Indiana coach Curt Cignetti’s guide to building a winner in college football

The first thing you should know about first-year Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti is that he didn’t find the job difficult. Never mind that Indiana hasn’t put together a winning season since 2020. Or that the Hoosiers have never won more than nine games in a regular season – ever.

“My first day on the job, we got 10 starters in the transfer portal and the defensive part,” Cignetti told FOX Sports in an exclusive interview.

And yet, it didn’t matter. Cignnetti took most of his staff from his previous job at James Madison and immediately got to work, not just sifting through the transfer portal, but sifting and interviewing players with intent. He brought 22 transfers to Bloomington, and more important than the number of incoming transfers was the background they had. The incoming exchange squad was full of people who had played a lot of football and were the best players in their previous clubs.

“Most of them were G5s,” Cignetti said.

Some are from Texas Tech, like Myles Price, some from Wisconsin, like offensive lineman Trey Wedig, and some from Wake Forest, like running back Justice Ellison.

Justice Ellison rushes for a 31-yard TD, extending Nebraska’s lead over Indiana

“They were all high-character guys who had produced for two and three years — consistent production,” Cignetti said. “And I really felt in my heart that, you know, we’re going to turn the game around at the end of the game [transfer portal] time.”

Speak up. Then you go with it.

After sifting through the roster, knowing in his heart that he had the personnel he needed to win, Cignetti began the second and perhaps most difficult part of his job: Converting people.

By now, what Cignetti said on Dec. 22, 2023, in his introductory press conference.

The question was: “How do you sell your vision of your culture?”

Cignetti’s answer: “Very easy. I win. Google me.”

But before he said those words in the tunnel, Cignetti had to convince his wife first. “The reason my wife and I were like, look, I’ve done this three or four times. This is just a bigger stage.”

He was right.

In his first season as head coach at IUP in 2011, Cignetti finished 7-3 after winning six of the last seven games he coached. After taking over the head coaching role at Elon, a program that had gone 2-9 last year and 12-45 the previous five years before he arrived in 2016, Phoenix went 8-4 in Cignetti’s first year, reaching the No. . . 7 in the FCS standings and making the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2009. and led the team to a spot in the national championship game.

“Obviously I came out a little bit with my comments, which I haven’t done in the past,” said Cignetti, whose No. 5 Indiana team is ready to travel to Columbus, Ohio, to battle No. 2. Ohio State (Noon ET Saturday on FOX and the FOX Sports App). “To be honest, it was like a clash of two worlds when I got here. You know us [he and his former teams] they used to win tournaments year after year, and many people thought that this was a hopeless situation here. And I wouldn’t lower my standards and expectations.”

Heading into this week’s Big Ten matchup with the Buckeyes, Cignetti’s team sits at 10-0, marking Indiana’s first 10-game winning streak in program history. The Hoosiers also have a chance to be seeded in the first 12-team College Football Playoff in part because of Cignetti’s belief, instilling that belief in the people of Bloomington and relying on a recipe he has mastered.

Yes, Cignetti was the recruiting coordinator on Nick Saban’s first staff at Alabama. But he is also the son of Hall of Fame coach Frank Cignetti, Sr., who led IUP to Division II national titles in 1990 and 1993. And let’s not forget that Cignetti has coached for 42 years, longer than Power 4 coach Dan Lanning. (38), Marcus Freeman (38) and Lincoln Riley (41) have been on this Earth.

Curt Cignetti in Indiana vs. Ohio State, 10-0 start and contract extension

Along the way, you are stuck in the mindset of beliefs. When asked what was “non-negotiable”, the Hoosiers coach didn’t hesitate to rattle off the list.

“Have high standards and high expectations,” Cignetti said. “You can never lower your level. The way you do anything is the way you do everything. There has to be accountability in the whole system of coaches and players. What we really ask the players to do every day is to focus. , do your best, be quick, and treat others well if you do that, you will improve, and if you improve every day, really, anything is possible.

If anything can happen, that has to include Indiana winning the national championship this season, right?

“Well, you know you guys get paid to do that kind of stuff,” Cignetti replied. “You know, get people to follow you and watch your stuff. You know, write articles, whatever. , to eliminate noise and clutter Be where your feet lead until Saturday, to give yourself the best chance of success.

But?

“I hear some things done about our program from time to time. I mean, we never trailed until two weeks ago. When we fell behind 10-0, we went on a 47-point streak on the road in the Big Ten. And then, you know, we had a close game against Michigan. All other games were important victories.

“Every P4 team we played had a winning record when we played them except two, they were .500. Nebraska was 5-1 when we played them. So a lot of team records are no longer good because we played them.”

Do you see? Changing people. It works.

What’s also effective is having a plan and sticking to your core belief of non-negotiable, high-achieving values ​​- not working out of fear, but with earned confidence.

This is Curt Cignetti’s guide to building a winner. Don’t mess with his recipe. Just cook.

RJ Young is a national college football writer and commentator for FOX Sports and host of the podcast “The Number One College Football Show.” Follow him on @RJ_Omusha.

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