Curt Cignetti’s coaching hire grade revealed for Indiana football

When the Indiana football program hired Curt Cignetti two months ago — it not only signaled a change in the direction of the program from within, but also from a national perspective.

Cignetti’s resume speaks for itself — having 13 winning seasons out of 13 total years on the sidelines.

After just three Big Ten wins in the last thee seasons, Indiana needed to change the narrative and did exactly that — thus far — with Cignetti.

This week, 247Sports released their coaching grades for all of the new hires around the country, including Cignetti. His grade?

Trending: Indiana football projected win total for 2024 has been set

An A.

“Cignetti is not afraid to rustle feathers or challenge the big boys, even before coaching a single game at Indiana,” 247Sports national writer Brandon Marcello said. “You’ve gotta love the enthusiasm and approach, if for nothing else than the entertainment value.

“Yeah, Cignetti is built differently. He has never coached a losing team in 13 years as a head coach, and he led James Madison to an 11-win season and top-25 ranking in the program’s first year in the FBS last season. He’s a stem from the Saban coaching tree, having overseen receivers for Saban when he arrived at Alabama in 2007 before leaving in 2010 for his first head coaching job at IUP.”

After two successful seasons in 2019 and 2020, Indiana football had reverted back to where it was before and that is the bottom of the Big Ten.

The Hoosiers were just 9-27 overall across the last three seasons.

But, despite the lack of recent success, Cignetti came out firing after his hire.

“We got to change the way people think about Indiana,” new Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti said during his National Signing Day press conference. “We’ve been adamant that, look, we’re going to win and we’re going to win this year and we’re going to change the brand and the expectation level and the way people see Indiana football.”

Spring practice for Indiana football begins March 21, with its spring game taking place on April 18.

SEE ALSO: ‘We got to change the way people think about Indiana’: Curt Cignetti is looking to change the narrative surrounding Indiana Football

Make sure to follow Hoosier Illustrated, part of the Full Ride Network, on Twitter @Indiana_FRN, Facebook and YouTube to stay up to date on all of the news, updates and coverage of Indiana University athletics. You can also listen to the Talking’ Bout the Hoosiers podcast on Spotify.

Looking for a place to get more Indiana content? Hoosier Illustrated has partnered with Tom Brady’s company ‘Autograph’ to streamline our coverage, so you can continue to do what you do best – follow IU sports. Use the CODE: Indianafr to get started today. For more info, you can start here.