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It’s been three weeks since the Indiana Hoosiers signed former James Madison head coach Curt Cignetti to replace Tom Allen. Indiana marks the third different program (Elon, IUP, and James Madison) that Cignetti will try to turn into a winning program.
In today’s world of college athletics, it is incredibly easy for programs to be rebuilt in one season because of NIL and the transfer portal. On Wednesday’s Query & Company, Cignetti explained the difference between IU and his previous two stops.
“The only difference on this one is that the transfer portal and NIL didn’t exist then. As long as you have a commitment to be successful in those areas, we’ll be successful. There’s nothing holding us back from being successful. In my mind, maybe the kids are a little different now in the NIL age, but I’ve been dealing with that for a little while. The fundamentals of being successful haven’t changed.” Cignetti stated.
Indiana has brought in eight transfers out of the portal.
- QB Kurtis Rourke (Ohio) – 195/307 2,207 yards 11 TD’s 5 INT’s | 67 carries 219 yards 4 TD’s
- RB Justice Ellison (Wake Forest) – 120 carries 548 yards 1 TD
- RB Ty’Son Lawton (James Madison) – 126 carries 568 yards 5 TD’s
- WR Miles Cross (Ohio) – 47 receptions 617 yards 5 TD’s
- WR Myles Price (Texas Tech) – 43 receptions 410 yards 5 TD’s
- WR Ke’Shawn Williams (Wake Forest) – 38 receptions 384 yards 1 TD
- DL Mikail Kamara (James Madison) – 51 total tackles | 7.5 sacks | 2 pass deflections
During Cignetti’s conversation on Query & Company, he explained what he’s looking for when targeting a player in the portal.
“I’m into production, NOT potential. I’m looking for guys that have put together a number of years as starters and have been productive, relative injury free, and I’m not afraid to dip down a level to find those guys. I’ve had a lot more success with those type of guys then going and taking the second/third team guy at Georgia that has enormous potential.”
Other topics that the new Hoosiers head coach discussed were:
- How IU will look schematically underneath him
- His learning experience from Nick Saban in connection to his dad leaning from Bobby Bowden
- What he likes about Bloomington so far
To listen to Jake Query and Jimmy Cook’s conversation with Curt Cignetti, download the podcast containing the conversation below! You can always listen to the Query & Company from 12pm-3pm on 93.5/107.5 The Fan. You can also watch and interact with the show by going to the 107.5 The Fan YouTube Channel.
