Bacardi Rambo said:

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The kids absolutely deserve to be paid and not exploited

There should be rules in place. Contracts. Taxes. Etc

What makes college football great is the atmospheres. That's always been the thing that was unique and great about college football

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Agree with your first points.

To be fair, the odds of being hit by a thrown a bottle of urine are about equal in Cleveland and Baton Rouge.

TexAggie1999 said:

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Bacardi Rambo said:

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This is also how we learn how much college football sucks compared to what it used to be. This is just pro football but even less loyalty and continuity than the NFL.

NIL and the portal have destroyed the greatness and uniqueness of college football. Might as well watch the NFL.

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You left out no salary cap which is IMO one of the few things that makes the NFL watchable
I detest MLB because of the disparity in payrolls and the fact most teams are not really in contention to win it all

Cignetti is a great coach. Their defense is legit. However, Mendoza is a tough SOB with good accuracy, great decision making, and a team-first mentality. He got pummeled in the first half of the conf championship against OSU and he led them to victory bruised and bloody. We haven't had a QB with that combination of traits in my memory. It makes a huge difference.

Cignetti preaches discipline and he practices it. I'm not sure Elko can pull that off given his physical appearance.

You predicted 7-8 wins. Elko exceeded that by a significant margin. You said that we need to go at least 9-4 to show improvement. Well that was blown out of the water. You said we needed to win games against 1 out of ND, LSU, USCe, Auburn, and tu. We won all of those except for 1. You said no blowouts. Check, we were the teams handing out blowouts! We were right with Indiana all season until game 12.

Your own metrics seem to indicate that Elko has pretty good discipline. Now we are not where Indiana is but very few teams have made this type of turnaround. However, if you are honest we've made significant progress over the past 2 years. Your own words at the beginning of the season prove we have.

So no you're wrong. The results speak for themselves. Do you deny your own statements on this board and what you put forth as metrics? Lots of goalpost moving over the past few weeks by a lot of people.

Most programs are protective of the amount they spend on NIL. But IU has more money than you probably think. They have a top b-school with an absolutely massive alumni base, and Cuban is all in now.

The age of the OL shouldn't be overlooked either. I believe they have more 6-years than underclassmen there.

Lilly Biucci said:

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Most programs are protective of the amount they spend on NIL. But IU has more money than you probably think. They have a top b-school with an absolutely massive alumni base, and Cuban is all in now.

The age of the OL shouldn't be overlooked either. I believe they have more 6-years than underclassmen there.

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Yep. This was a big reason why Cig felt confident when he took the job and why he stayed this year. It's tjr Tech of the B1G, at least for now.

SteveA said:

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Coaching still accounts for a lot. Cignetti looks to be the real deal.

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Cignetti is our next Saban

TXAGGIES said:

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I dont think Mendoza was a huge sum and no real stars at WR/RB.

The OL and DL/front 7.

Can we learn from that?

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They're a big 10 school. They get more revenue from the conference than we do from the SEC. They have plenty to spend.

their roster is older than BYUs

StinkyPinky said:

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SteveA said:

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Coaching still accounts for a lot. Cignetti looks to be the real deal.

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Cignetti is our next Saban

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Nobody will be a Saban again with the way money is now openly being spent.

Cignetti's also 64. Saban was 51 or so when he won his first BCS championship.

Jugstore Cowboy said:

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Cignetti's also 64. Saban was 51 or so when he won his first BCS championship.

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There's also that detail that Cignetti hasn't yet won a championship

StinkyPinky said:

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SteveA said:

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Coaching still accounts for a lot. Cignetti looks to be the real deal.

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Cignetti is our next Saban

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Hasn't even won one to Saban's 7 and already busting out the anointing oil??

Much of IU success IMHO is having 4th/5th/6th year players at virtually every position.

Bunk Moreland said:

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StinkyPinky said:

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SteveA said:

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Coaching still accounts for a lot. Cignetti looks to be the real deal.

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Cignetti is our next Saban

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Nobody will be a Saban again with the way money is now openly being spent.

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It isn't just the money. If it were, Harvard would win the CFP championship every year (if they had any interest)

And even with a salary cap, the NFL has its perennial losers (take it from a long suffering Jets fan). It's not how much you spend, but who you spend the money on. GM is as important as coach.

HoustonAggie37713 said:

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Cignetti preaches discipline and he practices it. I'm not sure Elko can pull that off given his physical appearance.

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Literally the dumbest **** ever posted on the internet. Congratulations, I guess.

Patience32 said:

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16 of there 22 starters are either RS Juniors or RS Seniors. That is why they are beating everyone. They have grown men playing against boys.

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Just like TCU's 2022 College Football Playoff run ... with an older, more experienced, battle-tested roster. There's a considerable gap between 24-year-olds and 19-year-olds in physical maturity and experience, especially important in linemen and quarterbacks.

Patience32 said:

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16 of there 22 starters are either RS Juniors or RS Seniors. That is why they are beating everyone. They have grown men playing against boys.

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yep- that was michigan a couple years ago

(and home-grown, not transfers-in)

SunrayAg said:

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MidlandOil$ said:

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It's coaching. Cignetti is a great coach (just google him)

We have more NIL$, resources and facilities than an Indiana ever could dream of.

It's simply coaching.

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This is false. The quarterback touches the ball on every play. A quarterback who can read defenses, make adjustments, and make accurate throws will win more games than an old dude standing on the sidelines.

Belicheck was the best coach ever… until he didn't have the best quarterback ever on his team. With an average roster he's an average coach.

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Coaches are rep for identifying a QB. Cig found him. Others schools could have had him

TexAggie1999 said:

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Bacardi Rambo said:

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Yes we can learn from them

The portal players are often just better than the high school players. The experience they have is critical. Portal evaluations and signings every year need to be part of the strategy

Overall, i'd say we should try to be more like a Georgia/Indiana mix.

Bring in 30 high schoolers like Georgia every year and don't pay them much NIL (except a few blue chippers we're highest on). The best of the bunch high schoolers that become starters we pay them. Everyone else we pay nothing and let them transfer out.

Portal strategy like Indiana: elite evaluations and coaching. Pay big NIL to a few top end guys. Then get a bunch of cheap G5 players with experience.

This type of strategy would lead to many players being unhappy and wanting out, but if we could navigate that it would be be the best case scenario for on-field talent

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This is also how we learn how much college football sucks compared to what it used to be. This is just pro football but even less loyalty and continuity than the NFL.

NIL and the portal have destroyed the greatness and uniqueness of college football. Might as well watch the NFL.

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NIL has brought parity to the sport, which is a good thing. Look at this year's Final 4 teams. I guess we want to go back to Georgia, Bama, USC etc controlling the sport for a decade at a time?

The thing that's really destroyed college football are the 16+ team, non-geographical conferences.

Cignetti was a recruiting coordinator at Bama. He knows who to look for. He doesn't want 5* pre Madonna's. He trust what he sees vs the star ratings on a player. He has a tough team with discipline and good work ethic. Coaching matters but getting the best football players is more important.

SteveA said:

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Coaching still accounts for a lot. Cignetti looks to be the real deal.

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And we may soon learn in 2026 that Cignetti is THE BEST coach in college. I love everything about that guy. Sorry Elko....I enjoy you too!

As I've posted on other threads...talent evaluation (ala GM style in the NFL) is a key component. Coaching (except for those like Cignetti) doesn't always mean you have your thumb on the right talent. You can coach them up and develop, but recognizing potential is different. I'm assuming we have some of that going on right now with these portal adds....on the surface (by name of schools lone) I'd likely not pick from CU or even UTSA.

Maybe I should try ChatGPT and see what it would do with the Ags needs and what players to pick....too bad I have a job.

Meanmachine said:

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Cignetti was a recruiting coordinator at Bama. He knows who to look for. He doesn't want 5* pre Madonna's.
He trust what he sees vs the star ratings on a player. He has a tough team with discipline and good work ethic. Coaching matters but getting the best football players is more important.

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I agree. We don't have time to spend catching all these kids up on Madonna's discography. Need parents to have taken care of that before recruitment.

The avg age of the Indiana Hoosiers team is 23 years old....

For perspective the Green Bay Packers avg age this season is 25 years old.

Cignitti knows what he is doing. Grown Man Teams are the way of the future. https://t.co/Q5CGHV8J5a

— Jeremiah (@SYRmotsag) January 8, 2026