Todd’s Take: Curt Cignetti Teaching Us All That Good Is The Enemy Of Great

Curt Cignetti refused to put a governor on what Indiana could achieve in 2024. The benefits of that approach are apparent in a historic football season.

Todd Golden | Oct 7, 2024

Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti looks on from the sidelines against the Northwestern Wildcats during the first half at Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium. / David Banks-Imagn Images

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – I started at Hoosiers On SI in August. My first days coincided with the first week of Indiana football fall camp.

I had also just voted in the Big Ten’s “unofficial” football media poll in the previous month while still at my previous job.

With an 18-team league, and with Big Ten teams not playing as many conference teams as they used to, I felt it was important to pick every game on the schedule to get a true picture of how the league would shake out.

When I did that, I surprised myself. I had to look at my spreadsheet two or three times to check whether the 4-5 Big Ten record I predicted for the Hoosiers wasn’t an accounting error.

With near-unprecedented confidence in Indiana’s football fortunes, I wanted to tell the masses all about my belief in the possibilities.

I wrote a Todd’s Take on Aug. 13 citing three reasons to be optimistic about Indiana football in 2024. The Hoosiers had just been selected 17th out of 18 teams in the Big Ten preseason poll. My soothsaying suggested that was too pessimistic, and I wanted to go against that grain.

I’m happy to note my reasoning was sound – I predicted that Indiana had running back depth, stability at quarterback and a kind schedule. All have proven to be true, all have proven to be a big lift for the Hoosiers.

At the end of the column, I breathlessly wrote, “Assuming Indiana takes care of its non-conference flotsam, that puts Indiana at 7-5 for the season and in a bowl game. Can I believe I just wrote that? It's an optimistic outcome, but one I think is attainable.”

At the time, I really thought I was going out on a limb. Who in their right mind would be predicting bowl eligibility for the Hoosiers after they had been a gridiron tire fire in the previous three seasons?

In my weak moments of not-so-false modesty, I wanted to be the one who stood out as a dissenting voice against (understandable) skepticism. I wanted to be the one who thought Indiana could be good.

Some of my colleagues saw the same data I did and many drew similar conclusions, so I shouldn’t have tried to break my arm patting my own back.

Good things for Indiana? I wasn’t on a limb, I was being too conservative. Curt Cignetti has taught me and Indiana fans damaged by years of losing teams that good is just the enemy of great.

🗣️ GO IU! pic.twitter.com/MtfSF9yIHa
— Indiana Football (@IndianaFootball) October 5, 2024

A 7-5 prediction seems ridiculously pessimistic now. After a 41-24 victory at Northwestern on Saturday, the Hoosiers are 6-0.

Not only is Indiana bowl eligible for the first time since 2020 – the Hoosiers are the first team to become bowl eligible in the country. Not Alabama, not Georgia, not Ohio State. Indiana was the first to cross the six-win finish line.

No. 23 Indiana is 6-0 for the first time since 1967, and the Hoosiers are creating possibilities for themselves that just might exceed the most famous Indiana football team of all-time.

The 1967 team found a way to win close games. This Indiana team is making the fourth quarter a stress-free experience. To their credit, Northwestern pushed Indiana more so than any team has so far. The Wildcats cut the Indiana lead to 27-24 early in the fourth quarter.

No problem for the Hoosiers. They responded with 14 unanswered points to put the game out of Northwestern’s reach. The double-digit victory margin kept Indiana’s unblemished record of beating all of its foes by at least 10 points. No Indiana team has done that over a six-game stretch since 1896.

Cignetti is also the first Big Ten coach who wasn’t at Michigan or Ohio State to start 6-0 since World War II.

These are shocking accomplishments. But when you look at the foundation of what Cignetti has built, it’s not surprising at all.

Cignetti is a master of realities that should be obvious, but sometimes get bogged down by wonky lack of focus on team-building philosophies that don’t make the parts work in service of the whole.

Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Kurtis Rourke (9) drops back to pass against the Northwestern Wildcats during the first half at Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium. / David Banks-Imagn Images

Cignetti knows which positions need to be elite. Quarterback is an obvious spot, and he identified veteran Ohio quarterback Kurtis Rourke as his man for the most important position on the field.

Rourke has been a runaway hit at the position. The Picasso of RPO rarely makes a mistake and constantly conjures clutch throws or makes wise decisions with his feet.

Defensive end is another position that cries out for quality. Cignetti brought Mikail Kamara with him from James Madison. Kamara is a menace to opposing quarterbacks. Single-team him at your peril. Double-team him and the rest of the Hoosiers get the chance to feast. Kamara added another sack on Saturday to run his season total to five.

There are other spots where impact players were similarly identified. Linebackers Aiden Fisher and Jailin Walker (injured on Saturday) also fit in the definition of spots where the talent level can’t be compromised.

Elsewhere, however, Cignetti had built position rooms that define the notion of the parts creating a higher quality whole.

Indiana Hoosiers wide receiver Ke'Shawn Williams (5) runs past Northwestern Wildcats defensive back Coco Azema (0) during the first half at Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium. / David Banks-Imagn Images

There is no dominant running back, but three very good ones in Justice Ellison, Ty Son Lawton and Kaelon Black. There are wide receivers seemingly coming from everywhere – Elijah Sarratt, Miles Cross, Ke’Shawn Williams, Myles Price, Omar Cooper Jr., and tight end Zach Horton. An embarrassment of riches. The secondary and defensive line have multiple contributors as well.

Cignetti was also smart enough to know when he has a good thing. Offensive line coach Bob Bostad brought a good reputation with him to Indiana when he arrived before the 2023 season. Cignetti had the wisdom not to mess with success on the line. The reward is a unit that became cohesive in rapid fashion.

He’s mixed it all with a well-earned level of self-confidence in his methods. He’s won everywhere he’s been, so why wouldn’t he be confident?

In doing so, however, he strikes the right balance between belief and being able to convey his belief to others. He repeatedly said before the season began that he would not put a limit on what Indiana football could achieve.

Every coach should say that, but he believed it, and it’s clear his team doesn’t sense any hucksterism when he conveys his belief. So they believe, too.

Now he’s converting the rest of us.

People like me thought Indiana could be good. Cignetti is teaching us all not to set our standards so low. He’s showing us that there’s no standard that Indiana can’t reach. Why settle for good when great is there for the taking?

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