Can’t let another one get away.
In case you have been living under a rock, Indiana football is making history this season. The Hoosiers are 5-0 for the first time since 1967 and won five straight games by double digits for the first time since 1905-1906.
Historically speaking, we are not that far removed from the last time Indiana football showed promise, but this feels different. As opposed to the 2018-2020 stretch, when it took all of the luck and then some for Indiana to reach bowl eligibility, this team is taking punches and still executing at the highest level.
If there’s anything to be learned from this year and the highs of seasons past, it’s that Indiana can be good at football. It’s just going to cost real money.
Hoosier fans do not need to be reminded that this is not the first time coaching greatness has passed through Bloomington. Most of the success of the Tom Allen era came from when he hired an outstanding roster of assistant coaches, who now make up the staff at Alabama.
To be clear, committing to football consists of more than just coaching salaries. Facilities, NIL funds, and general administrative support all factor into what makes a school desirable for elite coaches and players alike.
To Indiana’s credit, the school seems to finally be catching up to the rest of the conference in some facets. The school announced plans for a new football-only weight room and had an influx of NIL funds after Cignetti’s hiring was announced.
Buying out Tom Allen was the real eye-opener, though. While most fans knew it had to happen, it was hard to imagine prior athletic directors and school presidents allocating such a sum to fire a coach that had been among the most successful in the program’s (bleak) history.
As of now, though, Cignetti has the third lowest reported salary in the Big Ten, ahead of only Deshaun Foster and Ryan Walters. Those two coaches are a combined 2-6 this year.
If Indiana allows Cignetti to enter next season with the same salary, it will be risking all of the progress it made in firing Allen and building new facilities. Good teams are the product of good coaching, and good coaches are not cheap.
However you feel about conference realignment, the new landscape seems to negate any argument against investing in football. USC and Michigan broke viewership records in week four, and the Big Ten featured in three of the top five most watched matchups that week.
In other words, the deal that was seemingly made for TV is yielding dividends for TV and should lead to more money from broadcasting rights.
Realignment also removes the scheduling gauntlet that stood between Indiana and conference relevance for so long. While I believe Cignetti can and will eventually challenge the Ohio States of the world, it’s at least feasible that Indiana could reach new conference heights without having seen the Buckeyes in the regular season. That’s a huge leg up.
Scott Dolson has done well to get Indiana athletics where it is now, but every win from now on will be closer to bringing the football program to a crossroads.
Indiana cannot un-due its history of football futility, but it has the chance to rewrite the future with Curt Cignetti.
The athletic department and board of trustees need to do everything in their power to make sure that this is Cignetti’s last stop in his career – not just a pitstop on the way to bigger and better things.