Cignetti Extended At IU - 8 Yrs, $93M

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Some Day...Maybe said:
Penn State's #1 target out. Is it Matt Rhule? I think that's a good bet. Rhule was my #1 hope when Fleck was hired, Fleck was #2 on my list. I think it would be great if Rhule left Nebraska. Hopefully, Fleck wouldn't leave MN for Nebraska. Lol.
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I don’t get it. He hasn’t lit the world on fire in recruiting or results after 2.5 years at Nebraska. Yes Nebby was a dumpster fire for a good 10 years, but should have been a faster rebuild than Indiana (Indiana is a new build and not just a rebuild).

It’s true that his rebuild records show huge spikes in wins in year 3 (Temple 2, 6, 10, Baylor 1,7, 11) so they may see something there. Seems like if he wasn’t a PSU alum I don’t think he would be a top choice.
 

Catechol said:
I don’t get it. He hasn’t lit the world on fire in recruiting or results after 2.5 years at Nebraska. Yes Nebby was a dumpster fire for a good 10 years, but should have been a faster rebuild than Indiana (Indiana is a new build and not just a rebuild).

It’s true that his rebuild records show huge spikes in wins in year 3 (Temple 2, 6, 10, Baylor 1,7, 11) so they may see something there. Seems like if he wasn’t a PSU alum I don’t think he would be a top choice.
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I posted this in another thread:


About Rhule, not withstanding his debacle in NFL for the Panthers, everywhere he's been at college so far has had a fairly steep upward trajectory:

en.wikipedia.org

Matt Rhule - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org


Carolina in 2020: was covid, they released Cam Newton, Luke Kuechly retired, and McCaffrey barely played.
 

Catechol said:
I don’t get it. He hasn’t lit the world on fire in recruiting or results after 2.5 years at Nebraska. Yes Nebby was a dumpster fire for a good 10 years, but should have been a faster rebuild than Indiana (Indiana is a new build and not just a rebuild).

It’s true that his rebuild records show huge spikes in wins in year 3 (Temple 2, 6, 10, Baylor 1,7, 11) so they may see something there. Seems like if he wasn’t a PSU alum I don’t think he would be a top choice.
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Bold:

the dirty secret is that Indiana hasn't really done that much. They only had two tough games in 2024, and split those, then weren't competitive against Notre Dame in the first round. Missed another loss by avoiding the Big Ten champ game (which they did not play either team in regular season).

This year they've had one tough game, which they won kudos, and maybe two others (not sure I buy Illinois any more, and going to Iowa and winning is usually tough, again kudos).

Don't have any tough games left. Should waltz into Big Ten champ game against Ohio State, which will be interesting.
 

So, hat's off to Cig's agent. Leveraging this incredibly fortunate two year schedule run, and yes executing on winning a bunch of games you should win (as we know with Fleck by comparison, that's a nice thing to have), into a massive payday.

By all means, take Cuban's money from his sudden interest in Indiana football 40 years after graduating from there.
 


Catechol said:
I don’t get it. He hasn’t lit the world on fire in recruiting or results after 2.5 years at Nebraska. Yes Nebby was a dumpster fire for a good 10 years, but should have been a faster rebuild than Indiana (Indiana is a new build and not just a rebuild).

It’s true that his rebuild records show huge spikes in wins in year 3 (Temple 2, 6, 10, Baylor 1,7, 11) so they may see something there. Seems like if he wasn’t a PSU alum I don’t think he would be a top choice.
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I think you are forgetting the power of nostalgia and "one of us" has on all fan bases. Same reason people always bring up Dungy or Marc Trestman when there's an opening here, but his success as a player (was on teams from 94-97 where PSU was 39-8 and was there as part of the undefeated 94 team). Add that to he coaches in a fashion I think PSU fans want to get back to (smashmouth, sound football). We'll see how Nebbie ends up this year, but they absolutely have revamped how they run the ball and play defense under him after being ridiculously bad and undisciplined under Frost.

Some guys suck coaching in the NFL because its a totally different game. Saban won 7 Nattys but was 15-17 as an NFL coach.
 

GopherGrit said:
Indiana may be crazy, but they're not stupid.

They have finance people in the athletic department. So does the league office.

They're clearly projecting out revenue, to be able to do this. Whether it's Big Ten TV money, or big donations they have at least soft commitments on, or this Private Equity money coming in ...
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you're making a bold assumption there. Current AD tenures are about 5-6 years. None of these guys is thinking about 10 years from now. It's the same group that's paying Mike Woodson 4.2mil/yr to regress and miss the NCAA tournament and pay his buyout to now hire darian devries and pay him as a top 20 coach with a resume of only making the tourney twice at Drake (last year he missed at WVU) with 80% of that contract guaranteed and they paid a $6mil buyout to get him.
 

GopherGrit said:
So, hat's off to Cig's agent. Leveraging this incredibly fortunate two year schedule run, and yes executing on winning a bunch of games you should win (as we know with Fleck by comparison, that's a nice thing to have), into a massive payday.

By all means, take Cuban's money from his sudden interest in Indiana football 40 years after graduating from there.
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I think you are SEVERELY overlooking what Cignetti has accomplished at Indiana. Just blanket dismissing B1G wins, especially when there have been a LOT of them is missing a lot of the point, in my opinion.

Indiana gets ripped for "not competing" in the playoff. They were a victim of playing in the first playoff game on the road against a team that would eventually nearly win it all in the championship game. They ended up being closer than any other first round loser. Suggesting a bunch of B1G games were games they should win is actually making the opposite point you are trying to make. They were only games Indiana should have won because they have improved a lot! This is a perennial doormat that annually could only get 1 or 2 B1G wins, we are talking about here.

Indiana is currently coming off a win AT Oregon (something Ohio State couldn't do) and is ranked third in the country. INDIANA!!!!! If I were a fan, I'd be buying up tickets (they are sold out the rest of this season, again, at INDIANA!), and demanding the administration do everything in their power to retain the single differentiator between being ranked #3 and being a perennial doormat.
 

GopherGrit said:
Bold:

the dirty secret is that Indiana hasn't really done that much. They only had two tough games in 2024, and split those, then weren't competitive against Notre Dame in the first round. Missed another loss by avoiding the Big Ten champ game (which they did not play either team in regular season).

This year they've had one tough game, which they won kudos, and maybe two others (not sure I buy Illinois any more, and going to Iowa and winning is usually tough, again kudos).

Don't have any tough games left. Should waltz into Big Ten champ game against Ohio State, which will be interesting.
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There's something to be said of not tripping up against any inferior opponent in 1.5 seasons, and not only that, kicking the snot out of them most of the time.

Had Franklin achieved that with Penn St 20+ favorites the past 2 weeks against UCLA and Northwestern, he would still be employed.
 
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GopherGrit said:
So, hat's off to Cig's agent. Leveraging this incredibly fortunate two year schedule run, and yes executing on winning a bunch of games you should win (as we know with Fleck by comparison, that's a nice thing to have), into a massive payday.

By all means, take Cuban's money from his sudden interest in Indiana football 40 years after graduating from there.
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I'm happy with PJ. Good coach. Good man. Tireless worker. Produces good citizens, not just football players. We are lucky to have him. Hope he stays for many more years.

But what if every season PJ, like Cignetti, had without fail won every the games he should have, instead of laying at least one and sometimes two eggs each year? What would the Gophers' records and rankings have been (with no roster changes)? How differently would we feel about PJ if he didn't just beat, but trounced, opponents we should beat, and competed head-to-head in every game we "should" lose?

With our roster, Cignetti (and his coordinators) would have come out swinging and motor-boated Cal. I was at that game. Another example of PJ, at least in the early going, trying to tip-toe to victory, falling behind the team that did come out swinging, and then failing to mount a sufficient comeback because the Gophs, out of their comfort zone, started making a lot of unforced errors. And I believe that neither the Rutgers nor Purdue games would have been such close, tenuous victories if Cignetti (and his coordinators) had our roster.

This isn't a criticism of PJ, who coaches well according to the conventional wisdom--it is a recognition that Cignetti is unique, a unicorn; he has some quality, some kind of lucky+aggressive nature, that means his team plays at its highest level for the most part of every single game. Indiana's game plans are always aggressive, yet keyed to exploit the other team's weaknesses. Cignetti plays to demolish the other team in toss up games, not just eke out a close win. That affects the mindset of the players. He deserves his big contract. And he deserves some well-earned respect.
 
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GopherGrit said:
Bold:

the dirty secret is that Indiana hasn't really done that much. They only had two tough games in 2024, and split those, then weren't competitive against Notre Dame in the first round. Missed another loss by avoiding the Big Ten champ game (which they did not play either team in regular season).

This year they've had one tough game, which they won kudos, and maybe two others (not sure I buy Illinois any more, and going to Iowa and winning is usually tough, again kudos).

Don't have any tough games left. Should waltz into Big Ten champ game against Ohio State, which will be interesting.
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Come on now, Indiana (just like Minnesota and plenty of other schools) have had seasons with lighter schedules since the beginning of time and yet 99% of those coaches don’t go 11-1 in their first season and 17-2 so far with the only losses to top 5 teams and 2 top 10 (OK one real top 10) wins. I could also see the point if they’re squeaking by (like Gophers could’ve easily lost their first few games in 2019) but they’re beating teams by an average of multiple TDs.
 

GopherGrit said:
So, hat's off to Cig's agent. Leveraging this incredibly fortunate two year schedule run, and yes executing on winning a bunch of games you should win (as we know with Fleck by comparison, that's a nice thing to have), into a massive payday.

By all means, take Cuban's money from his sudden interest in Indiana football 40 years after graduating from there.
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So in his first year at Indiana, 1-8 in the B1G in 2023, Cignetti has the Hoosiers in such good shape that he gets no credit for beating everyone in conference except tOSU?

His team was so good they "should beat" everyone else?

That's your criticism??

In case you're not following...that's not "incredibly fortunate scheduling."

That's turning a doormat into a team that, by your own standards, is way better than everyone but the Buckeyes.
 



GopherGrit said:
I posted this in another thread:


About Rhule, not withstanding his debacle in NFL for the Panthers, everywhere he's been at college so far has had a fairly steep upward trajectory:

en.wikipedia.org

Matt Rhule - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org


Carolina in 2020: was covid, they released Cam Newton, Luke Kuechly retired, and McCaffrey barely played.
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Baylor and Nebraska were not very difficult places to show improvement at. Nebraska is still no where near competing for a conference title. PSU doesn’t need a rebuild, it’s trying to get to that last level of excellence, right now they are a rung below it…well aside from this season.
 



GopherGrit said:
Not trying to be a prick.

Just that, none of this makes any sense to me.


2024 Indiana basically went 1-1 in the only two games that mattered. They beat Michigan at home, a team that would two weeks later beat Ohio State, and they lost at Ohio State. Then lost in the first round to Notre Dame.

2025 Indiana, has basically gone 1-0 in games that matter. Win at Oregon was nice. Illinois is proving to be a fringe top 25 team, not a special game. I suppose you could argue win at Iowa was also important.
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Hired a great coach. Energized the fanbase. Got people excited and the money started rolling in.
 


One of his best traits IMO is he does not lose to teams they should beat. He kills them.
 

I’m old enough to remember Mel Tuckers 10 year 95 million dollar contract after a good year, how’d that turn out? That’s ludicrous money for that program, we’ll see if he can maintain this level of play,but I have my doubts
 

Gopher Ally said:
I’m old enough to remember Mel Tuckers 10 year 95 million dollar contract after a good year, how’d that turn out? That’s ludicrous money for that program, we’ll see if he can maintain this level of play,but I have my doubts
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yep small schools don't have the ability to withstand it going bad. Big reason why they tried to fire him with cause when they realized he wasn't a good coach. Don't remember where his lawsuits have ended up
 

Schnauzer said:
I think you are SEVERELY overlooking what Cignetti has accomplished at Indiana. Just blanket dismissing B1G wins, especially when there have been a LOT of them is missing a lot of the point, in my opinion.

Indiana gets ripped for "not competing" in the playoff. They were a victim of playing in the first playoff game on the road against a team that would eventually nearly win it all in the championship game. They ended up being closer than any other first round loser. Suggesting a bunch of B1G games were games they should win is actually making the opposite point you are trying to make. They were only games Indiana should have won because they have improved a lot! This is a perennial doormat that annually could only get 1 or 2 B1G wins, we are talking about here.

Indiana is currently coming off a win AT Oregon (something Ohio State couldn't do) and is ranked third in the country. INDIANA!!!!! If I were a fan, I'd be buying up tickets (they are sold out the rest of this season, again, at INDIANA!), and demanding the administration do everything in their power to retain the single differentiator between being ranked #3 and being a perennial doormat.
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More than a few "Remember 2019" people that will defend Fleck to the end of the world crapping on a guy who has accomplished more in a year and half than PJ has in, I lose tra k because of year zero and covid, however many seasons.
 



swede2 said:
More than a few "Remember 2019" people that will defend Fleck to the end of the world crapping on a guy who has accomplished more in a year and half than PJ has in, I lose tra k because of year zero and covid, however many seasons.
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Are people crapping on him? He seems like an asshole so I get why people don’t like him. I don’t see the problem with some being skeptical of if Indiana is here to stay among the B1G elite. I think 99% are impressed with what he has done so far and the speed at which he did it even if some are pointing out outside factors that played a role.
 

GopherGrit said:
Not trying to be a prick.

Just that, none of this makes any sense to me.


2024 Indiana basically went 1-1 in the only two games that mattered. They beat Michigan at home, a team that would two weeks later beat Ohio State, and they lost at Ohio State. Then lost in the first round to Notre Dame.

2025 Indiana, has basically gone 1-0 in games that matter. Win at Oregon was nice. Illinois is proving to be a fringe top 25 team, not a special game. I suppose you could argue win at Iowa was also important.
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Whoa. Cignetti won last year, and pounded Big Ten teams, with I-AA players from James Madison and holdovers from the losing Indiana program. Oh and a QB from Ohio University.
This year he has more talent, better transfers, and most of those James Madison players, who weren’t wanted by any P4 schools out of high school. And they’re better.
Just laughing at attempts to minimize this transformation of Indiana football to a national power…
 

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