Hoosiers Now

Why Dolson Saw Cignetti As Perfect Fit Entering New Era Of Indiana Football

Indiana's athletic director has prioritized becoming relevant in football, and he feels the former James Madison coach is exactly what's needed in Bloomington.

Jack Ankony

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti looks on during fall camp.
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti looks on during fall camp. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK
In this story:

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – A new era of Indiana football under coach Curt Cignetti begins Saturday at Memorial Stadium against Florida International.

While Indiana is traditionally known as a basketball school – both for its five national championships and because its football program has more losses than any program in FBS history – athletic director Scott Dolson understands that dynamic can’t continue to be so one-sided.

Football drives an athletic department’s finances in modern college athletics. And after posting a Big Ten-worst 9-27 record over the last three seasons under former head coach Tom Allen, it was time for a change. Dolson gave the keys to Cignetti, the former James Madison coach who went 52-9 over the last five seasons. 

Seen through ticket sales, program funding, stadium enhancements, roster improvements, players’ comments and fans on social media, Indiana has brought some new excitement and optimism around its football program. Now it's time to prove it on the field, and Dolson believes Cignetti is the right man to lead the way.

“It has been even better than I thought,” Dolson said Thursday of Cignetti’s first months on the job during an appearance on the Inside Indiana Football radio show with Don Fischer. “I like to underpromise and over deliver because we’ve got to do it on the field, but I’m really confident that he’s a perfect fit for us and is absolutely exactly what we needed.”

Scott Dolson
Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson (left), new football coach Curt Cignetti (middle) and president Pamela Whitten (right) pose together on Dec. 1 during Cignetti's introductory press conference. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

When he was whittling down the options, Dolson said, he put together a list of attributes that Indiana’s next head football coach would ideally satisfy. 

He looked at schools that he considers similar to Indiana – North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky – and examined why they’ve had success at times in football. Dolson also evaluated the last 50 years of Indiana football and analyzed why certain coaches had success and others failed. He came up with 12-to-15 qualities that he wanted in a new head coach. 

Indiana announced Allen’s firing Sunday morning, a day after a loss to Purdue ended its 3-9 season. With the help of a search firm that made the process more efficient, Dolson said, he was on the phone from about 12:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday with candidates.

“I’ll never forget the first phone call with coach Cig,” Dolson said of the 45-minute conversation.

“When I was looking at my notes of all the qualities that we needed, it was like somebody had photocopied that and had given it to him,” Dolson said. “He was absolutely everything that I was saying, he was saying. It couldn’t have gone better.” 

After talking with Cignetti, Dolson called Indiana University president Pamela Whitten.

“I think this guy’s different,” Dolson recalls telling her. 

Cignetti checked all the boxes. He had head coaching experience. He’s offensive-minded as a former quarterback at West Virginia from 1979-82 and a quarterbacks coach at five schools during his ascent to becoming a head coach. 

He helped develop quarterbacks like Phillip Rivers at NC State, as well as four separate conference player-of-the-year winners during his five-year run at James Madison. He was a recruiting coordinator at Alabama under Nick Saban during its 2009 national championship run.

“All these different qualities, he had the blueprint to a tee,” Dolson said.

Curt Cignetti
Curt Cignetti coached James Madison to a 52-9 record across five seasons. / Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

When looking back at previously successful programs at Indiana, Dolson recognized three former Hoosier coaches: men’s soccer coach Jerry Yeagley, men’s basketball coach Bob Knight and men’s swimming coach James ‘Doc’ Counsilman.

“Why are those programs consistently at the level they were? I believe it has a lot to do with personality, the blueprint and how they put it together,” Dolson said. “[Cignetti] certainly has had that.”

News of Cignetti’s hiring broke the following Thursday, a rapid process Dolson compared to getting married in three days. Dolson and Whitten introduced Cignetti to Indiana fans during a press conference Dec. 1.

That day, Cignetti said his biggest challenge would be changing the way people think about Indiana football, given its historical lack of success. He got to work on that immediately, exciting a packed Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall by yelling at midcourt that “Purdue sucks, but so does Michigan and Ohio State,” during a break in action of the men’s basketball game. 

Quotes like “I win. Google me,” increased the hype. Cignetti knew he had to wake people up and create excitement because, “after all, this is the entertainment business, too,” he said at Big Ten Media days.

From a roster standpoint, Cignetti’s first months on the job were spent overhauling what little was left to him in Bloomington. Thirty-eight players from Indiana’s 2023 roster transferred out, although some “did me a favor by leaving,” Cignetti said. 

Cignetti believes there should be no self-imposed limitations on what Indiana can accomplish in football. That was especially relevant when constructing the 2024 roster. The Indianapolis Star reported in November, before Cignetti’s hiring, that Indiana’s new coach would be supported with at least $3 million for name, image and likeness funding.

The university’s financial commitment has been a key component to his rebuild, something Cignetti said is critical to a program’s success. It’s important to Dolson to have a winning football program, and Cignetti is not setting limits on exactly what that means.

“Somebody asked me, how do you define success at Indiana? I was like, well, we want to be the best,” Cignetti said. “I mean, you don't bring your kids up, ‘Johnny, I want you to be fourth best. I want you to be tenth best.’ Bullshit. We want to be the best. So when I talk about no self-imposed limitations, that's what I'm talking about. Now, specifically to your question [about NIL support], that number's gone up and allowed us to be very competitive and recruit good football players.”

With a goal of adding players with production over potential, Cignetti refreshed the roster with 30 incoming transfers – 13 from his James Madison program and 14 with all-conference or all-conference honorable mentions at their previous schools – and 54 total newcomers. That left Indiana with just 38 returning scholarship players, tied for the third fewest among FBS schools.     

Many of those transfers are expected to play a major role on game day, including quarterback Kurtis Rourke; four new wide receivers; five new running backs; tight end Zach Horton; offensive lineman Trey Wedig; defensive linemen Mikail Kamara, CJ West and James Carpenter; cornerback D’Angelo Ponds; linebackers Aiden Fisher and Jailin Walker; safety Shawn Asbury II and a handful more. Cignetti also retained key starters from the 2023 roster like left tackle Carter Smith, wide receiver Donaven McCulley and others.

Kurtis Rourke Indiana Football
Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke (9) throws the ball during spring practice. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

After all that work to create excitement and rebuild Indiana’s roster, it is time to put it all together. Indiana has eight home games this season, an increase from its typical six or seven. That contributes to a statistically easier schedule than recent seasons and provides a path for Indiana to win immediately.

“This isn’t the time for talking now. This is the time to put it on the field,” Cignetti said during fall camp, a period of time where he often spoke with a more business-like tone than his introduction or appearance at Big Ten Media Days. 

“So I’m not going to put a show up every time I’m up here at the podium. Now, if I have to make a point I will, but right now we’re really focused in on developing this football team, and all 115 guys on this football team in all three phases.”

Observing Cignetti on the job so far, Dolson said the coach has done everything he said he’d do and has exceeded expectations. He described Cignetti as focused on his plan and his blueprint. Outside football, Dolson said Cignetti is not cocky; rather, “he’s really just a good guy and a good person.”

Cignetti brought offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan and defensive coordinator Bryant Haines with him from James Madison, an important factor in the hiring process, according to Dolson. Four additional assistants and strength and conditioning coach Derek Owings also followed Cignetti to Indiana. In his study of other programs, Dolson said he noticed staff continuity was a big factor in teams’ consistent success. 

Shanahan and Haines worked under Cignetti during previous stops at Elon and Indiana University of Pennsylvania and have helped him achieve his overall 119-35 coaching record. Dolson has noticed that Cignetti runs a tight ship and is very demanding of his assistants. But he also treats them well and lays out a clear plan with expectations of what he wants to accomplish each day.

When it comes to practice time with players, Cignetti believes less is more. He arrives at the facility at 4 or 5 a.m. most days and puts together a practice schedule for each coach and his players. 

Fischer said practices typically last between an hour and 45 minutes and an hour and 50 minutes, and Cignetti’s staff is home by 8 p.m. That’s notably different from the Tom Allen era, which Fischer estimates had assistants at the facility until midnight most nights.

“They practice for less time than any coach I’ve ever seen at Indiana,” Fischer said. “... Their practice is as organized as you’ll ever see. There’s no down time. That practice is go, go, go the entire time. … He doesn’t sit there and talk to them and just jabber them to death or look at film for hours after the practice is over with. They look at the film just like everybody else does, but it’s all confined into a certain amount of time.”

Dolson said in some ways Cignetti is old school and a disciplinarian, but he also understands today’s generation has a shorter attention span, so he believes in quick messages.

“I grew up under coach Knight as a manager,” Dolson said. “And I’m not trying to compare coach Cig to coach Knight, but I am saying coach Knight was the exact same way in terms of really understanding you get the most out of your time in practice, but you certainly want to just not overdo the time, it’s more efficient with that time.”

As Indiana begins the Cignetti era, there will be some noticeable changes to Memorial Stadium and the surrounding area. First, Indiana is expecting more fans in the stands. Dolson said Indiana has sold over 13,000 student tickets, “a big increase from last year,” and ticket sales are up 10% on average across the board, with room to grow.

Indiana installed new turf in its practice facility at Mellencamp Pavilion and upgraded its weight room in the north end zone. A new tailgating experience called B-Town Boulevard is open to fans pregame on the south lawn outside the stadium, and more suites have been added inside behind south end zone. Hep’s Rock has been moved from inside Memorial Stadium to outside the east entrance, where it will be part of “The Walk” before games.

The student section is in a slightly new location, now wrapping around the north end zone near the band to create a more intimidating atmosphere for opponents when they reach that part of the field. Indiana has put field level bleachers in the north end zone, where about 200 ROTC students will sit and help create more of a home-field advantage.

Other changes are coming to Indiana football in 2024. Dolson said Indiana surveyed fans last year and learned many desired better food options at Memorial Stadium. Instead of handling food in-house, that has been outsourced to Levy Restaurants, and $5 million was dedicated to concession stand infrastructure. 

There will be six new grab-and-go concession stands around the concourse, part of an increase from 115 to 175 concession stand locations inside Memorial Stadium. Indiana has also partnered with local restaurants Social Cantina, BuffaLouie’s, Aver’s Pizza and Chocolate Moose, which will now serve food at Indiana football games, in addition to its existing partnership with Upland Brewery.

“Fans are going to feel like we’ve really modernized our food offerings,” Dolson said.

This commitment to improving the Indiana football program, both on and off the field, is a reflection of where the sport is headed nationwide. NIL funding will remain crucial to any program’s success, but another financial wrinkle could be coming to college athletics.

Potentially beginning next year, schools may be able to share up to 22% of their revenue, which includes the average of ticket sales, media rights and sponsorships, with student-athletes. Dolson said Indiana’s annual athletic budget is about $135 million now, and he is working on budget projections and carving out money from its revenue that would be shared with student-athletes.

Revenue sharing would also mean roster caps in all sports, balanced with Title IX. Scholarship limits would be lifted, and revenue sharing money would be in addition to scholarship money given to student-athletes. For football, the roster cap will likely be 105.

Dolson calls this part of modernizing college athletics. He still wants Indiana to focus on academics, but Indiana also has to participate in revenue sharing if it wants to compete for championships.

And given all these factors, Dolson believes Cignetti is the right coach to lead Indiana into this new era.

“Football drives so much revenue, and being in the Big Ten conference, we really have to make certain – that’s why coach Cig is here – we need to be relevant in football,” Dolson said. “We need to make certain we get that momentum because it drives the engine for the whole department. Certainly men’s basketball speaks for itself as well, particularly here at Indiana, but football is really, really critical and we hope that we can thrive in this new world. And that’s our plan.”

Related stories on Indiana football

  • DEPTH CHART PREDICTION: Here's our best guess at how the Hoosiers will line up for Week 1 against Florida International. CLICK HERE
  • 10 QUESTIONS PREVIEWING IU FOOTBALL SEASON: The 2024 Indiana football season begins Saturday against Florida International. Below we answered 10 questions heading into coach Curt Cignetti’s first season. CLICK HERE
  • HOW TO WATCH: Indiana football begins its first season under coach Curt Cignetti on Saturday against the Florida International Panthers at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind. Here’s how to watch, game time and TV information, the point spread and over/under, series history and more. CLICK HERE
  • RADIO SHOW RECAP: Indiana’s new football coach Curt Cignetti made his first appearance on Thursday’s edition of Inside Indiana Football with Don Fischer. CLICK HERE
  • MEET THE OPPONENT: If history is an indicator, it could be a high-scoring game as Indiana and Florida International meet for the fourth time in the last decade. CLICK HERE
  • QUARTERBACK PREVIEW: Indiana coach Curt Cignetti hasn’t publicly named a starting quarterback, but his comments lean strongly in the direction of the Ohio transfer. CLICK HERE
  • OPENING LINE: Here's the point spread and over/under for Indiana's season opener against Florida International. CLICK HERE
  • 2024 IU FOOTBALL SCHEDULE: Here are the dates for the 2024 Indiana football schedule, with game time and TV information to be announced at a later date. CLICK HERE
Published
Jack Ankony

JACK ANKONY

Jack Ankony is a Sports Illustrated/FanNation writer for HoosiersNow.com. He graduated from Indiana University's Media School with a degree in journalism. Follow on Twitter @ankony_jack.

Home/Football