How good has the NIL support been for Indiana football? ‘A lot more’ than promised says Curt Cignetti.

The Indiana football program changed its identity and leader this offseason by bringing in new head coach in Curt Cignetti. A proven winner at every level, Indiana needed a new voice and new look after a major lull in the program over the last three seasons.

Indiana is coming off of a 3-9 year in 2023 which rode on the coattails of a 9-27 record over the past three seasons combined. The Hoosiers were also the lone Big Ten program in 2023 with just one conference win.

So, to say the culture needed a change was an understatement. By bringing in Curt Cignetti, that culture changed immediately.

“We’re going to change the culture, the mindset, the expectation level, and improve the brand of Indiana Hoosier football,” Cignetti said when he was introduced as head coach. “There will be no self-imposed limitations on what we can accomplish. It will be a day-by-day process that is hinged on being focused on the present moment and improving as much daily as possible to put yourself in the best position tomorrow.”

Cignetti didn’t stop there, however. The first night he was ‘on the job’ in Bloomington, he was introduced at an Indiana basketball game. What did he do there? He knew he needed to echo what he said just hours earlier, but in front of a large crowd.

That’s when he took to the mic during a timeout and uttered some of his most famous words as the Indiana coach — “Purdue sucks!. So does Michigan and Ohio State!”

“I got them all riled up at the basketball game my first night,” Cignetti said during an interview with college football analyst Adam Breneman. “That wasn’t typical of me and my history but I sensed in this situation I needed to stir things up a bit here.”

Curt Cignetti came to Indiana after five extremely successful seasons at James Madison, totaling a 52-9 overall record in that span. Cignetti is looking to replicate the success he’s had at every stop in his career, but this time will be his first at the high-major level.

Cignetti has been on record saying the support from the administration in terms of making a very big investment into the football program has been fantastic. And, there’s no doubt that’s the case in this day and age.

It didn’t stop with just the administration either. Shortly after he was announced as the head coach, an NIL fundraiser went out online. The support he had from the fan base may have been larger than what he was getting from the administration.

And, the NIL support a few months into his tenure is even greater than he thought.

“It’s really good,” Cignetti said to Breneman. “It’s a lot more than what I was promised. I’ll just put it that way.”

NIL is part of the sport and is definitely not going away. The best programs are also the programs that have the most NIL support, especially from its fan base.

For the Indiana football crowd, it hasn’t always been on the top of minds. But, with the new energy from Cignetti and the culture change that he’s pushing, it’s clear the excitement around the program is at a totally different level than ever before.

The Curt Cignetti era at Indiana will officially begin on Aug. 31 at home against Florida International.

“We got to change the way people think about Indiana,” 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.”

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