignetti” out there right now.

The answer he gave in yesterday’s press conference about whether the loser of the OSU-IU game deserves a bye is very telling. We know how every other coach in the country would have answered that question. Cignetti said his team needs to go out and earn it. Because he knows they will.

Enjoy and appreciate what we have right now, my friends. We are the envy of every fan base in the country.

Try to get the next Curt Cignetti.

End up with the current Barry Odom.

Yipee-skippy!

[Magnanimous]

1 hour ago, Lebowski said:

The only other coach I can think of that might be remotely close is Ben McCollum. We'll find out soon enough. I have a feeling we are going to hate Iowa basketball for a long long time. 

Hopefully his success is just enough to prove me right, doesn’t come at IU’s expense, and he high tails it out of town when Kansas comes knocking.

[Stuhoo]

2 hours ago, Lebowski said:

The only other coach I can think of that might be remotely close is Ben McCollum. We'll find out soon enough. I have a feeling we are going to hate Iowa basketball for a long long time. 

Might be Darian Devries.

That sometimes maligned low-major roster is 7-0 and about to be tested. If they respond?   :)

[Golfman25]

4 hours ago, Old Friend said:

Personally, I love that the rest of the country - the SEC in particular - believes that "if Indiana can do it, so can they."  Cignetti was a perfect storm and was both beneficiary and master of the portal and NIL.  He brought 13 starters from a ranked team with him.  He brought culture and expectations.  He brought a familiar, successful, and experienced staff.   The turnaround was rapid because of it and much bigger than any of us had a right to anticipate.

What he did here cannot be duplicated.  Ever.  It was a one time event, managed perfectly with a very defined and singular set of circumstances.  He was the perfect fit at the perfect time at the perfect place with the perfect circumstances.  Lane Kiffin isn't going to do any more at LSU than he did at Ole Miss and LSU paid $70 million to find out.  That will happen all over the country.  And here we'll sit with everyone else wondering how in the hell we did it.

They aren't paying attention to the why or the how.  They care only about the "what."   And we will watch them all go crazy trying to figure out what we already know.  Curt Cignetti - first of all - is one of one.   He's Bob Knight reincarnated....football version.  The circumstances under which he came here and succeeded won't ever exist again.  And it will never be "spending" that succeeds.   You have to have what he does....an acute understanding of "how" and the discipline to stay with it.  Anyone think Lane Kiffin can do that?

He also got every move right when he got here and has continued.  He is a leader and he builds leaders.  I wish I had a daughter so I could introduce her to Aidan Fisher and others.  I wish I were hiring and needed young people to grow and run my company.  How many kids on that team will kill it professionally?

I am going to truly enjoy the rest of college football chase and try to emulate what Indiana has done.   The fools will never understand and I promise we will be the beneficiaries of the craziness.

Yep Coach Cignetti is one of one.  Very few, if any like him out there.  Hopefully one day he writes a book memorializing all of that knowledge of success and running an organization.  

Now, don't ever mention Coach Cignetti and that a$$hat Lane Kiffin in the same post again.  One's a douchbag and the other is Curt Cignetti.  :)  

[Brass Cannon]

4 hours ago, Lebowski said:

The only other coach I can think of that might be remotely close is Ben McCollum. We'll find out soon enough. I have a feeling we are going to hate Iowa basketball for a long long time. 

If he’s as successful as Iowa fans hope they won’t have him very long 

[jmsgws]

On 12/1/2025 at 2:25 PM, Stuhoo said:

Might be Darian Devries.

That sometimes maligned low-major roster is 7-0 and about to be tested. If they respond?   :)

After this week, this isn't aging well.  

[Home Jersey]

17 minutes ago, jmsgws said:

After this week, this isn't aging well.  

How will it have aged if we win the next two?

Long season. Still very early. Let's see how we look in late January.

[jmsgws]

8 minutes ago, Home Jersey said:

How will it have aged if we win the next two?

Long season. Still very early. Let's see how we look in late January.

But they didn't respond.

 

[Eagle’s Rug]

On 12/1/2025 at 2:25 PM, Stuhoo said:

Might be Darian Devries.

That sometimes maligned low-major roster is 7-0 and about to be tested. If they respond?   :)

They did not

[Brass Cannon]

3 hours ago, jmsgws said:

But they didn't respond.

 

I heard some whimpers 

[Hurryin' Hoosiers]

On 12/7/2025 at 10:37 AM, Brass Cannon said:

I heard some whimpers 

i think that was just gas.

[Magnanimous]

I wonder what happened during the Covid season that broke their brains…?

[Magnanimous]

5:00-7:30

 

[8bucks]

On 12/1/2025 at 12:02 PM, Lebowski said:

The only other coach I can think of that might be remotely close is Ben McCollum. We'll find out soon enough. I have a feeling we are going to hate Iowa basketball for a long long time. 

I was thinking along similar lines but about Devries and how none of these things applied to him coming. Basically none of his staff came, basically none of his players or recruits came and instead of bringing in a culture, staff and players we ended up with a harder complete rebuild. 

[Magnanimous]

Sums it up