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Rick Neuheisel on the CBS halftime show…

What Coach Cig is doing at IU is remarkable. However it is not as much Coach Cig leaving as much as it is one of his coordinators leaving and possibly taking some other members of the staff with them. Some of the reason for Cig's success is continuity of the staff. I don't doubt Cig's ability to find coaching talent as well as playing talent but I would rather not run the risk and find out. Is this selfish on my part ...absolutely.
Right that's exactly what I said. I'm more worried about one or both these coordinators leaving then I am CCC.
 
CCC is about loyalty. IU will see that he has everything he wants/needs to be successful longterm. His assistants have also been loyal to him. I expect we have 3 years with this current staff before we start to see them leave for HC opportunities.
The BIG question mark is will the fans show up!! If they don't we could be in jeopardy of losing CCC.
Fans are there. The official attendance at the Maryland game was 48343. Memorial stadium only holds 52000. That's over 90% full.
 
It’s not really about 12 teams, it’s about 7 teams (6 if you assume Notre Dame is all but automatic unless they’re 9-3 or worse)
Two of those five teams are going to be from SEC/B10 anyway. The remaining three will be from the ACC/B12/highest remaining conference champion...all 3 of those conferences will be one bid leagues. 9 of the playoff teams will be comprised of the B10 and SEC, 8 if ND gets in.
 
Notre Dame is far from an auto even at 1 loss (this year). If they lose 2, they're done (this year)
Possibly but if so it would imo be because one of the losses was to NIU. If ND had beaten No Illinois and ended with only a loss to USC I think they’d probably be in, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if they would’ve gotten in at 10-2 if the 2 losses had been to Tex A&M and USC.
 
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Possibly but if so it would imo be because one of the losses was to NIU. If ND had beaten No Illinois and ended with only a loss to USC I think they’d probably be in, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if they would’ve gotten in at 10-2 if the 2 losses had been to Tex A&M and USC.
No argument from me. Who you lost to matters.
 
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I'm more worried about one or both these coordinators leaving then I am CCC.
Give both those guys a nice bump and they won't go anywhere, at least not right away.

Haines' total compensation package is $1.1 annually. That places him not far outside the top 10 nationally in compensation for defensive coordinators.

If this year continues as it's going, I doubt Haines would have much difficulty landing a HC job at a Group of 5 program, much like Kane Wommack did when he accepted the HC position at South Alabama. I don't think Haines would draw much, if any, interest from a P4 program as a HC, though, at least not yet. IU should pay him so he's not tempted to bolt for a HC job at a G5 school.

Back to Wommack for a second. He made $810k in his last year as HC at South Alabama and almost doubled that ($1.55) when he accepted the DC position under DeBoer at Alabama. He left a head coaching position for a coordinator job. No, IU isn't Alabama but money talks. Pay these guys (Haines and Shanahan) and they'll stay a while longer.

Shanahan's total annual package, btw, is $800k. He deserves a hefty increase after this season - - again assuming we continue on this current trajectory.
 
Give both those guys a nice bump and they won't go anywhere, at least not right away.

Haines' total compensation package is $1.1 annually. That places him not far outside the top 10 nationally in compensation for defensive coordinators.

If this year continues as it's going, I doubt Haines would have much difficulty landing a HC job at a Group of 5 program, much like Kane Wommack did when he accepted the HC position at South Alabama. I don't think Haines would draw much, if any, interest from a P4 program as a HC, though, at least not yet. IU should pay him so he's not tempted to bolt for a HC job at a G5 school.

Back to Wommack for a second. He made $810k in his last year as HC at South Alabama and almost doubled that ($1.55) when he accepted the DC position under DeBoer at Alabama. He left a head coaching position for a coordinator job. No, IU isn't Alabama but money talks. Pay these guys (Haines and Shanahan) and they'll stay a while longer.

Shanahan's total annual package, btw, is $800k. He deserves a hefty increase after this season - - again assuming we continue on this current trajectory.
It’s not just about money, it’s also about the quality of the prospective openings in any given season. If a school like Akron or Kent State came after Shanahan or Haines to be their next HC I think Cig could probably retain them if he really wanted to, but if an elite program like Oklahoma came after Shanahan I don’t think it would be a question of IU matching their offer.

Ordinarily an opportunity to coach at Oklahoma would simply be too good to pass up. But in Oklahoma’s specific case RIGHT NOW, their head coach may be on sufficiently shaky ground himself to make Shanahan and other potential OC candidates think twice about their own potential job security if they made a move to Norman.
 
The obvious path for Indiana is to go 11-1 by beating Michigan at home and losing to Ohio State in Columbus.

As of right now, Indiana is favored to beat Michigan.....That said, Cignetti will throw the kitchen sink at Ryan Day if Indiana goes in there at 10-0!!
 
It’s not just about money, it’s also about the quality of the prospective openings in any given season. If a school like Akron or Kent State came after Shanahan or Haines to be their next HC I think Cig could probably retain them if he really wanted to, but if an elite program like Oklahoma came after Shanahan I don’t think it would be a question of IU matching their offer.

Ordinarily an opportunity to coach at Oklahoma would simply be too good to pass up. But in Oklahoma’s specific case RIGHT NOW, their head coach may be on sufficiently shaky ground himself to make Shanahan and other potential OC candidates think twice about their own potential job security if they made a move to Norman.
You're right. It's not always just about money. That said, I think the chances of Shanahan leaving IU to become OC at Oklahoma are slim to none.
 
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You're right. It's not always just about money. That said, I think the chances of Shanahan leaving IU to become OC at Oklahoma are slim to none.
The use of Oklahoma is as an example, not as a prediction. It might be Clemson, or LSU, or any number of others. There will be openings. We don’t know yet which ones there will be, whether any would contact Shanahan, or whether he would have any interest.

My point is that some programs are sufficiently elite that, if they had an opening and contacted Shanahan (or Haines), it wouldn’t be simply a matter of IU “matching an offer” to successfully keep them. The decisions involved would be more numerous and complicated than that.
 
I agree. I don't see either of our coordinators leaving for anything other than a head coaching job.
There are still some P2 (okay, okay, P4) Coordinator jobs that are a definite step up but there are a good deal less of them than there were 20-25 years ago. Too soon to know if any of them will be open this postseason. I guess Florida will be, but I m not sure that’s going to be the healthiest atmosphere to be in, at least for the immediate future.

There will probably be some lower level HC spots opening up too. Some might be attractive, some might not be. If I were in Cig’s place and Shanahan or Haines told me “Akron offered me their HC job” I’d be inclined to say “you might want to think twice about that one. Maybe even three times. Or four.” But if, say, one of them came to me and said “Baylor hired Jason Candle and Toledo offered me their HC job” I might say “you should say yes asap.”

Some jobs, I honestly don’t know what I’d say about. For example, if Florida hired Kiffin and Ole Miss hired Major Applewhite (I can see the “Major Upgrade “ memes already) and Shanahan or Haines told me “South Alabama offered me the HC job” I’m not sure what my reaction would be. It’s a better job than it used to be (thanks, Coach Wommack) but is it “good enough”? Not sure on that one…
 
Then the B10 is getting 5 teams in the CFB playoff. And if OSU goes undefeated 13-0 and wins the B10 championship one of those 1 loss teams if going to ultimately have 2 losses eliminating them from discussion. Same thing is going to happen in the SEC once all these undefeated teams start playing each other.
I see no way that a team that is the runner-up in it’s conference championship game gets leapfrogged by team that didn’t play in it ,even with one loss, for the CFP.

Imagine how it would feel playing in the Big Ten Final against 12-0 OSU, your team has 1 loss on the season. and OSU wins.

Okay. OSU is 13-0.
IU is 11-2.
Rutgers or PSU or Oregon or somebody are all 11-1. They aren’t going to move Rutgers, PSU or other teams ahead of the runner up.

It’s one more loss but one extra game played.
The outrage you saw at FSU last year, deserved or not (hindsight 20/20), is going to be more amplified this year with 12 spots and a lot more teams feeling like they should be one of those 12. Going to be a ton of noise around this.
 
Next year will be tougher. NIL prices are always going up. Cig was or is at the forefront, he knew how to do it, but his early success and some other teams success will make portal bidding and recruiting even more competitive. No Rourke. No 'half the team is in the portal one week after season' which helped Cig get talent because he had spots. Although he did take quite a percentage of one year guys so while they are good he may replace them at least as well.

Hopefully it'll balance with an entire team already trained in Coach Cig's 'Indiana Way'.
,
I think, if Cig were to leave, it would be a great opportunity for a guy like Shanahan to step up to HC.

I don't think Cig is going anywhere, but I bet Shanahan will get a boatload of offers after this year, along with our DC.

We need to make hay this year. We lose a bunch of really good players and the schedule will probably be tougher. This year was extremely serendipitous for Cig. I think he's going to earn his money this winter.

Oh, and other schools will be coming after our S&C coach, which may be Cig's secret weapon. He's got guys that weren't highly recruited outplaying the big star guys.
 
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I see no way that a team that is the runner-up in it’s conference championship game gets leapfrogged by team that didn’t play in it ,even with one loss, for the CFP.

Imagine how it would feel playing in the Big Ten Final against 12-0 OSU, your team has 1 loss on the season. and OSU wins.

Okay. OSU is 13-0.
IU is 11-2.
Rutgers or PSU or Oregon or somebody are all 11-1. They aren’t going to move Rutgers, PSU or other teams ahead of the runner up.

It’s one more loss but one extra game played.
The outrage you saw at FSU last year, deserved or not (hindsight 20/20), is going to be more amplified this year with 12 spots and a lot more teams feeling like they should be one of those 12. Going to be a ton of noise around this.
In the scenario you describe I agree that both teams in the championship game would get in but I don’t think all of the other three (11-1 or not) would. In other words, I would expect that (at least) 1 of the other three probably WOULD get leapfrogged by-for example-a 10-2 runner up from the Big 12 or ACC (if that’s how their conference races played out). I don’t think they’re going to bring 5 B1G (or SEC) teams into the playoff.

Which could be one more thing that would influence the B1G and SEC to go ahead and form a super league that has its own playoff and TV deals.
 
I was there and observed the crowd, I am guessing it was closer to 40K. A lot of empty seats around me. The corners and upper sections were empty. There were even some suites empty.
 
In the scenario you describe I agree that both teams in the championship game would get in but I don’t think all of the other three (11-1 or not) would. In other words, I would expect that (at least) 1 of the other three probably WOULD get leapfrogged by-for example-a 10-2 runner up from the Big 12 or ACC (if that’s how their conference races played out). I don’t think they’re going to bring 5 B1G (or SEC) teams into the playoff.

Which could be one more thing that would influence the B1G and SEC to go ahead and form a super league that has its own playoff and TV deals.

Here's one sites seemingly informed very early take on the CFP picture:


Fansided might be a site to keep your eye on when it comes to who's in and who might be out of the CFPs...
 
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I see no way that a team that is the runner-up in it’s conference championship game gets leapfrogged by team that didn’t play in it ,even with one loss, for the CFP.

Imagine how it would feel playing in the Big Ten Final against 12-0 OSU, your team has 1 loss on the season. and OSU wins.

Okay. OSU is 13-0.
IU is 11-2.
Rutgers or PSU or Oregon or somebody are all 11-1. They aren’t going to move Rutgers, PSU or other teams ahead of the runner up.

It’s one more loss but one extra game played.
The outrage you saw at FSU last year, deserved or not (hindsight 20/20), is going to be more amplified this year with 12 spots and a lot more teams feeling like they should be one of those 12. Going to be a ton of noise around this.
Except in your scenario, IU won’t play in the championship. We have to beat OSU. If Oregon or PSU has only one loss as also, they would go, I’m sure which because their schedules are similar but head to head is first and then common opponents. This is where our schedule comes back to bite us a bit.

Going forward we need OSU to beat both Oregon and PSU and either we beat OSU or those teams also lose. We would have the tie breaker vs USC if we beat Michigan. It gets confusing, all of the teams including IU will be different 2 months from now. November becomes a battle of depth, injuries for all teams are going to happen. It sure is fun to talk about though.
 
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I see no way that a team that is the runner-up in it’s conference championship game gets leapfrogged by team that didn’t play in it ,even with one loss, for the CFP.

Imagine how it would feel playing in the Big Ten Final against 12-0 OSU, your team has 1 loss on the season. and OSU wins.

Okay. OSU is 13-0.
IU is 11-2.
Rutgers or PSU or Oregon or somebody are all 11-1. They aren’t going to move Rutgers, PSU or other teams ahead of the runner up.

It’s one more loss but one extra game played.
The outrage you saw at FSU last year, deserved or not (hindsight 20/20), is going to be more amplified this year with 12 spots and a lot more teams feeling like they should be one of those 12. Going to be a ton of noise around this.
Last years ACC runner-up Louisville was 16th in the final CFB poll with 2 losses. The ACC is a 2nd tier league. If you're in a 2nd tier league with 2 losses and don't have a good win, you aren't getting in the playoff. A 2 loss Clemson who loses in the ACC championship will have lost to the only two good teams on its schedule with zero good wins. Clemson is not getting into the playoff unless it wins the ACC.
 
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Buyout is currently 8 million.

I keep hearing Florida used as the example of a school that would be coming after Cig.

They'd have to pay Billy Napier almost 21 million to go away just 3 seasons after paying Dan Mullen a 12 million dollar buyout. Then they'd have to give IU 8 million and likely have to Give Cig at least what they gave Napier (7.5 annually). Then they'd have to buy out current assistants on both sides that have multi year contracts.

They would have to do that for a guy that will be 64 years old when he coaches his first game for you.
I am a Hoosier fan first but I am also a big Gator fan. I can tell you that if Cig were 54 years old he would for sure be at the top of Florida's list and they would pay to get him. But Cig being 64 throws some serious doubt.
 
I am a Hoosier fan first but I am also a big Gator fan. I can tell you that if Cig were 54 years old he would for sure be at the top of Florida's list and they would pay to get him. But Cig being 64 throws some serious doubt.
I agree.

If he was 54 he'd be at Texas A&M.
 
I don't know that the fanbase really wants Kiffin. Also it is my understanding that he really wants to get back to the west coast near his daughters. Plus there are prettier coeds lol. I personally would love to see them take a page from IU and go get Bob Chesney at JMU. He wins too Google it.
IIRC Chesney may have interviewed for the IU job a year ago when he was still at Holy Cross. Think Odom and Candle may have interviewed too, but not sure.
 
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Here's one sites seemingly informed very early take on the CFP picture:


Fansided might be a site to keep your eye on when it comes to who's in and who might be out of the CFPs...
LOL

Purdue Boilermakers (1-3)​

Thanks for playing, Boilermakers. We'll see you next year. There's really not a lot to say about Purdue this season except that its role is simply being an auto-win for the remainder of the year. Some serious decisions will need to be made about the coaching and how it approaches recruiting this offseason.
 
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Except in your scenario, IU won’t play in the championship. We have to beat OSU. If Oregon or PSU has only one loss as also, they would go, I’m sure which because their schedules are similar but head to head is first and then common opponents. This is where our schedule comes back to bite us a bit.

Going forward we need OSU to beat both Oregon and PSU and either we beat OSU or those teams also lose. We would have the tie breaker vs USC if we beat Michigan. It gets confusing, all of the teams including IU will be different 2 months from now. November becomes a battle of depth, injuries for all teams are going to happen. It sure is fun to talk about though.
Yep. Anyone think we'd be talking about IU possibly being in the CFP a year ago this time?
 
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