SouthLincoln Husker
All-American
As its been said hundreds of time on this forum, the biggest difference is dollars! You can buy a championship.
Who's our next coach?
- Thread starter Boy of the Corn
- Start date
Did Indiana buy a championship? Seems like they were a low rent program at the time and are just now catching up with coach salary and NIL for the future.
They basically won with JMU players and low stars competing and punching above their weight class. JMU made the playoffs this year. If Cignetti stays there, does he win it for JMU instead.
Money increases your chances. But it still takes coaches and players to buy in.
They basically won with JMU players and low stars competing and punching above their weight class. JMU made the playoffs this year. If Cignetti stays there, does he win it for JMU instead.
Money increases your chances. But it still takes coaches and players to buy in.
Guy Chamberlin
Heisman Trophy Winner
Getting back to 9-10 win seasons would definitely satisfy our fanbase ---- for a few seasons. But if you plateau at 9-4 and don't find yourself in the conference championship mix, much less the expanded college football playoffs, it would definitely wear thin, as it would for every other program with a dedicated fanbase. We're are seeing some very successful head coaches in the NCAA and NFL getting fired for lack of playoff success, so Nebraska's sense of entitlement 25 years removed from college football relevance doesn't strike me as unreasonable.
Undone
All-American
Their roster was estimated at a value of $30M for this season. Mark Cuban is a Hoosier and was donating to their fund, and says that next year he's going to give even more.
So yeah. They would not have won the title without NIL. And also Cignetti is a unicorn coach.
It's both things.
HuskerNation1
All-American
I think it's unfair to say that Indiana bought a championship. At the end of the day championship teams have a combination of talent, coaching and good player development. Despite some decent NIL spending by Indiana, I would not say they had the most talented roster this past season. Where they exceled was coaching and player development. LSU, Michigan, Florida, Texas, Clemson and Penn State all spent more in NIL than Indiana yet did not make the CFP.
For Nebraska to have a chance moving forward, they definitely need to focus more on NIL in evaluating and landing the best portal talent, but the administration also needs to ensure they have the right coaches who know how to maximize the talent on hand. We are likely years away from having that level of coaching.
Undone
All-American
I'm just making sure: you read the part where I wrote "it's both things," right?
Indiana does not win a title without NIL. There's no way.
So while everybody is buying rosters, they is 100% an asterisk on this title for them.
TGHusker
Assistant Coach
Unless we clear the shelves after next season and start fresh with a coach that has proven himself over the long haul - most likely in a lower division. Mike Riley was a proven .500 coach. Scott Frost had one magical season with a very talented QB and players who were recruited by the previous coach and developed. Matt Rhule - never stayed long enough anywhere to prove he could develop a team long term - again a .500 coach overall. I often wondered how Frank would have faired with his revamped staff if he was given 3-4 more years.
HuskerNation1
All-American
Yes NIL has changed the ball game but its available to all teams. Why would there need to be an asterisk for Indiana's title as they were doing what Nebraska could have been doing these past couple of years. I actually look at the Cignetti/Indiana situation as an indictment on teams like Nebraska and other supposed blue bloods that are still struggling with medocrity.
Bobby_Axelrod
Five-Star Recruit
TY
Indy beat Alabama; Oregon and Miami (with its home field advantage) on their way to a title.
Do people really think those programs have facilities and players and donors (not to mention history) inferior to Indiana?
Now the obvious answer is: "Obviously they do because they lost."
But the correct answer is "coaching still matters". Many teams have had a Heisman winner and yet failed to win a title. Anyone remember a guy named Crouch?
Am I saying money doesn't matter? No.
Is it an ARMS race? Yes.
But the Spartans just got a 290 million dollar gift. Does that guarantee they'll be in the title game in 2 years? No.
I encourage people to visit Indiana's ESPN page. It'll blow your hair back.
College Football Playoff title game takeaways: How Indiana beat Miami to make history
Put it next to the Miracle on Ice or NC State and Villanova. In a wild title game, here's how Indiana beat Miami.
How Indiana won college football's national championship
The program that was once the least successful in all of FBS is now the national champion.
Undone
All-American
There is no need to bring Nebraska or any other team in the post-NIL era into the conversation. This is the point:
Indiana would have been a really good team with Cignetti at the helm without NIL. There's no doubt. He's the best coach in college football currently.
They actually were a ranked team when Penix was an underclassmen before he transferred (which was also in the pre-NIL era).
But there is 100% an asterisk on Indiana's title, because without being able to buy those players on defense they would not have done what they did in the playoffs. There's just absolutely no way.
They're the champs, fair and square. But as it pertains to this incredible turnaround of going from the worst Power 4/5 team in history to going 15-0, that part wouldn't have happened without being able to buy players.
Red Five
Heisman Trophy Winner
You mean the 3 All B1G defenders from James Madison that they "bought"?
Red Five
Heisman Trophy Winner
Does Ohio St have an asterisk because key players on their offense last year were bought? Or just lowly Indiana gets the asterisk?
DefenderAO
All-Conference
How will this thread and comments age if Nebraska wins 4-5 games next year? Look at the schedule and state where you see 7-8 wins. 9+?
My younger child was "working his butt off" the clean the floor in the game room and was inexplicably using a butter knife instead of a broom to sweep the mess. He was working hard and not with wisdom or how he was taught.
These coaches working hard is not the issue at all. Rhule is a HARD worker. My issue is, is he doing it rightly? Can he truly evaluate talent? Does he know football enough to win against elite coaches? Can you identify individualistic development plans to make each player better?
My younger child was "working his butt off" the clean the floor in the game room and was inexplicably using a butter knife instead of a broom to sweep the mess. He was working hard and not with wisdom or how he was taught.
These coaches working hard is not the issue at all. Rhule is a HARD worker. My issue is, is he doing it rightly? Can he truly evaluate talent? Does he know football enough to win against elite coaches? Can you identify individualistic development plans to make each player better?
HuskerNation1
All-American
As asterisk typically implies something was done unfair or outside of acceptable processes. That is not the case with Indiana. They leveraged the same options available to all other teams and found a way to win. Where an asterisk would apply is if a team won a national championship and was later found to have violated recruiting standards, coaching practices, etc...