So the first thing that can go wrong in a hire is that a key staff members does not come with the coach. An interesting thing about Cignetti is he does not have a lot of long time assistants (which most successful head coaches do). Because he's an offensive guy, the key hire is probably his defensive coordinator who has been outstanding. I suspect either the OC or the DC becomes the new coach there. Hope its the OC. He does have an experience O-Line coach which is a shame as I hoped he'd keep Bostad. If his OC becomes head coach, I'd like to see him Keep Carey as I don't think he'll do much better than Carey as an OC.
Cignetti's key staff
- Thread starter MMcCormick
- Start date
I would love for him to bring Shanahan.
It will be interesting to see if any of his players jump in the transfer portal....maybe some will follow him here.
He's followed him everywhere since IUP. Read that he was interviewing for Pitt OC job after Cignetti's brother was fired earlier this week though.
His OC, Mike Shanahan who by the way is only 33, has been with him since he was a GA at IU-Pennsylvania. Pat Kuntz DL coach (Roncalli and ND, GA at IU from 16-18) will almost assuredly follow him and Bryant Haines (Ball St grade and IU staff member during 2012) is a possibility although he would likely have to take a job demotion from DC to position coach.
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I don't care who he brings or keeps.
I trust coach to make good decisions on his people.
Whoot!
I trust coach to make good decisions on his people.
Whoot!
It will be interesting to see what Cignetti does with staff. His current guys were getting paid nothing. He'll have to decide whether to keep his crew together or go after more expensive assistants. One of Cignetti's many strengths is his roladex of coaches he's coached with. It's huge and includes places like Bama. He's seen up and coming coaches and the highest paid coaches in the business.
While the rest of the staff is being out together, CCC needs to be on the phone with every top QB recruit/transfer and get them to IU! Leonard from Duke or Ugiuelelei from Ore St. just to name a few.
Wouldn't mind him bringing his own guy from JMU.
Their defensive line and linebacking play has been off the charts. 2 yards a carry against the rush. Keeping those two coaches I am sure will be a priority. Indiana should be able to outbid Pitt for Shanahan.
I would be more worried about JMU promoting Shanahan to Head Coach although Shanahan is originally from Western PA and Pitt alum.
Well considering this was his 6th year of college FB, I think he is out of eligibility! He was at USF from 18-20, Arizona in 21-22 and JMU this year.
Nah...those QBs are going to be too expensive.
I think if he has roughly 5 mil in NIL money this year, he should focus more than half of that on OL and DL guys.
Yes, but I'd rather they promote Shanahan than the DC. Cignetti is an offensive guy and I am sure he's very involved in the offense.
It'd be nice to bring most of them in...and then maybe also bring in ARE as an associate coach of some sorts or position coach/special teams, and retain Bostad as OLC.
JMU Defensive Coordinator, Offensive coordinator, DLine Coach, Linebackers Coach...
Bostad as OLine coach...
Randle El as receivers coach and Special Teams coordinator...
I noticed he has Tino Sunseri on his staff and I immediately recognized the last name. His dad, Sal, has been around top programs for years and would be a guy I’d love to see poached from Coach Prime’s staff. They were both a part of the early staff that open the floodgates for Alabama.
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Not saying you are wrong, but how does he have another year? 3 years at USF, 2 at Arizona and 1 at JMU is 6. Even if he does have a year he used his free xfer and grad xfer so would he even get eligibility at a 4th school with a 3rd xfer????
He redshirted at USF prior to COVID. Speculation all over Twitter as to where he is playing his final year of eligibility.
Wouldn't that give him the 6th year and not a 7th though???? Again not saying it is wrong, but that would basically be 2 redshirt years AND a covid year???
Also how does the fact that it would be a 3rd transfer factor in, I get you get the one time free one, and the grad transfer--which he already used, as he is in grad school now
You can grad transfer as many times as you want until your eligibility exhausts. I see he didn't play during the 2022 season, possible medical redshirt? I'm not sure how he got to this point with another year of eligibility but he definitely has one more year to play.
I saw somewhere on Twitter that James Madison is not pursuing current assistant coaches to fill their head coaching vacancy. They will hire externally, so it would seem that anyone he wants to bring with him would be available.
Oh...ok...I'll send him a note to disregard my post.
Would love to see him find a way to keep Bostad as the OL coach but it appears impossible without Cignetti leaving someone behind such as his RB's coach and perhaps moving his current OL coach to RB's (which seems highly unlikely)...
Looks like we're going with a clean slate on both sides of the ball. If they can get the same results from our guys that they consistently have with lesser talent I'll be a happy guy...
Now they just need to re-recruit some players to work with...
I'd wager there's no way that he brings everyone with him. Doesn't mean they'll keep any of our current coaches either, but he's going to need some guys that understand the recruiting footprint around here and can probably upgrade some of his staff with a larger pool of $.
I'd guess Pat Kuntz DL and DC/LB Bryant Haines are brought over given their ties to the state/IU although suspect Haines may just be a position coach with a big pay increase. Mike Shanahan as OC has been with Cignetti for a long time and there's a possibility he's brought over. I would prefer a DC with a much better pedigree than Haines (could we entice Jim Leonhard with a big salary?).
My main two criteria for the DC, and their position coaches...teach them to tackle, and not blow coverages. Man, how refreshing would that be?!
Expect his defensive staff to remain intact and it won't have anything to do with prior ties to the university or the state it'll be because they can flat out coach...
I’m pretty sure I developed some form of PTSD watching our guys either bounce off, slither down, or just flat out whiff on tackle after tackle this year. It honestly was so bizarre it would have been funny if was any team but ours. Total clown show game after game.
This wasnt the case when CTA first took over! Our DBs back then were taught to get into the right position and then turn their head around to look for the ball! It was a noticeable difference from the final CKW years. They were great CTAs 1st 2 years, but since then, those skills seemed to have disappeared! Now the DBs arent even 10 yards from any WR! Hope this changes asap!
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