Jack’s Take: Curt Cignetti Confident He Can Make IU Football a Winner, But That's a Major Challenge

Indiana's new football coach Curt Cignetti has won at every stop, most recently with a 52-9 run at James Madison. In his introductory press conference Friday, he ensured fans that he can win at Indiana, though it won't be easy.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Curt Cignetti spoke Friday with an air of confidence that appears genuine only from coaches who have his track record of winning.

“I figured I had to make this trip up here since we’ll be playing in this game next year,” Cignetti said at Lucas Oil Stadium, the site of the Big Ten Championship game, during an interview on the Big Ten Network.

The Big Ten Championship? With Indiana? Coming off a season with the Big Ten’s worst record?

Whether he truly believes he can elevate the Hoosiers to that level in one season, or if he’s just saying that to excite fans, can be debated. Truth is, very few would agree with him. Cignetti’s résumé says he can win anywhere, but Indiana’s past suggests this could be the ultimate test of that hypothesis.

It’s that reputation – Indiana is the losingest program in college football history – that he’s hard set on dispelling.

When I asked him about his biggest challenge, he responded with a five-word answer.

“Changing the way people think,” Cignetti said.

Indiana's newly announced head coach of football Curt Cignetti speaks to the media on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023 :: Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

Cignetti didn’t leave James Madison easily. At 62, with a contract through 2030, he could have continued an unprecedented 52-9 trajectory and retired in Harrisonburg, Va., as a hero. But he saw an opportunity – a tremendous challenge that got his juices flowing, he called it – to coach in the Big Ten at Indiana University.

“Sometimes you've got to make hard decisions in life,” Cignetti said in his introductory press conference at Memorial Stadium. “And this was a hard decision for me because you've got to be uncomfortable to grow, and I'm too young to stop growing.”

He likened his new task to one of his previous stops at Elon, where the two coaches before him posted a combined 17-51 record. Cignetti went 14-9 in two seasons at Elon, which he considers “not very good” but is impressive given Elon’s history.

Cignetti hopes to shift the perception of Indiana football from Big Ten’s doormat to a program similar to the three – James Madison, Elon and Indiana University of Pennsylvania – he’s led to a 119-35 record.

“In my business,” Cignetti said. “Average is the enemy.”

That’s among the main reasons Scott Dolson, Indiana’s Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, hired Cignetti. Introducing his new football coach, who represents a crucial hire that will contribute to defining his career, Dolson rattled off criteria he used in the coaching search: An experienced, successful coach; a high-level recruiter, a proven developer of talent; someone who’s had success with quarterbacks; someone with a grasp of transfer portal and NIL; and perhaps most importantly, a winner.

Cignetti checks a lot of those boxes. Notably, he’s coached three consecutive quarterbacks who’ve won player of the year awards, including Jordan McCloud, Todd Centeio and Cole Johnson. James Madison hasn’t only won because of strong quarterback play, though. Its defense ranks first in the entire Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in run defense and second in sacks.

He’s also worked with seven-time national champion head coach Nick Saban at Alabama, where Cignetti was the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator from 2007-10.

Another factor working in his favor is the support few Indiana coaches have had before him, in the form of resources for players’ name, image and likeness (NIL) deals. Indiana is reportedly backing Cignetti’s first offseason with roughly $3 million in NIL funding. Hoosiers Connect, an NIL collective supporting Indiana Athletics, also launched a campaign Thursday, with the goal of aiding the football program.

That commitment, along with Indiana paying one of the largest buyouts in history to Tom Allen, shows Dolson, IU president Pamela Whitten and donors are more serious than ever about building a strong football program.

Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Scott Dolson, left, Indiana's newly announced head coach of football Curt Cignetti, middle, and Indiana Univeristy President Pamela Whitten pose together on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023. Cignetti is the 30th football coach in the university's history :: Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

Cignetti will use those resources to rebuild a roster that has already seen 20 players enter the transfer portal, for better or for worse. The foundation starts with high school recruiting, and Cignetti wasn’t shy in speaking against recruiting services that label recruits. He has his own way, and it has worked.

“Do you really think that some guy that puts stars on kids knows what he’s talking about?” Cignetti asked. “Compared to coaches who are watching hours and hours of tape on kids?’’

He has a point. Some coaches have found great success in being able to identify the types of players who fit their program, regardless of rankings which aren’t always reliable. But in another sense, being able to compete with the upper echelon of the Big Ten – and competing at the level Cignetti desires – requires high-end talent. Every coach wants to develop high school talent over the years, but success in modern college football is more dependent on the transfer portal than ever.

It’ll be up to Cignetti to decide who’s worth trying to bring back, compared to those he feels he can better replace through the transfer portal. Starters like wide receiver Donaven McCulley, left tackle Carter Smith, quarterback Brendan Sorsby, running back Trent Howland and safeties Louis Moore and Phillip Dunnam would be worth bringing back, if Cignetti feels they fit his system and culture. Indiana’s entire offensive line has also either entered the transfer portal or declared for the draft, adding another challenge to rebuilding the roster.

Cignetti isn’t alone, though, as several James Madison staff members are expected to come with him to Bloomington, including offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, defensive coordinator Bryant Haines, quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri and strength and conditioning coach Derek Owings.

“We have a blueprint and a plan that's been successful, proven to be successful,” Cignetti said. “And no reason it shouldn't be successful again.”

There are plenty of reasons, though, that Cignetti may not be as successful at Indiana. Just look at his predecessors. Most recently, Allen brought Indiana to heights it hadn’t reached since the 1990s, winning 14 games in a two-year span that included fewer games than usual.

Allen’s tenure proved that winning, generating fan excitement and packing Memorial Stadium is possible, but it also further cemented that sustaining success at Indiana is as difficult as any power conference school.

Cignetti preached Friday that Indiana will have “no self-imposed limitations” with him leading the way. That would be a step, and an investment, Indiana hasn’t taken with past coaches. But it doesn’t take Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, and now Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA, too, off the schedule. He took a shot at some conference foes in front of a packed Assembly Hall crowd at Friday night's basketball game, saying "Purdue sucks, but so does Michigan and Ohio State."

Cignetti talked like a winner Friday, because that’s what he’s been. His time at Indiana will prove whether he can do it at the highest level.

Related stories on Indiana football

• CIGNETTI INTRODUCED: Curt Cignetti is the new football coach at Indiana, and he made a great first impression during his introductory press conference on Friday in Bloomington. He's won everywhere he's been, and he plans on doing the same with the Hoosiers. CLICK HERE
• IU HIRES CURT CIGNETTI: Curt Cignetti, who has coached James Madison to an 11-1 record this year, will replace Tom Allen as the next head football coach at Indiana University. CLICK HERE
• CIGNETTI BRINGING JMU ASSISTANTS TO IU: As he leaves James Madison for Indiana, coach Curt Cignetti is bringing defensive coordinator Bryant Haines, offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan and quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri with him. CLICK HERE
• NIL RESOURCES AID CIGNETTI'S START: Hoosiers Connect announced a fundraising campaign called 'Back the Rock,' aimed at improving Indiana football's funding for name, image and likeness deals. CLICK HERE
• NICK SABAN ENDORSES CIGNETTI: Seven-time national champion coach Nick Saban gave his seal of approval to Indiana's new head coach Curt Cignetti, who worked on Saban's staff at Alabama from 2007-10 as the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. CLICK HERE