New Indiana Coach Cignetti Highlights NIL Opportunities

Former James Madison coach shares how NIL can turn around IU program

The Indiana Hoosiers football program moved on from Tom Allen and was left with a heavy buyout. Allen released a statement after being fired and mentioned that he wants Indiana to "embrace" the NIL space. 

Well, the Hoosiers hired James Madison head coach Curt Cignetti, and he spoke on how he plans to use NIL resources as he looks to turn things around in Bloomington (h/t Jeff Rabjohns of Peegs.com). 

"Use it as smart and efficiently as possible. ... It’s mathematics. ... It's really not that hard. ... You lose a player, you go get a player." 

Cignetti became a sensation after James Madison began the year undefeated, in the top 25, and then was allowed to participate in a bowl game before initially being ineligible since they recently moved to the FBS from the FCS. 

Now, Cignetti gets a massive bump in pay and a job in the Big Ten Conference, and he knows it will be of utmost importance to use NIL resources to turn the roster around. 

Cignetti also mentions what he hopes to change regarding the Indiana program, per Rabjohns: “We’re going to change the brand, the culture, the mindset, the expectation level. It doesn’t happen in one day, but we don’t need to be ready to do that until right before we do that before the first game.”

The Hoosiers finished last in the Big Ten with a 3-9 record and a 1-8 mark in conference play, and with USC, UCLA, Washington, and Oregon coming in 2024, things will be even more difficult. 

But, Cignetti knows that using the NIL space will be a big priority with the transfer portal swirling out of control already. 

Already, the Hoosiers Connect collective announced a "Back the Rock" fundraising campaign where an anonymous donor pledged $1 million in matching funds for all donations through the end of the year.