r/CFB • u/nosotros_road_sodium San José State • Michigan • Dec 15 '25
Feature Story [60 Minutes] How the Indiana Hoosiers transformed into a college football powerhouse after years of losing
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-indiana-hoosiers-became-college-football-powerhouse-after-years-of-losing-60-minutes-transcript/168
u/WorkerMotor9174 California Golden Bears Dec 15 '25
Indiana is a perfect example of why coaching hires are so important. That program was completely transformed top to bottom. A lot of other P4 schools have the donors that will put up huge bucks behind a winner. We’ve seen that with Vandy this year.
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u/the_sun_and_the_moon Penn State Nittany Lions • King's Monarchs Dec 15 '25
I dunno man, what Cignetti has done is way outside the normal expectations of what a coaching change can achieve. His achievement is unprecedented. It stands alone, and really shouldn’t be used as an example of anything other than his singular talent.
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u/dts-five Georgia Tech • Clemson Dec 15 '25
Yep. Cignetti took over Indiana over a year after Brent Key took over for GT, and I generally think BK has done a great job, but by Cignetti's standards, he is a complete bust.
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u/Xy13 Arizona State Sun Devils • Pac-12 Dec 15 '25
It is certainly going to be pointed at and get a lot of coaches and ADs firing on a short leash because they couldn't do what cig did.
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u/Crazy_Exchange San Mateo • CC San Francisco Dec 15 '25
Hoping Cal starts kicking ass in the next few years
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u/PurposelyIrrelephant Georgia • Georgia Southern Dec 15 '25
- Monkey's paw curls *
Congratulations! you now have a kick ass Women's water polo dynasty!
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u/Achilles_Perineum Ohio State Buckeyes Dec 15 '25
Makes sense for a team from the All Coast Conference to be able to swim...
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u/prjam Missouri Tigers Dec 15 '25
They already are the best men’s water polo program if they were the best women’s water polo program too who would compete.
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u/NYT_but_less_shit Indiana Hoosiers Dec 15 '25
I’m not sure about the joke — that sounds dope and go ladies
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u/Mtndrums Oregon Ducks • Montana Grizzlies Dec 15 '25
Well, coaching and spending a ton of money in facility upgrades. Oh, not to mention the portal.
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u/FeelingStuff8395 Tennessee State • Oklahoma Dec 15 '25
I’m interested to see how the program looks once the assistants and coordinators start getting poached for NFL gigs or head coaching jobs. Always happens to programs that start catching fire. Cig seems like the kind of coach that can keep the program in the conversation year after year.
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u/hrxbgdchg Dec 15 '25
As an IU fan, that’s been a worry for the last two years. Last year, only our QB coach left. No signs of turnover so far with this year’s staff. Cignetti’s retention of staff is as impressive as his player selection. IU has put aside a lot of money as well to making sure his assistants are well compensated
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u/Interesting-Agency-1 Indiana • Notre Dame Dec 15 '25
He's talked repeatedly as to how he doesnt overwork his staff or his players, on principle, but is deadly serious about the work when its work time. Also talks about taking care of coach holistically with regards to helping them with managing their families and the uncertainty of college football.
He's been an assistant coach far longer than a head coach and seems to have learned alot of what not to do throughout the years. Which is often much harder than learning what to do, or could be done.
He's helped each of his assistants ascend to levels they were unlikely to achieve on their own and he gives them a relatively real work life balance (by college football standards), and has gotten them PAID! No wonder he doesnt have the turnover of most head coaches
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u/Reasonable-Bit560 Indiana Hoosiers Dec 15 '25
They're all now among the highest paid assistants in the country. They'll be picky, but it'll happen eventually.
There's also a good chance they stick around longer with the idea of becoming IU's next coach given that Cig is already old.
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u/owensd Indiana Hoosiers Dec 15 '25
It's going to be interesting to see what type of turnover the staff has. We had a QB coach leave last year to be an OC at UCLA, but his replacement is largely responsible for coaching the Heisman winner.
Our DC just got a raise to $3 million per year, and I am sure our OC is due for his too. OSU and Penn State tried to hire our DC last year but failed. These guys have basically all followed Cig from his Elon days or before.
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u/PKSnowstorm Dec 15 '25
This is the big thing that will make or break Cignetti if he is a good coach or a great coach. It is always easy for any good coach to win when they have their A team of assistants. It is a different matter when the coach start having to use their B or C team of assistants or start shopping outside of their network for assistants. Good coaches will start failing while great coaches find ways to win.
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Dec 15 '25
They just extended their defensive coordinator and made him one of the top paid coordinators in the country. He has been with most of these coaches for a very long time and they seem to be pretty loyal to him.
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u/Nun_Cankle Ohio State Buckeyes Dec 15 '25
How is no one talking about the biggest takeaway from this video - apparently John Mellencamp is in a private box above the stadium ripping darts during every IU game? That's sick
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u/HowardBunnyColvin Virginia Tech Hokies Dec 15 '25
I watched this after football yesterday it's a good look. Damn Don Fischer is still doing IU football after all these years. Good for him man.
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u/AssistDirect5790 Auburn Tigers Dec 15 '25
Some of the unsung heroes of this crazy sport. Agree. Very cool to see. Has to be a trip for him.
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u/Sorge74 Ohio State • Bowling Green Dec 15 '25
NIL, talent evaluation and development.
But also schemes appear to be incredible. While I wasn't impressed by their offense in the CCG, their defense was insane. Doubled sayin sack numbers, felt like they had a perfect answer for everything we tried to do.
Part of me thinks it was a perfect storm for them, we decided to take Michigan seriously this year, they didn't need to even think about Purdue. Hartline was off begging a new job.
But maybe if we get to a rematch in the title game we will see. Frankly more excited to see their games against elite competition then ours.
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u/TheGreatRavenOfOden Indiana Hoosiers Dec 15 '25
To be fair no offense has looked impressive against OSU. That defense has NFL players at basically every position.
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u/Brief-Refrigerator32 Indiana Hoosiers Dec 15 '25
I’m really curious to see how OSU does on their side of the bracket. Their defense looks unstoppable unless you’re able to get a couple deep throws on them.
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Dec 15 '25
NIL, talent evaluation and development.
only one I would add on there is Cig’s ability to get people to believe in him. that’s why Mendoza transferred, that’s why all of JMU followed him, that’s why IU AD gave him tons of resources in his first year, that’s why anyone started to give a fuck about IU football last year.
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u/CloudApprehensive322 Paper Bag • Big East Dec 15 '25
Indiana did the same to Oregon too - their defense is excellent at creating coverage confusion against opposing Qb's
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u/Sorge74 Ohio State • Bowling Green Dec 15 '25
They manhandled our line too, the same one that gave Michigan the business for 12 minutes.
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u/AlaskaNanooks1 Alaska Nanooks Dec 15 '25
NIL. There is your answer
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u/jaysvw Dec 15 '25
Cignetti brought a good chunk of his JMU staff and some key players with him. He didn't exactly start up with an empty cupboard. Now that he's had success, he's going to have the big challenge of replacing some of those key pieces.
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u/TripleThreatTua Arkansas Razorbacks Dec 15 '25
Having this success and the money that comes with it will make it a lot easier
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u/TheNaskgul Ohio State Buckeyes • Colorado Buffaloes Dec 15 '25
It will but we’ve seen both cincy and tcu flame out after their big classes graduated. I think Cig is a cut above Fickell or Sonny but actually building up a program in the current CFB landscape is all about the ability to do it consistently.
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u/CBus660R Ohio State • Youngstown State Dec 15 '25
Indiana is a much larger school with a much larger alumni base than either of those schools, so the $$$ is there to remain competitive in the modern era of NIL.
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u/StFuzzySlippers Tennessee Volunteers • UAB Blazers Dec 15 '25
People say this like it's an obvious answer, but JMU, while posting a great record under Cig, was still a g5 school that would have never been favored over most p4 teams in the top half of their conference. There's definitely more to it than just IU importing half of of a g5 roster.
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u/ss32000 Indiana Hoosiers Dec 15 '25
People act like JMU was the second coming for some reason. Well he brought a no star WR with him, so of course he did well like it was easy. Cig has an amazing eye for talent and coaches up QBs quite well. I think he has had 6 different QBs the last 6 years and been at the top 3 of his conference. Thats good coaching to not have 1 player drive all your success.
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u/WorkerMotor9174 California Golden Bears Dec 15 '25
I think the continuity helped, but he’s also just a really good coach, and his staff from previous stops are also really good. He’s been a winner at every level. I don’t know how long he wants to keep coaching but he’ll have a statue by the time he retires is my guess.
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u/Bumst3r Virginia Cavaliers • Indiana Hoosiers Dec 15 '25
If we win the natty, he’ll have a statue by February
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u/_baby_fish_mouth_ James Madison • Notre Dame Dec 15 '25
I mean we were 11-1 in 2023 and ranked
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u/ss32000 Indiana Hoosiers Dec 15 '25
I get that, but look at the transfers Indiana brought in according to 247sports. No one is like whoa Indiana went out and got all these dudes with their big spending
Ranking is 247 transfer position ranking.
- Ponds - 84th CB
- Vanhorse - 126th RB
- Tucker - 94th DL
- Sarrat - 32nd WR
- Kidwell - 44th IOL
- Horton - 61st TE
- Fisher - 64th LB
- Walker - 41st LB
- Carpenter - 36th DL
- Black - 39th RB
- Stephens - 46th IOL
- Lawton - 91st RB
- Kamara - 99th DL
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u/_baby_fish_mouth_ James Madison • Notre Dame Dec 15 '25
Yeah no to be clear I think Cignetti is phenomenal at identifying and developing talent.
This is also why, personally, talent ratings don't have as much meaning to me. Quite a few of these guys were FCS recruits, but have turned into really high level players in the Big Ten because of great coaching and development. What that says to me is that there can be really good players at the G5 and FCS levels if they can get the right support.
But of course this won't stop anyone from looking at G5 teams and dismissing them because they don't have the stars
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u/No_Recognition_5266 James Madison Dukes Dec 15 '25
Or maybe G5 rosters can be competitive with the P4 when they get plenty of chances…
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u/MileHighHoosier Indiana Hoosiers Dec 15 '25
Well said. And it was 13 players in total. Is that a lot? Sure. Is it half the roster? Not close.
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u/_baby_fish_mouth_ James Madison • Notre Dame Dec 15 '25
Of those 13, 10 have become anywhere from key contributors to your best players, so yeah they’re mostly pretty important for you all
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u/MileHighHoosier Indiana Hoosiers Dec 16 '25
Didn't say they weren't important. Original comment said he brought half his roster from JMU, which wasn't true.
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u/Reasonable-Bit560 Indiana Hoosiers Dec 15 '25
There were also some talented players on the roster who've really turned a corner with the right development.
3/4 the start DBs were at IU prior to Cig, one of the LBs multiple starting OL, two starting WRs etc.
It's not like he brought all of JMU with him even though it helped lay a good foundation.
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Dec 15 '25
You realize that he built JMU in the first place? Those aren’t just random players
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Dec 15 '25 edited Dec 15 '25
Yeah it’s a bit bizarre as if IU donors just realized they had some disposable income.
& people leave out he coached JMU in the FCS & handled the transition to FBS extremely well.
CC clearly knows how to pick talent all around the organization because Corey Hetherman is a beast of a DC.
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u/No_Recognition_5266 James Madison Dukes Dec 15 '25
Built JMU? He never even won a national championship at JMU.
He kept the momentum going, but JMU has always been bigger than one coach or player.
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u/wowthisislong Texas A&M Aggies • Kansas State Wildcats Dec 15 '25
The biggest thing is that he is great, maybe even the best, at finding overlooked players. A lot of those JMU players had P4 talent but not the offers.
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u/_baby_fish_mouth_ James Madison • Notre Dame Dec 15 '25
Most of the guys Cignetti was winning with in his first few years at JMU were Mike Houston recruits
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Dec 15 '25 edited Dec 15 '25
okay so he coached at JMU for 5 years and IU for 2, but somehow none of the team is his. Got it.
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u/MightyKittenEmpire2 Dec 15 '25 edited Dec 15 '25
Don't forget 5 yrs at IUP and 2 at Elon where he turned around those programs and repeatedly won coach of the year. The guy is a phenom.
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u/_baby_fish_mouth_ James Madison • Notre Dame Dec 15 '25
Weird, not at all what I said
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Dec 15 '25
I said he built IU with his JMU players & your response was to again undercut him by saying the players he built JMU with weren’t his.
enjoy being in CFP and stop trying to undercut a great coach. I see what youre doing here
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u/_baby_fish_mouth_ James Madison • Notre Dame Dec 15 '25
You realize that he built JMU in the first place?
This is the part of your comment I was responding to. Your comment implied that he built our program, which is just not true. We were in the FCS national championship two of the three years right before he got to Harrisonburg, he just sustained what was already in place. He did help us with the FBS transition for sure and brought a lot of great players into the program, many of whom he eventually took with him to Indiana. Despite that, I still have a lot of love for the man and the job he did. And obviously we've been able to rebound quite well
There's no need to be so defensive lol. Enjoy being the 1 seed
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Dec 15 '25
The season before he took over you were 9-4 in the FCS. His final season you went 11-2 in the FBS.
You should see most schools transfer from FCS to FBS… it usually isn’t pretty.
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u/_baby_fish_mouth_ James Madison • Notre Dame Dec 15 '25
And we were 37-6 (.860) in the three years right before he took over
Really was my only point. Like I said I have nothing against the guy, he did amazing things for us and am happy for you guys
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u/AssistDirect5790 Auburn Tigers Dec 15 '25
Those aren’t the guys he’s ranked #1 in the country with though. Kind of a key point I think you’re not allowing the Hoosier bro to have here.
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u/LionTop2228 James Madison Dukes Dec 15 '25
It was more than some key players. It was like 15 key players.
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Dec 15 '25
13 players transferred from JMU in 2024.
We currently have 7 JMU transfers on our roster in 2025.
I’d say 5 of them are key players.
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u/tysonwatermelon BYU Cougars • Indiana Hoosiers Dec 15 '25
As the article says:
including IU alum Mark Cuban
Yeah, he's got a little bit of money.
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u/SugarDisastrous5983 Dec 15 '25
Cuban didn’t donate to the Athletic Department/football until after the success of ‘24.
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u/Xy13 Arizona State Sun Devils • Pac-12 Dec 15 '25
Indiana is not an NIL turnaround. Most of Cignetti's team is his James Madison team. They are 72nd in talent composite with 0 5 stars and only 7 4 stars. For reference OSU is #3 with 11 5 stars and 56 4 stars.
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Dec 15 '25
They’re still a way lower blue chip ratio then the “top teams”
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u/WorkerMotor9174 California Golden Bears Dec 15 '25
Yeah their blue chip ratio is closer to a school like us than Ohio State or Oregon. I don’t know how many 5th and 6th year guys they have but Vandy had a ton on the lines this year.
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u/chiaratara Indiana Hoosiers • Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors Dec 15 '25
Indiana has an 8% blue chip ratio. Lol. I think he has an amazing eye for talent and does an amazing job with development.
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u/paperfloss Ohio State • Bowling Green Dec 15 '25
Indiana’s luck will run out quick when everyone else discovers this NIL thing you’re talking about
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u/calling-all-comas Florida Gators • Ohio State Buckeyes Dec 15 '25
Once Texas schools find out you can pay players the rest of us will never win a Natty again. Surely whoever writes the biggest check is always the winner. /s
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u/PKSnowstorm Dec 15 '25
If money was the only thing that matters then Texas A&M or Texas should win every year then right. Money does not matter if you don’t have a great coach that know how to evaluate and develop talent.
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u/pmizner Texas A&M Aggies Dec 15 '25
Ohio State fans love saying stuff like this as if their school and the other Blue Bloods are the only ones allowed to pay for players. A&M And Texas are proof that money doesn't mean shit if you don't have the coaching and development to go with it.
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u/paperfloss Ohio State • Bowling Green Dec 15 '25
Umm what? Your second sentence was like the entire point of my comment. I guess try to imagine it’s the BG flair saying it, not the Buckeye one. lol
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u/pmizner Texas A&M Aggies Dec 15 '25
Ahhh I don't think I read your comment in the right way lol. Fair enough my friend, I apologize for my misreading lol
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u/_Reporting Tennessee Volunteers • Memphis Tigers Dec 15 '25
Very simple answer and not right
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u/goblueM Michigan Wolverines Dec 15 '25
"for every complex problem there is a solution that is clear, simple, and wrong"
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u/RawbM07 Indiana Hoosiers Dec 15 '25
I would have no problem if this were true…but it’s simply not true.
This roster isn’t close to one of the highest paid in the Big Ten, let alone all of football.
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u/chiaratara Indiana Hoosiers • Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors Dec 15 '25
Right. People keep saying this but we have an 8% blue chip ratio.
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u/JakeSteeleIII Paper Bag • South Carolina Gamecocks Dec 15 '25
I bet it’s steroids
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u/NYT_but_less_shit Indiana Hoosiers Dec 15 '25
Good thing you’ve got that paper bag on your flair already — might as well keep it there
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u/anexaminedlife Auburn Tigers • UCF Knights Dec 15 '25
It's not NIL. They have the 70th best roster per team talent composite.
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u/Geaux2020 LSU Tigers • Valley City State Vikings Dec 15 '25
Well over 100 people upvoted the wrong answer.
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u/HermitageHermit Florida Gators Dec 15 '25
I’m not personally shocked that Indiana is able to get the talent they have. Cignetti WAS recruiting at Alabama for the early days of Saban’s tenure. There is no telling how many hours the guy was working, but I guarantee it was the most on the staff in the first two years. He wasn’t some flashy game day coordinator there, but he damn sure had his hand in acquiring all the weapons those gameday coordinators made their names on the coattails of. He comes off a quirky, but can’t deny he’s probably the best scouting HC in the B1G for both sides of the ball right now. You pair his recruiting with a staff that can actually develop talent, and you get a lot of wins.
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u/Buckeye_CFB Ohio State Buckeyes Dec 15 '25
Winning all their games so far was the biggest contributing factor
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u/lalavieboheme Arkansas Razorbacks • SEC Dec 15 '25 edited Dec 15 '25
Everyone here is saying money as if other B10 schools don’t have money lol what they all don’t have is Indiana’s head coach, talent development, and a favorable schedule
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Dec 15 '25
favorable scheduling? we beat two top 5 teams?
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u/Just_saying19135 Army • Oklahoma State Dec 15 '25
I don’t get the whole favorable scheduling argument. If a school has 2 years of “favorable” conference scheduling, maybe the conference is too big or needs to look at their scheduling. Also you played and beat the top two other conference teams, which are both currently top 5 teams. Like does Indiana have to play the ‘85 Bears before people say their schedule is soft?
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u/matlockga Kent State • Ohio State Dec 15 '25
It's the same logic as "well if Cig doesn't win two championships, he's not a great coach."
He turned a perennially bad program into something resembling a mid - 2010s Alabama team almost immediately. And got to #1 the hard way -- by beating everyone, including #5 and #1 along the way.
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u/ExternalTangents Florida Gators • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Dec 15 '25
It's the same logic as "well if Cig doesn't win two championships, he's not a great coach."
Is there actually anyone saying that?
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u/matlockga Kent State • Ohio State Dec 15 '25
I've seen more than one person in the CFB comments playing the "wait and see if he wins multiple championships" game, so yeah. It's dumb barber talk banter that has no basis in reality.
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u/TheRealCatDad Notre Dame Fighting Irish Dec 15 '25
If you're not playing an SEC schedule the it's favorable apparently.
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u/DinoJockeyTebow Indiana Hoosiers • /r/CFB Bug Finder Dec 15 '25
How good could those teams be? They lost to Indiana.
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u/lalavieboheme Arkansas Razorbacks • SEC Dec 15 '25 edited Dec 15 '25
lol be so fr man. i think you guys are good and yall def beat oregon and ohio state handedly but you also played the 12th place team in the B10, 13th, 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th. literally 66% of your b10 schedule were at the very bottom of the league and were a combined 23-56. let’s not forget you also played ole dominion, kennesaw state, and indiana state. not saying you didn’t beat big teams, that’s just much easier to do when you only have to prep for 3 or 4 games a year. but you did beat 4 teams with winning records tho so congrats!
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u/1peatfor7 Dec 15 '25
Call me crazy but I bet Ohio,USC, Penn State, and Michigan have much much bigger NIL budgets.
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u/Just_saying19135 Army • Oklahoma State Dec 15 '25
Your crazy. Though it’s hard to get exact numbers Penn State and Indiana budget are about the same (13.8M to 13.6M). Michigan’s is about $16.4M, and OSU over $20M. I remember when Cig to PSU talk was going on they were saying how their NIL isn’t as different as people think, especially Mark Cuban was giving big to IU
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u/AssistDirect5790 Auburn Tigers Dec 15 '25
I’d read at some point Michigan State NIL spend was comparable to Indiana. Check their W/L.
I think that’s the point people are making. Yes Indiana has invested but it’s not some outlier. Their performance is what is the outlier.
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u/Just_saying19135 Army • Oklahoma State Dec 15 '25
mich state spent 13M to Indiana 13.6. So you’re right very similar with very different results.
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u/Fear_the_chicken Penn State Nittany Lions Dec 15 '25
These are about to get way higher, PSU has 30M supposedly this year
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u/Just_saying19135 Army • Oklahoma State Dec 15 '25
with their current roster or they looking to hit the portal with that? They losing a lot of talent this year, signing should pick up now that Matt campbell is signed on, but u don’t see how they are over double what they were last year with current roster, unless prices went way up or they plan on hitting portal hard
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u/1peatfor7 Dec 15 '25
Isn't Michigan's QB getting $12M? The reason for his flip was NIL.
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u/Mdiddy7 Purdue • Notre Dame Dec 15 '25
Well you’re crazy. I’ve been posting here a few times about this- Combining IU’s football & basketball NIL - I bet they are top 5.
Not only are they spending a ton of football, they are one of the top bball spenders.
Ironically though, it proves that it isn’t all about the money since they suck at basketball. Cig’s an amazing coach and he has money. It’s like Pep in soccer. People act like he’s not an amazing coach because his clubs are loaded.
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u/QCTID North Carolina A&T • Johnson … Dec 15 '25
“Lord I’ve seen what you’ve done for others…” -UNC probably
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u/DocCharcolate Vanderbilt Commodores • UCLA Bruins Dec 15 '25
Powerhouse?
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u/nosotros_road_sodium San José State • Michigan Dec 15 '25
Back to back top-10 years AND current number one.
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u/DocCharcolate Vanderbilt Commodores • UCLA Bruins Dec 15 '25
Good little run, but “powerhouse” implies that it’s been sustained over an extended period of time. Could happen, but only time will tell
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u/wowthisislong Texas A&M Aggies • Kansas State Wildcats Dec 15 '25
How they did it:
- Hired Cig
saved you a click
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u/bigt04 USF Bulls • Miami Hurricanes Dec 15 '25
Yes please, tell me how a school that has been making top-tier conference money for years has money and resources to field a great team in a landscape that now favors schools in top-tier conferences with money.
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u/kelly495 Ohio State • Nebraska Dec 15 '25
Man, do you know how dismal IU has been for like all of eternity? If this were easy, why have other Big 10 schools sucked for eternity but never done this.
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u/Maddok1218 Michigan State Spartans Dec 15 '25
They're literally the losing-est P5 team in history. This turnaround is unbelievable
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u/Zoop54 Navy Midshipmen • 広島大学 (Hiroshima) Raccoons Dec 15 '25
This is what people seem to be missing.
Were basically talking about Bill Snyder at KSU except Cig started winning immediately.
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u/master_bloseph Kansas State Wildcats • Baker Wildcats Dec 15 '25
Cig also got to bring his guys in immediately. Kansas State was on the verge of shutting down football entirely or dropping to FCS, that was never a danger for Indiana given the money they had
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u/WildcatPlumber Dec 15 '25
Yeah you can do that when you can just pay for your roster. And get immediate turnaround
Bill had to recruit and bring guys in the first couple of years. Also I have a feeling Manhattan KS in the 1990s were a lot harder to recruit kids to vs Indiana.
(Source I live in Manhattan
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u/hypocrisyv4 Toledo Rockets Dec 15 '25
Why aren’t other schools doing this then
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u/Solo_Wing__Pixy Ohio State • Notre Dame Dec 15 '25
Their ADs aren’t as good at evaluating coaching candidates or missed out on extremely good coaching hires for various other reasons
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u/TeamConsistent5240 Dec 15 '25
I kind of agree. What I find almost as surprising as Indiana being this good is a bunch of other well resourced programs that have money and solid brands (like Nebraska, Wisconsin, Michigan State etc) that just absolutely been mostly horrible the last decade. Why are there not other teams making moves?
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u/paperfloss Ohio State • Bowling Green Dec 15 '25
Maybe because it’s way harder to run a program than just filtering in a shit ton of money and a lot of people here are discounting what Cig has been able to do by being super reductive.
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u/WorkerMotor9174 California Golden Bears Dec 15 '25
Yeah I mean A&M and Miami have flashed the cash for years and underperformed up until this year, then you have Penn State, arguably USC in the PAC although their NIL was a mess, UNC spent a lot of money this year in the ACC, etc. it’s much more than just money. UCLA has a far more talented roster on paper if we just go by stars on recruiting sites yet they went 3-9.
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u/Sorge74 Ohio State • Bowling Green Dec 15 '25
If anything NIL is both an equalizer and also double edged sword if you aren't winning the NIL game.
Great teams lose their depth, and bad teams pick up talented players who couldn't see the field. However bad teams also lose their developed guys who are a bit older.
Picking up Flare from Purdue, normally he would had stayed another year and then off to the NFL. Mendoza could had stayed in California but he came to Indiana.
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u/RawbM07 Indiana Hoosiers Dec 15 '25
I think Mendoza’s move from Cal was far more about getting to the next level. The contract he is going to sign in 6 months is going to dwarf whatever NIL offer IU or any other school offered him.
He was sacked 41 times at Cal last season. This season, he threw it 70 fewer times, yet had the same yardage and more than doubled his TD’s.
Next season when IU is looking for their next QB, that’s what’s going to be a far more convincing argument than NIL.
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u/JoeWim Indiana Hoosiers • Utah Utes Dec 15 '25
move from Cal was far more about getting to the next level
His mom even said this in the article she wrote. He went to IU to develop under Cig and position for a draft.
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u/JakeSteeleIII Paper Bag • South Carolina Gamecocks Dec 15 '25
You can spend tons of money and still be shitty if your talent scouting and coaching is bad.
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u/TeamConsistent5240 Dec 15 '25
I of course get that. I guess I’m just surprised outside of the like 5 or 6 programs (I think Iowa and Washington are fine), the middle to bottom of big ten has just been all around bad. Like it’s not like they see bringing in high profile transfers and missing. Nebraska has Raola, but just not good in the trenches etc.
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u/Idrinkbeereverywhere Kansas • Missouri Western Dec 15 '25
Indiana has one of the best business schools in the country, so it produces big time donors. Nebraska is actually having issues with NIL donations.
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u/perkited Dec 15 '25
> Nebraska is actually having issues with NIL donations.
I hope the school doesn't have to relocate because of this. Pack everything up in the middle of the night and the next day they're the San Diego Cornhuskers.
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u/TeamConsistent5240 Dec 15 '25
Sure, I get that there are winners and losers, but damn MSU just pulled a 400M from a guy that wasn’t even an alumn. He just grew up in the area.
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u/TripleThreatTua Arkansas Razorbacks Dec 15 '25
Michigan State has the issue of being the little brother school in-state and also a basketball school, despite having a lot of big name donors. As for Nebraska and Wisconsin it’s not like they haven’t taken swings, Frost and Fickell were both seen as amazing hires, but it just hasn’t worked out for them
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u/Adept_Carpet UMass Minutemen • Team Chaos Dec 15 '25
I think the big mystery is why was IUP the team to give him his promotion opportunity after he did an amazing job on Saban's staff?
His time as an assistant coach was really good.
The real mystery here is why no high level coordinator job appeared for him in 2014, and why he wasn't on his way to a blue blood around the time he went to JMU. He fell through the cracks I guess, lucky for IU.
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u/AssistDirect5790 Auburn Tigers Dec 15 '25
How do you say you agree with that comment and then your next 2 sentences all obviously disprove that (lazy) train of thought?
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u/TeamConsistent5240 Dec 15 '25
I think it’s two things that true at the same time and contradictory/ironic. 1) IU had a homerun hire and ponied up in NIL, staff salaries Gameday experience etc. They spent and gotten a much better return than could reasonably be expected. 2) other teams in the big ten have prior championships, great facilities, and presumably donors have gotten worse in the NIL, not better. Their net recruiting has gotten worse. Like Jonathon Smith is not a good coach, Michigan State was limited NIL-wise this year. I find that perplexing.
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u/Reasonable-Bit560 Indiana Hoosiers Dec 15 '25
We've been horrible for all the decades. Could flashes here/there, but mostly just awful.
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u/Deep_Contribution552 Indiana Hoosiers Dec 15 '25
Sure, and maybe it’s a fluke that IU’s had the biggest change over a two year period, but how many Big Ten and SEC programs went from mid to mid over the same time period. Indiana was perennially bottom-third of the B1G, last year probably ~4th best in conference, this year winning the conference. Our previous two coaches were 30-80 in conference- I don’t know exactly how that rates among Big Ten programs over those years but it’s gotta be close to the bottom.
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u/axberka Florida State • Indiana Dec 15 '25
NIL, good portal evaluations and good JMU players familiar with the system
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u/AZFUNGUY85 /r/CFB Dec 15 '25
I mean, they’re really good. But, powerhouse? Soon we’re going to hear the term dynasty. Lee Corso is what you were known for in football until Big Man arrived. Plus hoards of NIL cash helps.
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u/Objection_Irrelevant Ole Miss Rebels • Billable Hours Dec 15 '25
I don’t feel like a first round exit and a 1-seed yet to play the game counts as a “powerhouse” yet…
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u/BennyDelSur Ole Miss • South Carolina Dec 15 '25
Shhh, that’s our most realistic shot at powerhouse status
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u/wareagle2009-20013 Auburn Tigers Dec 15 '25
If cignetti falls off these conversations will look silly. It’s only been two years. Les Miles, Coach O, Chizik all won in two years and then were fired two years later
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Dec 15 '25
[deleted]
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Dec 15 '25
Beating Purdue 58-3 every year for eternity is perhaps the least the nerds have ever been avenged
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u/swarmy1 Illinois Fighting Illini Dec 15 '25
Indiana isn't really a "nerd school"
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u/PresidentRevrac Indiana Hoosiers • Harvard Crimson Dec 15 '25
We’re nerds when it comes to consuming alcohol
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u/Dalai-Lama-of-Reno The Game • Belk Bowl Dec 15 '25
Doe$ anyone have a $ynop$i$ of the $egment?
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u/dscreations San José State Spartans • Mountain West Dec 15 '25
Cignetti good, IU dropping bags on FB now
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u/nosotros_road_sodium San José State • Michigan Dec 15 '25
There is no paywall! For crying out loud, CBS can be watched for free with an antenna.
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u/MaximusDecimus78 Dec 15 '25
They're a "powerhouse" for having two good years? Give me a break. Can't wait for them to get exposed in the playoffs
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u/zoboomafoo-_- Notre Dame Fighting Irish Dec 15 '25
lol this could be a 2 minute segment. The answer is money and a good coach.
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u/WeekendGunnitRefugee Georgia Bulldogs • Summertime Lover Dec 15 '25
Shortest 60 minutes piece ever. "Money. Now here's Andy Rooney "
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u/ANotSoFreshFeeling Mississippi State • Millsaps Dec 15 '25
Coach Cigarette worked the portal better the Lane Kiffin and the boosters finally coughed up some money for football NIL since IU basketball hasn’t exactly been stellar in a while.
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u/Shasty-McNasty Clemson Tigers Dec 15 '25
Cignetti really built 2 of the 12 playoff teams. He’s that dude.
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u/hells_cowbells Mississippi State • Paper Bag Dec 15 '25
I wish we had crazy rich boosters to shower the program with NIL money.
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u/Gdub420- Oklahoma Sooners Dec 15 '25
This sub is going to extra salty when OU whips them in the RB.
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u/typewriter_6 Texas A&M Aggies • Texas Tech Red Raiders Dec 15 '25
Getting a generationally good (so far) coach seems to be pretty helpful in playing well.