Coaching Carousel (Football)
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biggest story in CFB since Red Grange
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti agrees to new contract, becomes one of highest paid coaches nationally
Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti has agreed to a new contract that will make one of the three-highest paid coaches in college football, sources told Peegs.com.247sports.com
the dude deserves it.
it is still hard for me to believe it happened .
so many stars aligned for that program simultaneously
OrangeBlue98
Iowa is not in a great spot right now (LvilleILL1)
- Des Moines, IA
What continues to astound me is how Matt Campbell, in his late 20s, was able to make Tim Beckman look so good that Beckman got a Big Ten job.
That’s damn near Lombardian.
Well you do have to consider who the AD was to make that genius hire.
Sounds like this hire is going to be a disaster
Stupid IU contract wasting money. Cignetti will be 71 years old in 2033 . I doubt he will be still coaching. These stupid athletic departments never learn. Why would you give a 64 year old man a contract until 2033. Just plain stupid. Great Grandpa Cignetti on the sidelines in the 2030sCignetti gets new contract at IU. 13 mil a year through 2033. He was making $677,000 his last year at JM. He hit the jackpot. Co-ordinators are making close to 3 million.
Give me a breakWhere is the relevance? Opinions really don't matter. None of us have any first hand experience or have discussed the overall scheme with BB. The only thing I think we can all agree on is the Illinois defense declined in the past 3 years.
I don't see how anyone can have an informed judgement until we see 4-5 B1G games. At that point we will see. One other thing about college sports in general. How someone performed last year is not a predictor of how they will perform the following year. Also keep in mind - even the so called experts don't get it close when predicting a coming season. Go back and look we were ranked prior to 2022, 23, 24, 25 we didn't come close where we were predicted, niether did 14 of the other 17 teams. Only Oregon, Ohio State and Iowa were within 3 spots of where they were projected (even though Oregon has only been in the league 2 years).
I don't see anyone on this board able to evaluate on - field staff. If there was, the first things they would mention is technique and game plan (philosophy) and fit with the program. The second thing they would mention is where that coach had success and where they didn't. The last thing mentioned would be how players progressed until their tutilage. Don't see any of that.
This is a great board. But there are certain areas we have no expertise or knowledge in and alot of what is written isn't even speculation, is just personal opinion.
I don't see how anyone can have an informed judgement until we see 4-5 B1G games. At that point we will see. One other thing about college sports in general. How someone performed last year is not a predictor of how they will perform the following year. Also keep in mind - even the so called experts don't get it close when predicting a coming season. Go back and look we were ranked prior to 2022, 23, 24, 25 we didn't come close where we were predicted, niether did 14 of the other 17 teams. Only Oregon, Ohio State and Iowa were within 3 spots of where they were projected (even though Oregon has only been in the league 2 years).
I don't see anyone on this board able to evaluate on - field staff. If there was, the first things they would mention is technique and game plan (philosophy) and fit with the program. The second thing they would mention is where that coach had success and where they didn't. The last thing mentioned would be how players progressed until their tutilage. Don't see any of that.
This is a great board. But there are certain areas we have no expertise or knowledge in and alot of what is written isn't even speculation, is just personal opinion.
We have 2 successful seasons and appear to be building something sustainable. Indiana has unparalleled success. We decided good is not good enough. Our DC is perceived to be the problem as he doesn't "bring the pressure" against the pass. Instead of finding a more capable DC who runs a similar defense but does it more effectively, we throw the baby out with the bath water and go a with a coach that will instill a different scheme that is all about pressure. If this doesn't work, it will set back the program for who knows how long. Very risky.
100%, let’s just wait and see how it plays out. Obviously BB knows what he’s doing
Thanks for sharing. This was a really interesting and informative interview. Maybe the concerns mentioned by Kevin will prove to be valid, and maybe not. I guess my biggest worry is that he stresses that the 3-3-5 can't succeed unless you have a big/excellent/athletic front three on the defensive line who can hold firm and stop the run when you really need a stop. After what happened in the latest portal cycle, do we have the players who can do that?
Illini in Italy
- Illini HQ, Florida Panhandle
Certainly more than 99.99999999% of the IL posters here . . .
Bret hired TP. Hired finelus. Hired sintim. Hired a not ready db coach to run a side of the ball which fell flat for 3 years. He’s made mistakes. We’ve not yet made the playoffs, won a conference title. I know that’s not the goal around here. But this narrative that’s he’s infallible needs to stop. He’s made arguably 2 poor coordinator hires since he’s been here.
Will this offseason work? Let’s hope so
every coach had made mistakes. Besides for Ahen he’s made a change right away
Since we have not seen them play... perhaps waiting to see might be in order. What we do know is the down linemen and linebackers that departed do not fit the scheme (3-3-5) as displayed. Why do we insist on providing judgements on players we have yet to see play and coaches we know nothing about?
GrayGhost77
- Centennial, CO
Just like hiring any new employee. Sometimes they may have great references but you never REALLY know what you have until they start and have been a around a little while. Cultural fit, philosophy, and job specificity all matter.
Even the best managers in the real world hire people who turn out to be the wrong hires. No coach is going to bat 1.000 hiring coaches. The process can be completely correct and the hire can still be poor. The key is can the manager identify the mistake early and pivot when it's not working.
I think the point people are making is the overall result has been good, and losing faith in Bret over an offseason when not a single game has yet to be played is a massive overreaction, at best.
If you'd have laid out Bret's record since taking over in front of any Illini fan in December 2020, they'd have been thrilled. We have to stop acting like any struggling program can just easily hire a guy who can turn them into juggernaut. It's happened exactly once in the modern era of college football. Bret has exceeded expectations, and I think at least earned the opportunity to put a team on the field before we declare the season a failure.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Y'know if we can all level with each other for a second, the trouble with this is that "rawr this hire stinks because XYZ" is ultimately an invitation for further conversation and discussion, whereas this is the opposite.
Perspective matters. The ship was going down when he took the helm. Sure, he’s made a few mistakes along the way to our very best back-to-back seasons ever. The playoffs or a conference title, starting from the hole we were in, was somewhere between extremely unrealistic and impossible.
I’m thrilled with the path we’re on and quite willing to forgive more mistakes. Brett has arguably been the best coach in the last 50 years as far as turnaround performance goes.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Yes, I am concerned about the defense next year. Both the roster and the staff. I know the B1G has transitioned into a more pass-heavy league (we played 5 of the top 10 QBs in college football last year), but you still have to be able to stop the run. And I’m nervous about that.
But if Bret continues to win like he has so far, there’s a chance he becomes the best coach in Illinois football history. Do you really (talking to @bigcityillini) want to waste your best fan years blackpilling on message boards? Or do you want to enjoy them?
illini80
- Forgottonia
100% this.
Complaining about coaches that haven’t had a chance to coach their first practice and pretending to know more about football than Bret/Josh isn’t further conversation and discussion. At least not what I’ve seen of it. If you want to talk about what Seattle runs and how you don’t think that fits here because of XYZ and you have substantial evidence to back that up of that is fine. If that’s been happening, I’m not seeing it. I can wish for a national or conference championship, but I’m not mad if we don’t get it. I’m only upset if we see a clear deficiency that we refuse to address. Bret made a needed change and had a guy that committed to come, but then backed out. Then he brought a guy he believes can do the job. That’s the right approach imo. We will see how it works out.
You call those mistakes? Would love to know what you do for a living. I'm not an alum, just a 60 year fan. We are one of the worst fan bases in major college sport. Fewest sell - outs and up until 2025 one of the lowest NIL and and program contributors in the B1G. We are competing with USC, Oregon, Washington, Nebraska, Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin. Even Indiana and Iowa have more resources and support than we do.
You are talking about competing against programs that have 50 - 100% more resources than we do. And by the way he doesn't hire every coach. Similar to all great coaches all on field staff is determined by the Coordinators with consultation the HC. Our off field staff was a joke before BB arrived. He's changed all of that. Our off - field best are getting poached with regularity.
If those hires were so poor, how do you account for the best 5 year W-L record in 25 years?
When we as a fan base start behaving like conference champs and teams that make the CFP then we have a right to say something. Until then, what both Whitman and Bielema have accomplished with well below average support is nothing short of remarkable.
With fans like you .... we aren't going to win anything.
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