NIL Powering Indiana Hoosiers, Curt Cignetti to Record Breaking Football Season

A lot of credit for the Indiana Hoosiers performance should be given to head coach Curt Cignetti and the NIL program.

Nov 9, 2024; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti looks on in the game against the Michigan Wolverines at Memorial Stadium. / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

What the Indiana Hoosiers have accomplished on the football field this season has been nothing short of spectacular.

There were some outlets who picked them to finish 17th out of the 18-team Big 10 megaconference this season. Now near the end of the regular season, they are 10-0, one of only three undefeated teams remaining in the sport and pushing for a spot in the College Football Playoff.

"The way things have turned out has just been even better than we ever expected, and it's been so fun," Scott Dolson, Indiana University Director of Athletics, said in response when asked about the football team’s success, via Griffin Gonzalez of WRTV Indianapolis.

“We talk about winning a lot, not just because it's great for IU and it's great for our brand and all that, but it's more importantly, great for our student-athletes,” Dolson added.

Three straight losing seasons coming into 2024 led to the ousting of head coach Tom Allen. Curt Cignetti, who helped get the James Madison Dukes into the top 25 the previous two seasons, was tabbed as his replacement.

He has immediately turned things around in his first season at the helm. Dolson gives the first-year head coach a lot of credit achieving the first double-digit win campaign in program history.

"We knew that Cignetti was, we felt, a perfect fit for us. We felt like we had an opportunity to hit the ground running. Particularly as he started, he hit the ground sprinting, and so we had a lot of positive momentum from the start," said Dolson.

What has really helped the Cignetti era get off on the right foot has been the NIL fund the school has put together.

To compete at the highest level of collegiate sports nowadays, you have to be willing to spend some money. Players hitting the transfer portal are partaking in a version of free agency that was normally reserved for the pros.

High school athletes are also looking for paydays when considering which school to call home at the next level.

Indiana’s commitment to building up their NIL funds is as big of a reason for their success, and landing Cignetti at all, in Dolson’s opinion.

"Coach Cignetti would not be here if we didn't have a robust NIL program. That's just because you have to have the resources to be able to win. As good as he is, he needs those resources as well," Dolson explained. “The NIL opportunity for us has enabled us to really level the playing field around the country.”

We have seen flash-in-the-pan performances like this in the past. A team gets hot for a stretch but then disappears.

Given the landscape of college athletes, that is certainly possible. If a school isn’t willing or capable of retaining talent, it will be tough to keep up. That is something the Hoosiers are actively looking to avoid, as they want to achieve sustained success and be perennial contenders.

"We don't want this to be able to hit wonder in any way, shape, or form," Dolson said. "The reason Cignetti came here is because he knew from President Whitten, myself, and our entire university, that we're committed to building a winning program here, a consistent program that can compete in the best football conference in the country. We're going to continue to make certain that we provide those resources in every way possible for our program to continue to hopefully have seasons like this again."

Set to play the Ohio State Buckeyes on October 23, Indiana will have a chance to truly cement their status as one of the elite teams in college football this year.