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Curt Cignetti says he was searching to find out if IU fanbase ‘was dead or on life support’ upon arrival

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

Curt Cignetti was not bashful when he arrived in Bloomington to take over the Indiana football program. However, the head coach says it was all part of the process to see what the Hoosiers had behind them as they got started rebuilding.

All offseason, Cignetti remained adamant he did not come to Indiana to simply deliver some feel-good moments for the program. He claimed the Hoosiers can be successful in the Big Ten and has not backed down since.

“I had to find out if the fanbase here was dead or on life support,” Cignetti said ahead of Week 8. “Because as soon as I got here and stepped on campus, I could just tell because of the lack of success, historically, a lot of people had kind of given up on football. So I had to set an expectation level with the general public of where we’re going, and the players heard that and they liked that.”

Cignetti’s main job has been rounding out the roster into an immediate contender, something he says requires finding the right combination of selfless and productive players. After that, it was about giving a push to Indiana’s administration and the alumni.

“When you take over a situation that hasn’t been successful, you’ve got to push. Sometimes you’ve got to push the administration a little bit,” said Cignetti. “When you’re talking to the alumni base, you’ve got to tell them how it’s going to be and how it’s been done in the past hasn’t worked.”

So far, it is working for the Hoosiers, but there is still work to be done. Indiana looks to keep its hot start rolling this weekend with a shot to get to 7-0 against a strong Nebraska team.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.