In Reply to: Re: Cignetti is 65 y.o., makes $13 million a year, and is 34-3 at Indiana posted by CoastalBruin on October 26, 2026 at 20:43:41
What is he lacking from a competitive standpoint at Indiana? I don't understand. Indiana is among the best in NIL allocation. Penn St. is said to struggle with NIL, relatively speaking. Florida St. is said to be another. NIL transcends name brands. As another poster said, Cignetti flat out rejected Penn St. last year.
All he needs is one or two big boosters, and he already has one in Mark Cuban. It doesn't really matter what the 5-figure donors like or think.
I don't know what an "Indiana guy" even means. People think of Nick Saban as this Southern coaching icon, but he spent most of his life and career in the Midwest before getting hired at LSU.
Lane Kiffin is another. He played at Fresno St. and was primarily a West Coast coach until about a decade ago. Same is true of Sarkisian. These labels are often meaningless. The question is, does the guy fit the job/location?
Look at Chesney for example. Small town, Mid Atlantic guy, supposedly. But watch the guy and listen to him talk. He fits in L.A., just like Cignetti fits at Indiana.