January 22, 2025 • 8 mins
Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti joins The A-Team at the Bear Bryant Coaches Awards at The Post Oak Hotel. He talks about the special season the Hoosiers were able to enjoy this year. Also, what it was like to be a young, single coach in the 80's at Rice. He also makes a strong proclamation about how Indiana stacks up on campus against their legendary basketball program.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now we get to chat with Indiana head coach Kurt
Signetti and I coach. A lot of times we talk
about where coaching paths had taken them, taken them or
we welcome them back to Texas or two Texas or
to Houston. We're welcoming you back to Houston. Just a
couple of years ago, you were coaching football here in
Houston over at Rice. Actually the same path their current
head coach took from Davidson to Rice. Tell me about
(00:22):
coaching at Rice in the late eighties.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
You're right on man nineteen eighty six, which was the
first year of this award, Ver Bryant Award for Jerry
Burnt and single and what a talent it was. I'll
tell you three years, didn't win many games, had a
lot of good times. Southwest Conference played SMU before they
(00:45):
had death penalty, you know, back then, Texas, Texas, Tech, Arkansas.
Everybody played for to three defense had three hundred pound
three techniques, which was big back then. And I enjoyed it.
I really liked this town a lot. And uh, but
that's sort of where it all began. At what Rice
then would have been considered a P four team per
(01:07):
four conference. Team.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
The west Loop didn't look like this back then either.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
No, but I haven't seen enough of it since I've
been here. You guys have had me chained down doing
all these fun media things.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Do you like Yeah, that's that's a dumb question. You
probably don't like it because it's taking away from something
you actually, you know, want to be doing. But what
you want to be doing is turning Indiana into a
football program, a football school. It's just something speaking of
nineteen eighty six, that's a basketball school back then, right,
you would think of it that way.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah, I mean we are football school. You know, we
sold out every game after we came back from UCLA
and we got thousands outside tailgate and that can't get in.
And the excitements over the top, and the revenue coming
in fundraising to the University of Tona Bloomington, and the
pride's created throughout the state. It's been enormous, And a
lot of people don't know that. We got the number
(02:00):
two of the I'm not based in America to Texas
and so it's quite a thing. And you got to
be good in football nowadays because that's ninety percent of
your athletic revenue and there was a time when the
other sport kind of was the revenue creator. That's not
the case anymore. So it's a good start and it's
good to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
The football program, the conference. Obviously, we see where Penn
State's part of it. Obviously see where I State's part
of You guys were a part of it, this twelve
team postseason. You put together an unbelievable regular season. I
know you felt like, yeah, this is what we're supposed
to do if we want to play our way, earn
our way in to the postseason. The way it was
done in year one. How do you feel about how
it was done, that, the format to have it, and
(02:42):
really how it unfolded over these eleven games.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
You're talking about to playoff for Yeah, yeah, no, I
think it's a great thing for college football. I'm sure
it'll be tweaked and expanded somewhat. You know, I'm not
against the home and away thing in the first round
at all. I haven't been part of that CS and
D two level. You know, sixteen was a nice seasy
number back then in those places. So I think it
(03:07):
generates a lot of interest and you know, a lot
of revenue also. But you know, the winner is determined
between the white lines like it should be. And you
know this year it was a high state.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Is that kind of the simplest part of everybody who
debates a playoff a two team of fourteen, but now
we're twelve, potentially maybe at sixteen at the end of
the day, when we get to this twelve or sixteen
point in time, that's the endgame. Well, it's the side
on the field. You play the best football, you win
the title, no.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Doubt about it. And you know, it's just a matter
of fitting it in if you want to expand it,
because the calendar is already there's a crunch on the calendar,
and then when you consider the portal recruiting and all
that stuff, you know, there's no simple solution to it.
But I think the more people that can partake, the better,
And I think it was a great year one for
(03:54):
college football.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
If you're talking about expanding and you get it to
a sixteen playoff, how much of your concern as a
head coach is, you know, the extra toll, the extra
mileage on those bodies, or is it just it's just
part of the process and it's just the next game
up on the schedule.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Yeah, I think it's just the next game up on
the schedule. I mean, I don't think it's significantly more
than what we did this year. And so you know,
you got to manage your team and keep them on
the field, which we've always done and it's doable.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
What do you think twenty twenty five looks like for
your team? Clearly everybody had a very poor idea of
what twenty twenty four might look like with how they
felt the Hoosiers might be on the field this past year.
What do you think this upcoming year holds?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Well? You know, I'm not in the prediction business. You
guys are. So you know, we've got high standards and
expectations and everything we do, we got blueprint plan and
a process and we stick to it and try to
improve every day. Get the right people in the program
and in the right spots on the bus and off
the bus. And you know, we've had great continuity in
our coaching staff. I'm excited about what we've recruited in
(05:05):
the portal, you know, and the high school kids or
the foundation. I think you've got to recruit fifteen to
twenty of them every year and fill in the immediate needs.
But you know, we're gearing up for it right now.
And you know, but everything's are not given.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
When you talk about we got people waiting to get
in the stadium. We're selling out every game you have
College game Day on campus this past year. And you know,
is this what you envisioned you should be? You can
be and you now will continue to be.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
You know. I think what really helped me was my
second job at Elon, which was in an FCS school
in the CAA, which back then was the second toughest
FCS football conference in the country them in the Missouri Valley,
and that was a school that was very much like
Indiana in terms of its success historical success and the
mindset on campus that it was impossible and undoable and
(05:59):
two and ten and last game of the year played
the Rhode Island, who was the last place team, and
lost forty seven to seven at home and that's before
the portal and went in there and after nine games
were eight and one, and uh, you can't get in
the game, and we'll play JMU for conference championship. And
so you know, having done that one time probably helped
(06:21):
me a little bit on this particular one here because
I knew if we built it, they would come, so
to speak, uh, and they did google me.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
I win.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
That's like you're not gonna top that, right, is that
when you sit down in a recruits living room? Do
you just play that video? Maybe sometimes it's not many words, No,
it's did yeah, No, I mean that was that was
on the fly though, obviously.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Yeah. I mean you get their day one. You got
ten offensive starters in the transfer portal and half your defense,
a lot of work to do in three weeks, and
you don't see the light of day, and you bring
twenty two guys in that we're all two three year starters,
high character guys. You know in your heart you flip
the roster film good. But you know you're up at
four am that day because you still got more work
(07:13):
to do, and you almost fall asleep at the wheel
on the way to work, and you kind of almost
total your courtesy car there, a little bit sing, a
little bit tired, you know, and then you got your
press conference mid afternoon and you're asked that question for
the fifteenth time since you've been hired, And finally, I
just put my head down. I decided to keep it simple,
you know, keep it simple stupid right, kiss. So there
(07:35):
it was.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Do you talk with coach Signetti Indiana, who's yours head
football coach? Do you bristle sometimes when you hear others
or outsiders the SEC this or that or any conference
for that matter, and look, say, well, look at what
we're doing, Look at the kind of football with it
we're playing. You got four teams in the playoffs and
none of them are Michigan, it wasn't Illinois was your team,
and three others. You've got the national champion. Now you
(07:57):
had the number one team in the country most of
the season. You guys were undefeated for a long portion
of the season. Or do you just we'll just go
play our football and not worth.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Yeah, I think you know the Big Ten is a
progressive conference and move them forward and uh one of
the last two uh, you know, national championships, and uh
obviously the SEC is a great conference too, and uh
so you know we can stand on our own Laurels.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Well, coach, we certainly appreciate your time here. We should
the best of luck here and obviously on into your
future with the Hoosiers. And I really appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Thanks guys,
Now we get to chat with Indiana head coach Kurt
Signetti and I coach. A lot of times we talk
about where coaching paths had taken them, taken them or
we welcome them back to Texas or two Texas or
to Houston. We're welcoming you back to Houston. Just a
couple of years ago, you were coaching football here in
Houston over at Rice. Actually the same path their current
head coach took from Davidson to Rice. Tell me about
(00:22):
coaching at Rice in the late eighties.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
You're right on man nineteen eighty six, which was the
first year of this award, Ver Bryant Award for Jerry
Burnt and single and what a talent it was. I'll
tell you three years, didn't win many games, had a
lot of good times. Southwest Conference played SMU before they
(00:45):
had death penalty, you know, back then, Texas, Texas, Tech, Arkansas.
Everybody played for to three defense had three hundred pound
three techniques, which was big back then. And I enjoyed it.
I really liked this town a lot. And uh, but
that's sort of where it all began. At what Rice
then would have been considered a P four team per
(01:07):
four conference. Team.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
The west Loop didn't look like this back then either.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
No, but I haven't seen enough of it since I've
been here. You guys have had me chained down doing
all these fun media things.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Do you like Yeah, that's that's a dumb question. You
probably don't like it because it's taking away from something
you actually, you know, want to be doing. But what
you want to be doing is turning Indiana into a
football program, a football school. It's just something speaking of
nineteen eighty six, that's a basketball school back then, right,
you would think of it that way.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah, I mean we are football school. You know, we
sold out every game after we came back from UCLA
and we got thousands outside tailgate and that can't get in.
And the excitements over the top, and the revenue coming
in fundraising to the University of Tona Bloomington, and the
pride's created throughout the state. It's been enormous, And a
lot of people don't know that. We got the number
(02:00):
two of the I'm not based in America to Texas
and so it's quite a thing. And you got to
be good in football nowadays because that's ninety percent of
your athletic revenue and there was a time when the
other sport kind of was the revenue creator. That's not
the case anymore. So it's a good start and it's
good to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
The football program, the conference. Obviously, we see where Penn
State's part of it. Obviously see where I State's part
of You guys were a part of it, this twelve
team postseason. You put together an unbelievable regular season. I
know you felt like, yeah, this is what we're supposed
to do if we want to play our way, earn
our way in to the postseason. The way it was
done in year one. How do you feel about how
it was done, that, the format to have it, and
(02:42):
really how it unfolded over these eleven games.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
You're talking about to playoff for Yeah, yeah, no, I
think it's a great thing for college football. I'm sure
it'll be tweaked and expanded somewhat. You know, I'm not
against the home and away thing in the first round
at all. I haven't been part of that CS and
D two level. You know, sixteen was a nice seasy
number back then in those places. So I think it
(03:07):
generates a lot of interest and you know, a lot
of revenue also. But you know, the winner is determined
between the white lines like it should be. And you
know this year it was a high state.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Is that kind of the simplest part of everybody who
debates a playoff a two team of fourteen, but now
we're twelve, potentially maybe at sixteen at the end of
the day, when we get to this twelve or sixteen
point in time, that's the endgame. Well, it's the side
on the field. You play the best football, you win
the title, no.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Doubt about it. And you know, it's just a matter
of fitting it in if you want to expand it,
because the calendar is already there's a crunch on the calendar,
and then when you consider the portal recruiting and all
that stuff, you know, there's no simple solution to it.
But I think the more people that can partake, the better,
And I think it was a great year one for
(03:54):
college football.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
If you're talking about expanding and you get it to
a sixteen playoff, how much of your concern as a
head coach is, you know, the extra toll, the extra
mileage on those bodies, or is it just it's just
part of the process and it's just the next game
up on the schedule.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Yeah, I think it's just the next game up on
the schedule. I mean, I don't think it's significantly more
than what we did this year. And so you know,
you got to manage your team and keep them on
the field, which we've always done and it's doable.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
What do you think twenty twenty five looks like for
your team? Clearly everybody had a very poor idea of
what twenty twenty four might look like with how they
felt the Hoosiers might be on the field this past year.
What do you think this upcoming year holds?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Well? You know, I'm not in the prediction business. You
guys are. So you know, we've got high standards and
expectations and everything we do, we got blueprint plan and
a process and we stick to it and try to
improve every day. Get the right people in the program
and in the right spots on the bus and off
the bus. And you know, we've had great continuity in
our coaching staff. I'm excited about what we've recruited in
(05:05):
the portal, you know, and the high school kids or
the foundation. I think you've got to recruit fifteen to
twenty of them every year and fill in the immediate needs.
But you know, we're gearing up for it right now.
And you know, but everything's are not given.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
When you talk about we got people waiting to get
in the stadium. We're selling out every game you have
College game Day on campus this past year. And you know,
is this what you envisioned you should be? You can
be and you now will continue to be.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
You know. I think what really helped me was my
second job at Elon, which was in an FCS school
in the CAA, which back then was the second toughest
FCS football conference in the country them in the Missouri Valley,
and that was a school that was very much like
Indiana in terms of its success historical success and the
mindset on campus that it was impossible and undoable and
(05:59):
two and ten and last game of the year played
the Rhode Island, who was the last place team, and
lost forty seven to seven at home and that's before
the portal and went in there and after nine games
were eight and one, and uh, you can't get in
the game, and we'll play JMU for conference championship. And
so you know, having done that one time probably helped
(06:21):
me a little bit on this particular one here because
I knew if we built it, they would come, so
to speak, uh, and they did google me.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
I win.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
That's like you're not gonna top that, right, is that
when you sit down in a recruits living room? Do
you just play that video? Maybe sometimes it's not many words, No,
it's did yeah, No, I mean that was that was
on the fly though, obviously.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Yeah. I mean you get their day one. You got
ten offensive starters in the transfer portal and half your defense,
a lot of work to do in three weeks, and
you don't see the light of day, and you bring
twenty two guys in that we're all two three year starters,
high character guys. You know in your heart you flip
the roster film good. But you know you're up at
four am that day because you still got more work
(07:13):
to do, and you almost fall asleep at the wheel
on the way to work, and you kind of almost
total your courtesy car there, a little bit sing, a
little bit tired, you know, and then you got your
press conference mid afternoon and you're asked that question for
the fifteenth time since you've been hired, And finally, I
just put my head down. I decided to keep it simple,
you know, keep it simple stupid right, kiss. So there
(07:35):
it was.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Do you talk with coach Signetti Indiana, who's yours head
football coach? Do you bristle sometimes when you hear others
or outsiders the SEC this or that or any conference
for that matter, and look, say, well, look at what
we're doing, Look at the kind of football with it
we're playing. You got four teams in the playoffs and
none of them are Michigan, it wasn't Illinois was your team,
and three others. You've got the national champion. Now you
(07:57):
had the number one team in the country most of
the season. You guys were undefeated for a long portion
of the season. Or do you just we'll just go
play our football and not worth.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Yeah, I think you know the Big Ten is a
progressive conference and move them forward and uh one of
the last two uh, you know, national championships, and uh
obviously the SEC is a great conference too, and uh
so you know we can stand on our own Laurels.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Well, coach, we certainly appreciate your time here. We should
the best of luck here and obviously on into your
future with the Hoosiers. And I really appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Thanks guys,
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