2026 IUFB: CHAPTER 3

[Demo]

Yeah, this is certainly what you’d expect to hear from him given where this thing is right now, but, really, if you’re any school recruiting against Sonny Dykes wouldn’t you just show this to every kid? 

[Hoosierinbham]

17 hours ago, Demo said:

Yeah, this is certainly what you’d expect to hear from him given where this thing is right now, but, really, if you’re any school recruiting against Sonny Dykes wouldn’t you just show this to every kid? 

Absolutely.  Dykes shot his mouth off about Hoover and his turnovers when he transferred, but Hoover gets the opportunity in the media, and most importantly on the field, to show what he can really do. If Hoover can have the success we all expect, I would assume there will be more praise for this staff that could also be perceived as a shot at Dykes and his staff.

[Stuhoo]

3 minutes ago, Hoosierinbham said:

Absolutely.  Dykes shot his mouth off about Hoover and his turnovers when he transferred, but Hoover gets the opportunity in the media, and most importantly on the field, to show what he can really do. If Hoover can have the success we all expect, I would assume there will be more praise for this staff that could also be perceived as a shot at Dykes and his staff.

[skhoosier2]

On 8/15/2026 at 4:31 PM, TheWatShot said:

Pretty sure he said sometime back in January that he's not interested in being a head coach anywhere. 

I think he may have NFL aspirations though. Cig talks about him not going anywhere else collegiately since he doesn’t want to be a head coach but has mentioned the NFL casually in a few different interviews. 

[jermhoosierfan]

On 8/15/2026 at 4:31 PM, TheWatShot said:

Pretty sure he said sometime back in January that he's not interested in being a head coach anywhere. 

Personally, I would rather see him be a head coach somewhere and show that he can do it, and then bring him back after Cig retires.  I wouldn't want to just give the reigns to a guy that hasn't done it before if it gets to the perennial contender year in to year out.  I just want him to get a taste of it before he takes it over.  This could still be about 10 years away, so he has time.

[Stuhoo]

1 hour ago, jermhoosierfan said:

Personally, I would rather see him be a head coach somewhere and show that he can do it, and then bring him back after Cig retires.  I wouldn't want to just give the reigns to a guy that hasn't done it before if it gets to the perennial contender year in to year out.  I just want him to get a taste of it before he takes it over.  This could still be about 10 years away, so he has time.

Disagree.

If he becomes a very successful coach at a program that he builds, like Cig he likely will not want to move on. And if he doesn't greatly succeed somewhere else, the shine of his potential is greatly diminished.

[Brass Cannon]

6 minutes ago, Stuhoo said:

Disagree.

If he becomes a very successful coach at a program that he builds, like Cig he likely will not want to move on. And if he doesn't greatly succeed somewhere else, the shine of his potential is greatly diminished.

It’s also a way of keeping a defense intact during the transition. 

[rayl456]

No one is saying anything about Shanahan here.  If Haines truly isn’t interested in being the HC, would he be willing to stay if Shanahan accepted the position?

[BtownStrength]

27 minutes ago, rayl456 said:

No one is saying anything about Shanahan here.  If Haines truly isn’t interested in being the HC, would he be willing to stay if Shanahan accepted the position?

No intel, but I always saw Shanahan jumping to the Pittsburgh HC job when Narduzzi retires, if that is before Cig hangs it up of course. 

[Hovadipo]

I see Haines and/or Shanahan being NFL guys before they go to a different school or taking over here. They’re both on the cutting edge scheme-wise and the QOL Cig has given them really can only be matched in the league. 

[Hovadipo]

6th in the preseason AP poll also. 3rd most 1st place votes. It will sort itself out and we just need to win the games, but I’m more than a little annoyed about that. The coaches poll is a joke, but the AP carries more weight. 

[str8baller]

2 hours ago, Hovadipo said:

6th in the preseason AP poll also. 3rd most 1st place votes. It will sort itself out and we just need to win the games, but I’m more than a little annoyed about that. The coaches poll is a joke, but the AP carries more weight. 

Are the individual votes listed anywhere yet. My bet is there might be a little crossover between the coaches and beat reporters who snubbed IU. I bet there are a few programs out there who not so subtly are annoyed with IUs success. 

[Hovadipo]

11 minutes ago, str8baller said:

Are the individual votes listed anywhere yet. My bet is there might be a little crossover between the coaches and beat reporters who snubbed IU. I bet there are a few programs out there who not so subtly are annoyed with IUs success. 

Probably right. I haven’t seen the chart for votes yet. 

[IUFootballHappyHappyJoyJoy]

Finally bought me a litany of IU championship tees off of Rally House, months after the fact, but hey; today was the day I finally had some spending money.

[DChoosier]

How much is the pre-season AP poll worth??

4 of the top 6 in last years AP pre-season poll didn’t even make the playoff (Texas, ND, PSU, Clemson)…. LOL. We were ranked 19th.

[Brass Cannon]

20 minutes ago, DChoosier said:

How much is the pre-season AP poll worth??

4 of the top 6 in last years AP pre-season poll didn’t even make the playoff (Texas, ND, PSU, Clemson)…. LOL. We were ranked 19th.

It’s more about a certain overrated team being above us. Notre Dames cakewalk schedule could allow them to go 12-0. 
 

If they go undefeated would voters be willing to have us jump them even if we go 13-0.  I’m not convinced they would.  
 

And unfortunately the committee does appear to look at rankings more than they should 

[str8baller]

12 hours ago, Brass Cannon said:

Notre Dames cakewalk schedule could allow them to go 12-0. 
 

If they go undefeated would voters be willing to have us jump them even if we go 13-0.  I’m not convinced they would.  

Arguably Texas Tech’s is worse. But both those teams could go undefeated and be worse than 1-loss IU/Oregon/OSU/Georgia but ranked higher at the end of the year. They wouldn’t steal a playoff spot from anyone but they would get undeserved byes. 

[Demo]

17 hours ago, str8baller said:

Are the individual votes listed anywhere yet. My bet is there might be a little crossover between the coaches and beat reporters who snubbed IU. I bet there are a few programs out there who not so subtly are annoyed with IUs success. 

 

[skhoosier2]

14 hours ago, Brass Cannon said:

It’s more about a certain overrated team being above us. Notre Dames cakewalk schedule could allow them to go 12-0. 
 

If they go undefeated would voters be willing to have us jump them even if we go 13-0.  I’m not convinced they would.  
 

And unfortunately the committee does appear to look at rankings more than they should 

That's my issue.  Even if we beat OSU(assuming they stay #1 until then)and/or end up undefeated B1G champs does the media vote us to leap frog ND to get the top spot.  Once the 3 above ND loses where does a loss come from their weak AF schedule?  Unless Miami beats them I don't see any way they lose until the playoffs which will let them be #1 going in.

[Lebowski]

AP and Coaches ranked 6th preseason. Another IUFB first. These are the highest preseason ranking in program history. 

Time to go 1-0 against a Tayven Jackson lead North Texas team on the 5th.