Cignetti’s assertive comments have raised eyebrows around the Big Ten.
“I know you’ve been waiting for me to say something crazy.”
“We’re just going into an old stadium to kick somebody’s ass.”
“Bullshit. We want to be the best!”
“Holy crap, all you guys want to talk to Indiana?”
Curt Cignetti knows what he’s doing here. And it’s not for you.
Sure, many have offered their thoughts on Indiana’s new head football coach making a habit of viral statements in front of a microphone. Some hate it, others love it and more want to see Cignetti prove something before making such comments.
If you’re in the “hate it” column, they’re not meant for you.
Indiana’s fans? Most are in the “love it” category, and there’s a few reasons why.
One quick look at Memorial Stadium the past two years should say enough. It’s mostly empty with a pretty solid amount of visiting fans from border state schools or even, worse, rival Purdue.
Enthusiasm for the program just hasn’t been there. Not since a loss to Cincinnati back in 2021 that saw a crowd full of Hoosier fans witness what became the beginning of the end of the Tom Allen era in Bloomington.
Football, at the end of the day, is entertainment. Fans gather around televisions and pack stadiums because they enjoy it. They want to watch their favorite team, or any team, compete. See the highs, get through the lows.
Cignetti knows this, he’s just adding more entertainment value on top of that.
Indiana doesn’t exactly have an illustrious history when it comes to football. It hasn’t been known for much, if anything, good on a national level. Cignetti could come in and whine about the past. Complain about lack of resources. Take jabs at other schools’ NIL resources. Be bitter.
Or he could instill confidence. He could fire up a fanbase that’s known nothing but disappointment for three straight seasons. He could give a locker room reasons to believe it can, and not just behind closed doors.
“Now, I’ve kind of had to speak a big game taking over a job like this because we had to wake some people up and create some excitement,” Cignetti said. “And after all, this is the entertainment business too.”
You could take my word for it, or you could take his players’.
“It’s infectious to our team,” Linebacker Aiden Fisher said. “It gives us confidence, gives us a lot of self belief, especially when it’s coming down from the head man.”
A clip of Cignetti being introduced to Indiana fans at Assembly Hall, during which he said “Purdue sucks… but so do Michigan and Ohio State!” made its way around team group chats pretty quickly, offensive lineman Mike Katic said.
“It fires us up,” Katic said. “It’s awesome, I love what he says.”
Cignetti’s not in Bloomington to tiptoe around titans, let his program go unnoticed or put a cap on what it can achieve. He’s wearing cream and crimson to do what he’s done everywhere else: win. And entertain.