Curt Cignetti credits 'maniac' coaching standard at Indiana to his time under Nick Saban

Indiana staked itself to a 28-7 halftime lead last week against Nebraska. First-year Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti wasn’t satisfied.

He let his players know that.

“The only thing that counts is where you are at the end, and that’s why I keep the pedal to the metal when we’re up,” Cignetti said Friday on “The Pat McAfee Show.”

“Because in this game, you can score points in bunches. Things happen. If you’re going to preach high standards, expectations but consistency — high standards, never compromise your standards. You get what you demand. Then in the fourth quarter when you’re up three or four scores, you can’t lower your standards. That’s when I’m like a maniac. … I learned that from somebody.”

“What was his name?” McAfee asked jokingly.

Cignetti quipped back, “I can’t remember.”

Cignetti was referencing legendary coach Nick Saban, who won seven national championships, including six at Alabama. Cignetti was on Saban’s staff for the first of those six while serving as wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator.

Picking back up his explanation for why he’s so dead set on keeping pressure on opponents, and, in the process, on his own team to maintain its high standard of play, Cignetti admitted that, while working under Saban, he didn’t understand the reason for that mindset.

It wasn’t long before he got it.

“I learned so much from that guy,” said Cignetti, who has since developed a reputation for rebuilding programs while coaching IUP, Elon, James Madison and now Indiana.

“I learned how to win, but I learned structural organization, and I could go on and on and on. You gotta commit to your standards regardless of the circumstances. You can never lower them. The time to relax is at the end of the game. So great competitors, people that want to be great, are never satisfied. Never.”

Cignetti added: “You’re either improving or you’re getting worse. You never to stay the same. And if you’re not striving, you’re getting worse.”

Indiana, now No. 13 and 7-0, ended up defeating Nebraska, 56-7. The Cornhuskers entered the day 5-1 on the year, but the Hoosiers turned them over five times and stopped them on fourth down five times.

Cignetti’s transfer-heavy Indiana team has yet to trail in a game this season. He acknowledged Friday that his group has yet to face real adversity.

But he believes his staff and players will be ready for it when it inevitably comes, perhaps even this week against Washington.

“We’re very process oriented: one play at a time, six seconds a play — every play’s got a life and a history of its own — fast, physical and relentless, smart, disciplined, poised, not affected by success or failure, onto the next play,” Cignetti said.

“If you buy into that, the circumstances in the game don’t dictate your behavior or your play. We haven’t been behind yet. But we’ve bought into that style of play.”

Cignetti then called back to a moment during the 2022 season when he was coaching JMU.

“Our first Sun Belt Conference game, App State, after they beat [Texas] A&M,” he started. “We go on the road, it’s sold out, they’re up 28-3 in the second quarter. Our guys never flinched, no anxiety, frustration. Turned the momentum and won the game. So, how are you going to respond when you’re down two scores, three scores? I prepare them for that with my messaging in the winter, spring ball, fall camp.

“At some point, you’re going to be behind. No big deal.”

As Cignetti said, “the only thing that counts is where you are at the end.”