“Curt Cignetti gets new 8-year deal after Indiana's 10-0 start”

blion72

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Oct 30, 2021
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Dude's all set until he's 73 years old. Good for him. Now let's see if he can sustain the momentum or fall back like a lot of coaches who used the portal for Year #1 success. Their schedule next season is a bit more challenging as well. at PSU. at Oregon. at Iowa

Dude's all set until he's 73 years old. Good for him. Now let's see if he can sustain the momentum or fall back like a lot of coaches who used the portal for Year #1 success. Their schedule next season is a bit more challenging as well. at PSU. at Oregon. at Iowa.
that is the key. he brought a lot of players with him and used the portal so that 15 starters are portal and 50% comes from his former team. He also got a hand made schedule with only 4 games away and 8 at home. plus UMich not the same team this year. This gave him what he needed to bring it all together. He and his staff are good coaches but this may not be sustainable.
 

PSUwolf

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Dude's all set until he's 73 years old. Good for him. Now let's see if he can sustain the momentum or fall back like a lot of coaches who used the portal for Year #1 success. Their schedule next season is a bit more challenging as well. at PSU. at Oregon. at Iowa.
Yea, He's had a nice short run against subpar competition - IU's schedule was ranked 103rd last week - but what happens when-if they fall back some in the next few years? I understand, though, the pressure to sign him as some down programs were probably ready to throw the bank at him. We'll find out - in Columbus next week - how legit they are. I'm staying away from betting on that one.
 

BobPSU92

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that is the key. he brought a lot of players with him and used the portal so that 15 starters are portal and 50% comes from his former team. He also got a hand made schedule with only 4 games away and 8 at home. plus UMich not the same team this year. This gave him what he needed to bring it all together. He and his staff are good coaches but this may not be sustainable.

Timing is everything. It benefited him immensely. From the above article:

“Cignetti's new eight-year contract runs through the 2032 season and will pay him an average of $8 million per year with an annual $1 million retention bonus, putting the total value of the new contract at $72 million…Cignetti originally received a six-year, $27 million contract when he was hired in December. He took the Indiana job after leading James Madison to an 11-1 season in 2023 -- when he made $677,311 -- with the goal of changing the Hoosiers' historically woeful image in football.”

Holy hell.
 
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LB99

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Oct 27, 2021
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I'm not sold on Indiana yet. The preliminary line for IU @ OSU has the Buckeyes as a 10.5 point favorite. I think they cover easily. But I'm often wrong which is why I never place bets.
I’m with you. Their SOS is now 100th in the country. I would take OSU to cover the spread, but, I too, never place bets.
 

PSUwolf

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I’m with you. Their SOS is now 100th in the country. I would take OSU to cover the spread, but, I too, never place bets.
Yea, I'm just not sure about this Indiana team with that schedule. They had a very hard time with a really DOWN Michigan team last week at that crowd noise will be off the charts next week in Columbus. I'm just not betting on this one (so far) although I'm starting to lean on taking OSU and giving the points
 
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LB99

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Don’t get me wrong, he’s a really, really good coach, but you have to have the horses to compete at this level. Not sure he has the horses and what happens next year when the 15+ transfer portal kids aren’t all there?
 
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PSU89er

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With his attitude, he firmly believes he can replace anything he loses, so he'll get 15 more kids in portal. Both Sanders and Cignetti are showing you can build a football winner in the portal, and bringing in HS kids isn't all that important. One can argue that you won't win a national title doing that, but those two have shown you can get really good really fast just turning over the roster. I figured it would be easy to do in basketball. I'm kinda surprised that its being done so easily in football by these two.
 

Keyser Soze 16802

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chicken spank GIF by happydog


Next week in Columbus
 
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PSU89er

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They added 23 transfers. I’m just not sure that is sustainable. It has to be the right guys and how do you establish a culture within the program with new guys from the outside every year?

You want to establish a culture. Just win, the culture thing will take care of itself.

My guess for IU to establish culture based on the history, its probably more important that the entire coaching staff is on the same page all the time to establish exactly what the head coach wants, because IU has no football culture. Have you noticed that basically his entire staff are the same guys from James Madison. Cignetti might have bigger problems once other schools are raiding his staff.
 
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Marshall2323

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Dude's all set until he's 73 years old. Good for him. Now let's see if he can sustain the momentum or fall back like a lot of coaches who used the portal for Year #1 success. Their schedule next season is a bit more challenging as well. at PSU. at Oregon. at Iowa.
We had something like this at Michigan State.
 

PSUSignore

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Oct 25, 2021
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This is an awful move by Indiana. It smacks of desperation. No way can they sustain anything close to this year.
Well it was either give him a raise or expect him to walk. Cignetti was going to get a lot of attention from programs that can easily outbid Indiana.
 

yboby

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Cignetti recruited a lot of really good players at JMU when they were making the transition from FCS to FBS. They were part of the reason JMU did so well in their first FBS season (2023). He brought 13 of those players with him to Indiana and they have prominent roles there.

On the one hand, you could say he can't replicate that kind of instant impact going forward. On the other hand, you could say those players were not coveted by other FBS programs so he must be doing something right in terms of coaching. My hunch is that he will do well but not at the same level as this season.
 

Marshall2323

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”Dr. Kraft, it’s Coach Franklin on Line 1. He says it’s urgent.”

o_O
Can't decide what will be the most fun after James Franklin's contract extension. The weeping or the gnashing of teeth. 10 more years?;)
 
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Bvillebaron

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Oct 12, 2021
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They added 23 transfers. I’m just not sure that is sustainable. It has to be the right guys and how do you establish a culture within the program with new guys from the outside every year?


They added 23 transfers. I’m just not sure that is sustainable. It has to be the right guys and how do you establish a culture within the program with new guys from the outside every year?

Excellent point. Heard a commentator question if the portal mercenaries FSU brought in are buying in when a season goes sideways like it has for the Noles this year. Cignetti has done a good job but seems very cocky having played one of the softest schedules so far. We shall see.
 
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Bones80

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Sounds like the kiss of death for Indinia for sure. Have seen this script before. Coach has good season. Coach gets overpaid with long term contract. Team realizes one year success doesn’t guarantee multi-year success. Team tanks. Coach gets fired. Process starts all over again.
 

PSUFBFAN

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Oct 7, 2021
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Sounds like the kiss of death for Indinia for sure. Have seen this script before. Coach has good season. Coach gets overpaid with long term contract. Team realizes one year success doesn’t guarantee multi-year success. Team tanks. Coach gets fired. Process starts all over again.
He caught lightning in a bottle this year with his portal transfers from JMU, no question about it. I highly doubt it is sustainable (just ask Mel Tucker or Mike Norvell). How many times is he likely to win future recruiting battles (whether it be high school or portal) with kids choosing between Indiana and Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan, Oregon .... and so on ... because those are the type of kids he'll need to consistently compete against the top 10.

Plus, the schedule takes a step up next year as he'll travel to Iowa, Oregon, and Penn State.

My guess is he settles into a long term 7-5 to 9-3 type of program.
 
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BobPSU92

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Excellent point. Heard a commentator question if the portal mercenaries FSU brought in are buying in when a season goes sideways like it has for the Noles this year. Cignetti has done a good job but seems very cocky having played one of the softest schedules so far. We shall see.

If I reeled in the cash money that he has this year, I’d be very penisy.
 

Sharkies

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Nov 1, 2021
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Its absolutely wild... is there any other job where 1 good season can net you $70m guaranteed? I'd say NFL or MLB but even then, you're the one actually performing... imagine how hard it is to actually hit 40 homeruns in a season... vs say, get an easy schedule, a few breaks here or there and you fall into a 10-0 season.
 
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