re: Cignetti’s the best coach in the country

He also doesn’t have to play an SEC schedule like Lane

What a difference it is when you have a “ team first concept , & players that are hungry. No egos , 4 & 5yr players ,& whose first interests extend beyond making “Buisness decisions.”

They have played together longer than that. It is Vandy 2.0. They are all “old” players. This is no different than some of the baseball teams we have seen in the playoffs with older players .The question is “can they recruit younger players and stay at the same level?” The that’s much harder to do. Kirby played 2 freshman Olinemen guards and a backup center last night and held up great. We tried that after Delly and Evans? ewers injured and got shipped to the tune of 7 sacks versus UF

Google me!!

he will never get fired in Indiana!

I think he's a really good coach, but I'm getting Boise State vibes circa Peterson.

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Dudes a winner everywhere he’s been. Outperforming opponents who have significantly more raw talent. IU’s lucky to have this guy

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Im going to get downvoted, but if you go look at Indiana and Ohio States schedules this year... I think they are both going to get demolished in the playoffs.

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It'll be interesting to see if they can sustain this more than anything. Is it a flash in the pan, just based on having the perfect combination of players? Or is it something he can keep going at Indiana?

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This isn’t the first turd he has polished and made a diamond.
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When Curt Cignetti became head coach at IUP in 2011, the program was coming off a 4–10 conference record in the previous 2 seasons. In his first season, he revitalized the team, which won six of its final seven games by an average margin of 28 points, finishing 7–3. The following year, IUP won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) title and advanced to the NCAA Regional Finals, ending the season 12–2. In 2013, Cignetti’s team posted a 9–2 record, and he guided IUP to NCAA playoff appearances in both 2015 and 2016. His 2016 team finished 10–2. Across six seasons, Cignetti compiled a 53–17 record at IUP, with three NCAA playoff appearances and two conference championships. On December 31, 2016, he accepted the head coaching position at Elon University

At Elon, Cignetti inherited a program with a 4–20 conference record and six consecutive losing seasons. In his first year, the Phoenix turned their fortunes around, winning eight straight games after an opening loss to MAC champion Toledo. The team was ranked as high as sixth nationally and competed against James Madison for the conference championship, earning their first NCAA Playoff berth since 2009. For this turnaround, Cignetti was named Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year award. In 2018, Cignetti led Elon to a historic 27–24 victory over James Madison, snapping JMU's 22-game CAA winning streak and 19-game home winning streak. This marked Elon’s first win over a top-five FCS opponent and helped the team secure back-to-back NCAA playoff appearances for the first time in program history.

Cignetti was named head coach at James Madison on December 14, 2018, guiding the Dukes to a 14–2 record in his first season. Cignetti's Dukes made an appearance in the FCS National Championship game, ultimately falling to North Dakota State in the title matchup.[9][10] In the pandemic-affected 2020 season, shortened and delayed to spring 2021, JMU finished 7–1 and reached the FCS Semifinals. The 2021 season saw further success, as the Dukes finished 12–2 and announced their move from the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) to the Sun Belt Conference. In their first season at the FBS level in 2022, JMU made a seamless transition, finishing 8–3 and earning a share of the Sun Belt East Division title.

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Let's pump the brakes. Kirby Paul Smart is the best coach in the country, period. But Cignetti is a damn good coach in his own right.

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If Cignetti had Georgias roster, people would be talking about how they might be the greatest college team to ever play. Indiana has some players, but Georgia is a power that recruits blue chips and is widely considered a destination program in a massive recruiting hotbed.

Cignetti brought a bunch of G5 players in and went 11-1 and made the playoffs in year one at a program that hadn’t won the league in damn near 60 years and is widely regarded as one of the worst major programs of all time. His first season was the best season in program history, then he followed it up by completing an even better season this year by going undefeated, winning the big ten, and being unanimously ranked #1 at the end of the regular season.

At Indiana, he has 2 losses, both in 2024, and both to the teams that played for the national title. It’s truly incredible how good he is.