Is Cignetti potentially our Bill Snyder?

[Harry Hondo]

Kansas State is ranked in the top 20 right now and since Snyder built the program it’s been a good to very good program. Before Snyder they were a terrible program (.370 winning percentage) and he is credited with singlehandedly making them into the winners that they still are today. Can IU sustain this if Cignetti stays here awhile and has a lot of consistent success?

 

[mobilehoosier]

Great post and question. Not sure if he's our Snyder, but isn't it cool that you can ask that question? At least we have someone that may just pull us out of the basement and into the light. Massive grin! I sure as hell hope the answer is yes! Go Hoosiers!

 

[vesuvius13]

If coach Cignetti was younger, you could say he might be our Coach Bowden. People forget or don't know how bad FSU was before Coach Bowden change them into a national power.

 

[Tammany Hall]

Could be a good comp. He started as the HC at K-State when he was 50.

 

[red hornet]

If coach Cignetti was younger, you could say he might be our Coach Bowden. People forget or don't know how bad FSU was before Coach Bowden change them into a national power.

Right, attended the All-American Bowl in 1986 against FSU/Bobby Bowden & his team was more talented than Indiana's.

 

[kmathum]

Kansas State is ranked in the top 20 right now and since Snyder built the program it’s been a good to very good program. Before Snyder they were a terrible program (.370 winning percentage) and he is credited with singlehandedly making them into the winners that they still are today. Can IU sustain this if Cignetti stays here awhile and has a lot of consistent success?

and as recall he did it with transfers and smart scheduling

 

[HoosierinNebraska]

Bill Snyder was the king of brining in Juco players on an annual basis. Gotta hand it to the guy - he found a way to consistently win 8+ games every season. Cig seems like this is where he'd like to retire and I love what he is building here. Kudos to Dolson and crew for getting him.

 

[IUNorth]

Kansas State is ranked in the top 20 right now and since Snyder built the program it’s been a good to very good program. Before Snyder they were a terrible program (.370 winning percentage) and he is credited with singlehandedly making them into the winners that they still are today. Can IU sustain this if Cignetti stays here awhile and has a lot of consistent success?

Hope so! I think it could happen. Cig is a fair bit older, so we likely won't have him specifically as our head coach for as many years as KState had Snyder. But one of my bigger hopes, outside Cig sticking it out and coaching at IU for 5+ years...is establishing IU as a destination level program for aspiring coaches. Cig has them on his staff now, hopefully one of them has the makings of backfilling him when he's done. THAT is what Cig's biggest and most important contribution to IU football might end up being.

We've had little multiple year bright spots in our program before. I'm not sure at the level we're seeing now, but we've little runs where we've been a top 25 level program for a few years. What everyone before him has failed to do, however, is build any sort of continuity. Hopefully Cig wants to do that, at IU...and then someone like Shanahan takes over...and continues it...

 

[TomEric4756]

I had posited the hope that CCC could be IU’s Bill Snyder.
Like the Bowden CCC comparison too.
It’s hard to see where CCC would get asked to retire at 66 1/2.

 

[Big Red Crimson Buffalo]

If coach Cignetti was younger, you could say he might be our Coach Bowden. People forget or don't know how bad FSU was before Coach Bowden change them into a national power.

I’d add Oregon to the list.
Anybody that was around to watch Oregon from the mid-60s through 1985, they were arguably the doormat of the PAC 12. Rich Brooks put them on the map once he got a few seasons under his belt.

 

[Mark Milton]

I

Kansas State is ranked in the top 20 right now and since Snyder built the program it’s been a good to very good program. Before Snyder they were a terrible program (.370 winning percentage) and he is credited with singlehandedly making them into the winners that they still are today. Can IU sustain this if Cignetti stays here awhile and has a lot of consistent success?

I don't think Cig is Snyder--but that's not to say the comparison isn't apt--it is. Snyder built Kansas State up using almost exclusively JUCO players from the two major JUCOs in Kansas at the time. And he did an amazing job of capturing that market.

Cig is going to rely upon the Transfer portal this recruiting period, especially with roster sizes growing. My hunch is that we likely won't have to pay a premium to guys in the NIL market, but likely will spend the same amount (assuming we get that money). It would not surprise me to add 20 plus guys in the portal. I'm guessing it will be more like 24 to rebalance the classes, which has to do to maintain some success.

We lose the following guys next year for sure:
Offense:
Cross
Price
Katic
Wedig
Horton (I think)
Rourke
Lawton
Ellison
Stephens
Kidwell (unless he gets a waiver, and he might)
Andison
Ke'shawn Williams (i think)

Defense:
Carpenter
West
Carr
Walker
Sanguinetti
Asbury
Jones
Toomer
Doss

A lot of good players, and DL and OL look to be major needs to fill. There is an obvious concern that the two deep isn't really providing much competition at practice given the number of snaps folks play on both offense and defense. That fact speaks volumes, so help is needed. I think Cig recognizes the transfer portal will always be a part of Indiana Football, and he has no problems with that, but he would like the bulk of his two deep to be home grown so to speak. The beauty of this year is that by bringing 13 guys from JMU who were immersed in the culture he establishes, other guys bought in. So you hope that today's freshman and the remaining guys on the roster for next year can teach that culture to not only incoming freshman but also JUCOs.

This turnaround is not a smoke and mirrors one--he got rid of guys that had bad attitudes, he got guys that were committed to buying in. Just a super impressive job by him and his staff.

If Juju comes, I understand that we can do his NIL deal with zero difficulties. That's a huge boon.

 

[grammy2]

He's already better than Snyder.

 

[indy1203]

I had posited the hope that CCC could be IU’s Bill Snyder.
Like the Bowden CCC comparison too.
It’s hard to see where CCC would get asked to retire at 66 1/2.

He could always be the President of the United States after retirement.

 

[td75]

Cignetti seems to thrive in the development of his quarterbacks. Apparently he had several good QBs at JMU during his tenure. He has obviously done very, very well with Rourke, too. Having high class QB play is a strong recipe for success at any level of football.

As to the Bill Snyder comparison, only time will tell. It's probably not a fair comparison because of the age difference when Snyder started at KSU versus Cignetti's age upon starting at Indiana.

I do think it's abundantly clear that Cignetti is a high level coach that can win with less...Most coaches need 4 and 5 star talent to win, Cignetti is currently winning without that. The guy across the parking lot needs 10 star talent to win!! 🤣 🤣 🤣

 

[secondasky]

Cignetti seems to thrive in the development of his quarterbacks. Apparently he had several good QBs at JMU during his tenure. He has obviously done very, very well with Rourke, too. Having high class QB play is a strong recipe for success at any level of football.

As to the Bill Snyder comparison, only time will tell. It's probably not a fair comparison because of the age difference when Snyder started at KSU versus Cignetti's age upon starting at Indiana.

I do think it's abundantly clear that Cignetti is a high level coach that can win with less...Most coaches need 4 and 5 star talent to win, Cignetti is currently winning without that. The guy across the parking lot needs 10 star talent to win!! 🤣 🤣 🤣

Would think CC will bring in two new QB's next year.

 

[Hoosier Hacker]

Would think CC will bring in two new QB's next year.

Call me crazy, but I don't think QB is an area of need after Rourke is done this year. Definitely need to fill out OL, DL, and the secondary. I'll qualify that with saying if we somehow land JuJu at QB, we're more than good. 😁

 

[Walt542]

Call me crazy, but I don't think QB is an area of need after Rourke is done this year. Definitely need to fill out OL, DL, and the secondary. I'll qualify that with saying if we somehow land JuJu at QB, we're more than good. 😁

I agree as long as he can hold on to those guys. With Jackson, Cherry and Mendez IU has a pretty good bunch. Will probably want one for that class and I would not be surprised to see one of the freshmen bolt, but there is some talent there.

 

[kmathum]

Would think CC will bring in two new QB's next year.

I like our young QBs, but nowadays with the portal if you can get a proven guy, why not?

 

[MMM1992]

If Coach Cignetti can get this team to stay within the top four teams of the conference, any comparisons to Snyder will be mute.

 

[secondasky]

I like our young QBs, but nowadays with the portal if you can get a proven guy, why not?

Yes I like them too, although we haven't seen much of their real time skills. Hard to predict who will leave but we lose Rourke, and I would speculate that one out of the remaining three will see their playing time might be very limited and move on. That's the two gone.

 

[IUFANBB]

Kansas State is ranked in the top 20 right now and since Snyder built the program it’s been a good to very good program. Before Snyder they were a terrible program (.370 winning percentage) and he is credited with singlehandedly making them into the winners that they still are today. Can IU sustain this if Cignetti stays here awhile and has a lot of consistent success?

I'm not really sure that you can compare the two situations given the transfer portal. Can't we all agree that we got a top group of coaches driving the bus. The biggest thing that gets lost in all of this is the top assistants who came over. That was a game changer.

Think about it; I like our coaching staff better then Notre Dames. When have you ever said that as a Hoosier fan?