🏈 🔵 Breaking Down My Interview With Indiana's Curt Cignetti
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Breaking Down My Interview With Indiana’s Curt Cignetti
Hey friends,
The Big Ten is deeper than ever.
With the addition of perineal powers in Washington, Oregon, and USC, the conference is prepped to vie for the most postseason bids in the expanded College Football Playoff from a single league.
While most analysts have their eyes on the top-end mainstays in the Big Ten, I’m bullish on a budding force spearheaded by a first-year head coach — Indiana.
Last week, I traveled to the Hoosier State to catch up with Curt Cignetti, the leader of the Crimson and Cream.
Cignetti tallied a stellar 52-9 record throughout a five-year stint at James Madison, highlighted by an FCS National Championship appearance in 2019.
During the offseason, Cignetti never thought he’d stray away from his post leading the Dukes — which he called his “last job until retirement.”
But, the opportunity to become a Power Four head coach for the first time in his 40-year coaching journey was too enticing to pass up.
Let’s dive into my top three takeaways from my conversation with Cignetti, showing how his veteran leadership can immediately transform Indiana’s trajectory.
Conferences Are King
Curt Cignetti began coaching as a graduate assistant at Pitt in 1983.
Since then, the 62-year-old journeyman has stopped at nine different destinations, including NC State and Alabama.
The Pennsylvania native first became a head coach in 2011 at IUP, a Division II staple.
From there, Cignetti has slowly climbed to Elon and James Madison — compiling a proven 119-35 record.
At this stage of his career, Cignetti told me that he was more than content leading the Dukes until his retirement.
However, the changing landscape of college football made the prospect of coming to the Big Ten an enticing offer.
“Football was changing, as we all know, [including] the dynamics of FBS football,” Cignetti said. “And, you know, Indiana came calling, and that Big Ten [media] contract really caught my attention at the time. It became very apparent that the Big Ten and the SEC were going to be the two big players in power football.”
Cignetti is no stranger to Indiana’s history, either.
The Hoosiers are the “losingest” Power Four program, ranking 126 of 134 among all FBS squads with a winning clip of less than 42%.
However, the firm leadership and direction of President Pam Whitten and Athletic Director Scott Dolson caught Cignetti’s attention from the start of the interview process.
“Now, I wasn’t necessarily looking to make a move, but you know, Scott Olson and Pam Whitten, I had a really strong feeling out of that conversation,” Cignetti told me. “… This happened over three days. There was a commitment to really get football going here.”
In January, Indiana’s administration approved a record pool for assistant coaches, showing its backing for Cignetti’s mission to “flip the script” regarding the program’s prestige.
Improvise & Thrive
It’s no secret that player acquisition through the transfer portal is now essential to remain competitive against Power Four foes.
In each of Cignetti’s previous three head coaching roles, he’s been widely regarded as an ace recruiter and talent evaluator.
At those spots, however, Cignetti has overtaken rebuilding efforts, turning dilapidated programs into accomplished winners in less than five years.
That’s how college football used to operate at all levels, ranging from the FCS to FBS to the Power Four elitists.
Now more than ever, he realizes that he has to “win now” as the head man of a Big Ten program.
“I think football has really changed. Back in the old days, guys would get four to six-year contracts,” Cignetti said. “And, you know, by year three, we’d want to [show progress]. You have to win every year now. With the internet and social media, you have to win every year.”
To achieve that lofty goal, Cignetti has adopted a flexible “improvise and thrive” method to roster management.
While he’d like to attract “15 to 20” high school recruits through traditional signing methods per recruiting cycle, he recognizes that taking unproven commodities might not always be best for his team’s outlook.
The free agency model has allowed Cignetti to take a step back, recognizing that a “one size fits all” approach probably won’t allow his program to be as successful as possible.
“I mean, it’s free agency, and so a lot of things have changed in the last two or three years,” Cignetti said. “You have to be light on your feet, flexible, adjust, improvise, and thrive, or you’re not going to survive.”
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Maintain High Standards
Since 2008, Indiana has totaled just two winning seasons.
The Hoosiers haven’t won a bowl game since 1981.
When Cignetti was hired in January, 10 offensive starters from a year old immediately hit the transfer portal, making his initial work schedule a “4 a.m. to 11 p.m.” grind.
While wins are historically hard to come by at Indiana, Cignetti doesn’t see the difficulties as a product of the place.
The Steel City native has won 88% of his matchups as head coach by putting high standards at the forefront of his mission preached to his staff and players.
To him, there’s no reason the same blueprint can’t be replicated at Indiana, simply due to historical irrelevance.
“Everything we do we have high standards and expectations,” Cignetti told me. “The standards can never be compromised. There has to be accountability throughout the entire organization coaches and players… It's a daily process, you just stack good days, and I feel like we've really come a long way.”
In less than six months in the role, Cignetti has compiled a top 30 transfer portal haul highlighted by 29 fresh acquisitions.
The offensive mastermind has pulled components from all positions, who formerly played for elite teams among the likes of Wisconsin, Arizona, Wake Forest, and Texas Tech.
Cignetti’s offensive-minded approach is naturally enticing to recruits, but his hard-nosed defensive philosophy helped land the services of high-profile high-school defenders from Florida and Georgia.
Last season, James Madison led the nation in both rushing defense and tackles for loss per game — a stat Cignetti hopes to uphold with the Hoosiers.
Overall, the Hoosiers have 46 new players from a year ago — the most in the Big Ten.
After seeing how Cignetti runs his operation, I have no doubt that the change has the opportunity to amount to instant success in year one on the job.
“I like the direction we’re headed in, and I’m really excited about the future,” he said.
If you have any questions, comments, or feedback, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me by email at adam@brenemanmedia.com.
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Shoutout to Connor Krause for helping to write this newsletter and putting it together!
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