October 16, 2025 • 22 mins
All Hoosier fans can take a huge sigh of relief with the announcement that IU football head coach Curt Cignetti will be staying with the Hoosiers for the foreseeable future thanks to an eight-year contract extension that makes him one of the highest-paid coaches in college football. We talk to Peegs.com's Jared Kelly about the extension and what it means for the Hoosiers in the short- and long-term.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
How you doing, everybody. I'm Ken Baikoff and welcome to
the Peaks Podcast, our second edition of the day. I
put one up earlier today talking about this weekend and
talking about the upcoming basketball game. But then the news
dropped that Kurt Signetti, I you head coach, is has
agreed to a new eight year contract with the Hoosiers
(00:32):
through twenty twenty three, average annual compensation of approximately eleven
point six million dollars. This is a release from Indiana University.
So this isn't a report, This isn't anything like that.
This is the is And so Sig will be here,
you know, for a while, so quiet all to talk
about he might not be here, certainly deserving and on
(00:57):
to talk with me about this is peaks dot COM's
Jerry Kelly Jared, first off, your initial reaction of all
of a sudden this this dropping.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yeah, I mean I think my first thought was I
did not anticipate this to happen in the time frame
that it did, because these things usually go down towards
the end of the season, especially you know, almost you're
coaching carousel and those kind of things start heating up.
But of course, you know, different times now where you know,
you need to keep your coaches in place, you know,
the sooner the better. And then the second thought I
had was, I mean, this is this is essentially a
(01:29):
godfather off of from Indiana and sort of stamping their
mark and saying, you know, we're keeping you here until
you retire, essentially for Kurt Signetti. And I mean, my goodness,
can you I remember just you know, even less than
a year ago, we were sitting here having the same
conversation after Indiana extended Signetti for like it was like
eight million a year a little bit, give or take
(01:50):
eight million a year, and we were like, we've I mean,
this is unprecedented territory for Indiana. And here we are
less than a year later, and I mean this, this
number eleven six like just an unfathomable, unfathomable number to
be paying any head coach in Indiana, let alone the
football head coach. Yeah. So still trying to wrap my
head around this. But kurzig Netti is here to stay
(02:10):
for the long haul, it seems like, and I mean
he's earned every every bit of it.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Well. And when you talk about Indiana being willing to
put forth resources for football, you know, we were talking
right before we came on. We looked it up. Certainly
top five paid coach in the country now at this point,
and second in the second or third in the Big Ten.
We're not exactly sure of the exact numbers of it.
They say approximately eleven point six. It leaves some wiggle
(02:36):
room there with Lincoln Riley at USC, but certainly one
of the highest paid coaches in college football. I'm old
enough to have been covering this program when Bill Lynch
was making six figures. So this is just a jaw dropping,
uh commitment by Indiana. But it's also talking about a
(02:57):
coach that has lost one regular season game in his
time here at IU has yet to lose a home
game as we sit here, you know, a couple of
days before the Michigan State game. Where this program has
gone from where Tom Allen was at this point two
years ago to now. It's jaw dropping, it's un present.
(03:17):
Use whatever adjective and superlative you want to. This is
a guy who has earned his damn money.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Jared, I mean he truly, I mean, I mean, I
think you just hit it on the head there. I mean,
one regular season loss in two years, and this season
is looking like he could very well be on his
way to another eleven win, if not twelve to zero
regular season. I mean that this type of coach doesn't
come around for any program quite frankly in America. And
for kurtzig Nettie to sort of fall into Indiana's lap
(03:46):
as he has, and to keep him tied around to
this university because I think he's he's sort of become,
you know, the face of Indiana University in the past, right,
I mean that used to be a moniker given to
you know, the Bob Knights of the world, and you know,
whoever is running the basketball program you could kind of
say was the face. And now you have this, this
guy comes in takes over the football program, you know,
(04:09):
just and I don't think we any either of us,
had any doubts that Christinetti would leave Indiana. But for now,
for for for it to be you know, set in stone.
Now that he's gonna be here for the long haul,
I think that just gives you so much more comfort
and you can move forward now as a program and
start thinking about you know, big big changes and renovations
and facility to you know, upgrades, because you know that
(04:31):
your guy is gonna be here for many, many years
to come.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Well, and you know, I even earlier today I saw
some people on Twitter saying, you know, uh, Seing is
not said no, that he's not going anywhere else. He
hasn't said anything. And you know the answer to that is, Look,
every coach, when asked during the season if he's interested
in going somewhere else, is gonna say no. Absolutely not.
So that isn't a statement. That's not you know, worth
the oxygen it comes out on. This is this is
(04:59):
we're he is going to be here. This is not
something that Indiana fans have to worry about. And so
not only does it quiet any chatter about him going elsewhere,
Like you said, I didn't feel like he was going
to you know, his age, what he's already built. He's
on a path to go to the college football playoffs
for a second straight year, showing yeah, you can be
(05:20):
successful at that level here at Indiana. Now at this point,
you know, not only does it quiet everything, but Jared,
it also tells everybody recruits, anybody who's interested in the transfer.
There's no question about who's going to be here. It's
going to be sick.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, No, I think I think that's a great point too,
you know, being able to sell the future to recruits,
and you know it would have taken a program like
a Penn State or you know, one of these blue bloods.
If Chris Sinnetti were to leave, it would have taken
one of those kind of caliber of programs to to
to post him out of Indiana. And you know, with
the program that Signetti has built here in Indiana, you know,
(05:58):
I think you said, he's proven that you can build
the winner here that you know, not only is a
bowl game, the sort of benchmark now that you can
go to CFPS regularly every year.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
He's built that here.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
And to be able to sell that to recruits in
the coming years and know, you know, this is gonna
be my head coach for the four or five years
that I'm at school. That is super invaluable. And you
know what will altimately say his contract shakes out, and
what the sort of the languages with the assistant salary.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Pool or those things.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
But you know, assistants will come and go, but the
head coach ultimately is the guy that you know these
players are committing to. And the fact that Signette's going
to be around and he can sell that to recruits
is a huge, huge deal.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Here's the other thing that I think is interesting about
what Sig has done in his nineteen games as IU
head coach. I mean, look, An, he's coached nineteen games,
He's gotten two contract extensions. I mean, you know, this
is and this doesn't feel like a knee jerk reaction
by Indiana by any stretch of the imagination. What it
does do, too, though, is it shows what's possible with
(06:58):
the right culture, the right head coach. It doesn't make
a difference what your history is. You know, it's no
secret Indiana is the losing his football program in college
football history. And to stack these years, it shows not
only what Signette's able to do, but what anybody can go.
So if Sig is, you know, here until twenty thirty
(07:21):
three and retires or whatever it is, you needed a
guy to go ahead and show it's possible here instead
of it just being something that is completely impossible. He's
done that. And how important is that, Jared to when
you start you know, it's we're way too far to
be thinking about next step. But it also shows what's
possible whenever that next step might come.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Yeah, no, it certainly doesn't in the program. I mean,
it's a good hands whenever. I mean, he's a young
sixty whatever, he is, sixty four, He's a young sixty
sixty year old guy, right Like. He looks like he
could coach for another ten years if he wants to.
So hopefully Indiana doesn't have that have to think about
that for you know, several so years now to come.
But I mean, whenever he does decide to call it
quits on coaching, like this program is going to be
(08:06):
in a much better spot because of him, and you know,
Indiana likely will have a you know, a lot better
of a position to be in to sell future coaches
to come to Indiana and whatnot.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
You know.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
And I just think back to this is a prevailing
thought I've had for a little bit now, you know.
And I mean you've been around Signetti lockhen Is. I
feel like him in Indiana they sort of go hand
in hand in that, you know, they're both overlooked. You know,
Indiana was the first real P four program to give
him a chance, and I feel like Signetti really wants to,
uh he kind of relishes and sticking it to these
(08:40):
other programs. Okay, you had your you had your chance
to get me and you didn't. And that loyalty factor,
and we see we even see it with his coaching staff,
how loyal his coaches are to him. I mean, I
think that loyalty manifests from Signetti and his loyalty to
Indiana is just huge. And and the fact that indian
is willing to put up this kind of investment to
keep him here. I've loyalty goes a long way for
(09:01):
Snetti and I think he's gonna be laughing in a
lot of people's faces that you know came after that
wanted to gut to get him after Indianiana and now
he's he's tied Danana for the long haul.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Well that's that's kind of what I've I've thought too,
is that you know, hey, Indiana gave him a chance.
He's been successful here, so uh that loyalty to Indiana
means something to him as well. I also think it's
interesting that Tino San Serina or how do I pronounce
that last name? I'm proud of blank dumb. Yeah, it
(09:30):
goes to U c l A, the only coach to
leave from last year comes back and rather it goes
to U C l A and it's out of a
job in a couple of weeks. To me, that also
tells everybody else it's very good here. The grass isn't
always greener. Yeah, you want to move up. I understand
building a resume and all that kind of stuff. What
(09:51):
kind of impact can all of this have on the
potential of keeping guys in town when it comes to
the coordinators, Because I mean, say, they're gonna get interested
for head coaching jobs for sure, and if they leave
that's that's not a bad thing, but it also kind
of shows that to me that the grass isn't always greener.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
You know. The one thing that's always struck me about
Signetti is is I think he's really keen on trying
to build his own coaching tree. You know, we've seen
that because you know, when Cinceri left, he brought in
a young guy, an unproven guy in Chandler Whitmer, and
he's done that. You know, Mike Shanahan was relatively young
when he brought him in. Brian Haynes was really young
when he brought him in. Like it seems like Signetti
has always had in the back of his mind that,
(10:34):
you know, I want to leave a coaching legacy, a
coaching tree, if you will, when I retire, and and
you know, starting you know, getting these guys that are
sort of starting young in their coaching career has been
a big emphasis for him, you know, rather than taking
the established you know, older better, and he wants to
build that coaching tree. So it's gonna be you know,
obviously it's going to be a much easier sell now.
And I think you know the way college football works,
(10:56):
especially now with you know, I don't think it's it's
very smart for a coordinator to take a lower level
head coaching job when you know your your players are
gonna get poached. You know that, you know it's gonna
be very tough to win at the lower levels because
of the transfer portal. And now that Signetti is at Indiana,
it's gonna incentivize him to stay a little bit longer,
maybe wait and hold out for a better job going forward.
(11:17):
Because even just last year, I mean, Brian Haynes had
the opportunity to go to some of these blue bloods
and he didn't. So I think you're gonna start seeing
that a little bit more now. And you know, guys
like Pat Koons, who I'm sure he has bigger aspirations
than just to be a position coach. Those kind of
guys like it's it's it's certainly an easier sell to
those coaches to stick around a bit longer and continue
to build that coaching tree.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Sig has won games with Curtis Rourke. Uh brought in
for Dandel Mendoza this year and didn't miss a beat.
Mendoza obviously getting a ton of attention on nationally NFL
Draft stock, Heisman Trophy lists, all of that kind of thing.
The fact that you know Sig is going to be here,
(12:02):
how important is that going to be when it is
time to replace, whether it's Mendoza or Eliza Surat or
Omar Cooper, Aiden Fisher, Mikhail Kamar. How important is it
for everybody just to know he's going to be here
and he's going to be here for the long haul.
So you have guys that maybe are in the transfer
(12:23):
portal that are seniors, that's one thing. But you're gonna
have guys that are sophomores or juniors who would not
just look at Indiana and what they've done, but know
that Sig is going to be here. How important is
that for that portion of the program.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Yeah, obviously it's huge, you know, and it's always felt
like Signetti has wanted to build this thing from the
ground up, as you know, all coaches do. You'd like
to have a foundation where you're not always going to
the portal. But you know, especially with the success Indiana
had last year and looking at their twenty six recruiting
class and then even going further in twenty seven to
twenty eight, it looks like it's only getting better from here.
(13:00):
H And to have a central figure like that that
that you know you're gonna be with for for you know,
x amount of years in your college career, that's huge.
And then the other the other component with Snetti, even
if he does end up losing assistance, which will happen,
you know, going forward, just because the caliber they are,
how good they are. Signetti's talent evaluation, I think is
so good because he doesn't let anybody into his program
(13:20):
that he doesn't evaluate himself. And just having his eyeballs
on these type of players that are coming in alone
gives you comfort that you know, this roster, this this
program is going to be in good hands. Even with
you know, assistants coming and going, He's gonna find the
right guys that that you know, fit him and fit
uh fit Indiana.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Well, it's certainly on a surprising announcement. I I you know,
we we obviously we knew that Uh Indiana would be
talking to him and about an extension and making sure
that he was he was here. The fact that this
comes through for homecoming weekend is gonna be an exciting thing.
I'm quite confident, h you know, it'll be something that
will be talked about at the basket ball game Friday night.
(14:02):
But this program has jumped to the spotlight, the white
hot spotlight of college football. When you talk about them
being at beating Oregon last week, number three team in
the country, getting first place votes for number one overall
in the country in the span of nineteen games. Jared,
(14:24):
think about where we were at the end of the
Tom Allen era to where we are now. It's just
night and day. And I don't think anybody, certainly I'm
not I don't want to speak for you, but certainly
I'm still have trouble wrapping my head around all of
this of just how fast it has been this rise.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
It's you know, I thought in the offseason, like when
we had some off time to reflect a little bit.
It would it would set in a little bit more,
especially for the fan base, but you know, especially you know,
us who are so embedded in the program every single day.
I figured it would take a little bit for us
to really grasp it all as we try to write
through it and talk through and everything. But it still
(15:03):
really hasn't set in quite Frankly, I'm sure this contract extension,
that the magnitude of it probably won't until the end
of this year as well. And something I wanted to
go back to ken is, you know, I think I
just tweeted this out, but Signetti Bett, Signetti betting on
himself throughout his career has been unbelievable. Like, this is
a guy and everybody knows the lord on the backstory
who left Alabama for a D two head coaching job
(15:25):
was getting paid. You know, Pennies, I just tweeted this out.
His first contract at JMU in twenty nineteen paid him
four hundred thousand dollars and he's making eleven six now
eleven point six million. Now, I mean for a guy
we know Signetti is confident, but that is a massive,
massive bet on yourself, and you know, for him on
(15:45):
a personal level, you just have to feel so good
for him because you know, this is a guy who
really really wanted a head coaching shot throughout his throughout
his life. He finally gets it and look where it's
got got.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Him to now. Well, and you think too, when Scott
Dlson talks about just hiring him, that whole process, how
it wasn't a thing of it came across as Sigg
saying I could win there. Just give me the chance.
Just you know, I know how to do this, Give
me the chance. And Jared, you think about the build
(16:16):
that he had to forget d D two. He goes there,
he bets on himself. He wins on that bet, but
then is part of that transition for JMU from one
double A or FBS to FCS or the other way around.
It's just really is amazing the way that he his
belief in himself just it just oozes out of him
(16:40):
and is absorbed by everyone around him. And it's just
been a complete change in culture that has happened throughout
the football program and allows him to do this and
get another extension that's going to keep him around and
keep that chip on his shoulder that to me is
something that is no small thing. He's confident, but he's
(17:01):
confident with the chip on his shoulder, and he doesn't
want to hear people talk bad about Indiana does He's
he's a funny guy. He has he's intense, he has
the eyes of a cobra. But he is a guy
that belief means a lot, and if you're around him,
you can't help but believe what he's selling.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Yeah, you know, I've done a lot of you know,
when Indiana plays other teams. I've gone on you know,
different podcasts of different teams, and they always ask me.
The first question that was asked me is is Signetti
really like this? You know in person what we see
on TV? Is that really what he's like? And I'm like, yeah,
I mean, you stand around the guy, He's got an
aura to him and everything he says to you, everything
(17:42):
he says to the media, to the public on television,
like you absolutely believe it because everything he said has
come true, right, I mean from the moment he walked
in the door in Memorials Stadium, you know, he was
talking about Big ten championships, contending for national championships, and
it's all come true. So at this point, why would
you not believe him? And I think it trickles down
from the top, and it's really hard, I think for
(18:04):
outsiders to sort of grasp this, especially at a place
like Indiana, where you know, what the head coach says
is ultimately the prevailing thought throughout the building. But you know, Kurtzignetti,
he has yet to be proven wrong. I mean, everything
he has said is coming true. And I think that's
the most remarkable part about it.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Well, I said this on The Collins Show on Monday
night about the Oregon win that that Oregon game they
started winning that at Michigan State last year. Yeah, and
they fell behind ten nothing, and the players couldn't hang
their head. All they could do is look at Sig
and SIG's like, don't worry about it. We're down ten,
that's fine, and then they run off. I think it
was forty eight unanswered or something like that. And when
(18:42):
you have a coach that tells you this is how
it's going to go, and then it does time and
time and time again, it's hard not to believe everything
that the man says. And so if he says we're
gonna compete for national championships you're going to and like
you said, that something that could easily be sold, and
(19:03):
you know the price tag for that belief is now
eleven point six million dollars on average. It's just an
impressive run. Any final thoughts on Sig and just at
this contract extension and what it means short term and
long term.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Well, in the short term, you're keeping your coach away
from Penn s Day, Right, that's the that's the short
term play. But long term play, I mean, the ramifications
of this are huge. You just think of all the
different things that Indiana still has to do in terms
of upgrading facilities, you know, potentially renovating the stadium. Those
things you can move forward with now now that you
know you have your leader in the building for for
years to come. And then on the field, I mean,
(19:42):
I mean we've talked about it. Signey has lost one
game and that's not going to continue forever. You know,
like Indiana is gonna get tripped up here and there.
There might be a down season here and there. But
with Signetti, I mean, he doesn't lose, right, he doesn't
have losing season, never had a losing season as a head.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
Coach, right, Google.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
And you know the fact that he oozes so much
confidence out of himself and to have a leader like that,
I think is so impactful and powerful for a university
like this. And you know we've seen it already. Indiana
on a on a university wide level has reaped the benefits,
and I think it's good. It's only going to continue
for years to come. And this is, you know, offering
(20:20):
a contract to a coach like this is not just
a hey, you know, we want to make our football
program good or profitable. This is a hey, we want
to do this for our university to get more eyes
on our university, to get more kids enrolling in our university.
Like this is not an offer you make to a
coach unless you are absolutely sure that he's going to
be your you know, your spokespersons, so to say, your
(20:42):
front man for many years to come in Indiana has
hitched his wag into signetti and rightfully so I think.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Yeah, it's pretty simple. I win Google me. I have
that punched up at all time. So you know, Jared,
you know, the coaching carousel has stopped spinning, and that
in and of itself is a huge because we went
through so many coaches in a not a short amount
of time. It's just it just kept spinning that has stopped.
Indiana football is in the top five in the country.
(21:11):
Their coach is a is paid as a top five
guy in the country. New Days, New Days. To say
the least, I really appreciate you joining me on the
special edition here and thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Yeah, thanks for having Ken.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
What's out the time we have on this special edition
of the Peaks podcast. I want to thank you for
listening and I want to remind you of it as
a Peaks dot com for the very best and IU
football and basketball coverage you're gonna find anywhere nobody covers.
Who's you recruiting better than Jeff rab John's, Matt Weaver,
Trevor Anderwschock, and Jared Kelly. So come be a part
of a thriving and exciting community at Peaks dot com. Folks.
You are not going to be disappointed. Folks, We're out
(21:47):
of time, But for now and for Jeff, Matt, Trevor,
and Jared, I'm Ken Bikoff saying thanks for listening. Everybody
How you doing, everybody. I'm Ken Baikoff and welcome to
the Peaks Podcast, our second edition of the day. I
put one up earlier today talking about this weekend and
talking about the upcoming basketball game. But then the news
dropped that Kurt Signetti, I you head coach, is has
agreed to a new eight year contract with the Hoosiers
(00:32):
through twenty twenty three, average annual compensation of approximately eleven
point six million dollars. This is a release from Indiana University.
So this isn't a report, This isn't anything like that.
This is the is And so Sig will be here,
you know, for a while, so quiet all to talk
about he might not be here, certainly deserving and on
(00:57):
to talk with me about this is peaks dot COM's
Jerry Kelly Jared, first off, your initial reaction of all
of a sudden this this dropping.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Yeah, I mean I think my first thought was I
did not anticipate this to happen in the time frame
that it did, because these things usually go down towards
the end of the season, especially you know, almost you're
coaching carousel and those kind of things start heating up.
But of course, you know, different times now where you know,
you need to keep your coaches in place, you know,
the sooner the better. And then the second thought I
had was, I mean, this is this is essentially a
(01:29):
godfather off of from Indiana and sort of stamping their
mark and saying, you know, we're keeping you here until
you retire, essentially for Kurt Signetti. And I mean, my goodness,
can you I remember just you know, even less than
a year ago, we were sitting here having the same
conversation after Indiana extended Signetti for like it was like
eight million a year a little bit, give or take
(01:50):
eight million a year, and we were like, we've I mean,
this is unprecedented territory for Indiana. And here we are
less than a year later, and I mean this, this
number eleven six like just an unfathomable, unfathomable number to
be paying any head coach in Indiana, let alone the
football head coach. Yeah. So still trying to wrap my
head around this. But kurzig Netti is here to stay
(02:10):
for the long haul, it seems like, and I mean
he's earned every every bit of it.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Well. And when you talk about Indiana being willing to
put forth resources for football, you know, we were talking
right before we came on. We looked it up. Certainly
top five paid coach in the country now at this point,
and second in the second or third in the Big Ten.
We're not exactly sure of the exact numbers of it.
They say approximately eleven point six. It leaves some wiggle
(02:36):
room there with Lincoln Riley at USC, but certainly one
of the highest paid coaches in college football. I'm old
enough to have been covering this program when Bill Lynch
was making six figures. So this is just a jaw dropping,
uh commitment by Indiana. But it's also talking about a
(02:57):
coach that has lost one regular season game in his
time here at IU has yet to lose a home
game as we sit here, you know, a couple of
days before the Michigan State game. Where this program has
gone from where Tom Allen was at this point two
years ago to now. It's jaw dropping, it's un present.
(03:17):
Use whatever adjective and superlative you want to. This is
a guy who has earned his damn money.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Jared, I mean he truly, I mean, I mean, I
think you just hit it on the head there. I mean,
one regular season loss in two years, and this season
is looking like he could very well be on his
way to another eleven win, if not twelve to zero
regular season. I mean that this type of coach doesn't
come around for any program quite frankly in America. And
for kurtzig Nettie to sort of fall into Indiana's lap
(03:46):
as he has, and to keep him tied around to
this university because I think he's he's sort of become,
you know, the face of Indiana University in the past, right,
I mean that used to be a moniker given to
you know, the Bob Knights of the world, and you know,
whoever is running the basketball program you could kind of
say was the face. And now you have this, this
guy comes in takes over the football program, you know,
(04:09):
just and I don't think we any either of us,
had any doubts that Christinetti would leave Indiana. But for now,
for for for it to be you know, set in stone.
Now that he's gonna be here for the long haul,
I think that just gives you so much more comfort
and you can move forward now as a program and
start thinking about you know, big big changes and renovations
and facility to you know, upgrades, because you know that
(04:31):
your guy is gonna be here for many, many years
to come.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Well, and you know, I even earlier today I saw
some people on Twitter saying, you know, uh, Seing is
not said no, that he's not going anywhere else. He
hasn't said anything. And you know the answer to that is, Look,
every coach, when asked during the season if he's interested
in going somewhere else, is gonna say no. Absolutely not.
So that isn't a statement. That's not you know, worth
the oxygen it comes out on. This is this is
(04:59):
we're he is going to be here. This is not
something that Indiana fans have to worry about. And so
not only does it quiet any chatter about him going elsewhere,
Like you said, I didn't feel like he was going
to you know, his age, what he's already built. He's
on a path to go to the college football playoffs
for a second straight year, showing yeah, you can be
(05:20):
successful at that level here at Indiana. Now at this point,
you know, not only does it quiet everything, but Jared,
it also tells everybody recruits, anybody who's interested in the transfer.
There's no question about who's going to be here. It's
going to be sick.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Yeah, No, I think I think that's a great point too,
you know, being able to sell the future to recruits,
and you know it would have taken a program like
a Penn State or you know, one of these blue bloods.
If Chris Sinnetti were to leave, it would have taken
one of those kind of caliber of programs to to
to post him out of Indiana. And you know, with
the program that Signetti has built here in Indiana, you know,
(05:58):
I think you said, he's proven that you can build
the winner here that you know, not only is a
bowl game, the sort of benchmark now that you can
go to CFPS regularly every year.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
He's built that here.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
And to be able to sell that to recruits in
the coming years and know, you know, this is gonna
be my head coach for the four or five years
that I'm at school. That is super invaluable. And you
know what will altimately say his contract shakes out, and
what the sort of the languages with the assistant salary.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Pool or those things.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
But you know, assistants will come and go, but the
head coach ultimately is the guy that you know these
players are committing to. And the fact that Signette's going
to be around and he can sell that to recruits
is a huge, huge deal.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Here's the other thing that I think is interesting about
what Sig has done in his nineteen games as IU
head coach. I mean, look, An, he's coached nineteen games,
He's gotten two contract extensions. I mean, you know, this
is and this doesn't feel like a knee jerk reaction
by Indiana by any stretch of the imagination. What it
does do, too, though, is it shows what's possible with
(06:58):
the right culture, the right head coach. It doesn't make
a difference what your history is. You know, it's no
secret Indiana is the losing his football program in college
football history. And to stack these years, it shows not
only what Signette's able to do, but what anybody can go.
So if Sig is, you know, here until twenty thirty
(07:21):
three and retires or whatever it is, you needed a
guy to go ahead and show it's possible here instead
of it just being something that is completely impossible. He's
done that. And how important is that, Jared to when
you start you know, it's we're way too far to
be thinking about next step. But it also shows what's
possible whenever that next step might come.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Yeah, no, it certainly doesn't in the program. I mean,
it's a good hands whenever. I mean, he's a young
sixty whatever, he is, sixty four, He's a young sixty
sixty year old guy, right Like. He looks like he
could coach for another ten years if he wants to.
So hopefully Indiana doesn't have that have to think about
that for you know, several so years now to come.
But I mean, whenever he does decide to call it
quits on coaching, like this program is going to be
(08:06):
in a much better spot because of him, and you know,
Indiana likely will have a you know, a lot better
of a position to be in to sell future coaches
to come to Indiana and whatnot.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
You know.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
And I just think back to this is a prevailing
thought I've had for a little bit now, you know.
And I mean you've been around Signetti lockhen Is. I
feel like him in Indiana they sort of go hand
in hand in that, you know, they're both overlooked. You know,
Indiana was the first real P four program to give
him a chance, and I feel like Signetti really wants to,
uh he kind of relishes and sticking it to these
(08:40):
other programs. Okay, you had your you had your chance
to get me and you didn't. And that loyalty factor,
and we see we even see it with his coaching staff,
how loyal his coaches are to him. I mean, I
think that loyalty manifests from Signetti and his loyalty to
Indiana is just huge. And and the fact that indian
is willing to put up this kind of investment to
keep him here. I've loyalty goes a long way for
(09:01):
Snetti and I think he's gonna be laughing in a
lot of people's faces that you know came after that
wanted to gut to get him after Indianiana and now
he's he's tied Danana for the long haul.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Well that's that's kind of what I've I've thought too,
is that you know, hey, Indiana gave him a chance.
He's been successful here, so uh that loyalty to Indiana
means something to him as well. I also think it's
interesting that Tino San Serina or how do I pronounce
that last name? I'm proud of blank dumb. Yeah, it
(09:30):
goes to U c l A, the only coach to
leave from last year comes back and rather it goes
to U C l A and it's out of a
job in a couple of weeks. To me, that also
tells everybody else it's very good here. The grass isn't
always greener. Yeah, you want to move up. I understand
building a resume and all that kind of stuff. What
(09:51):
kind of impact can all of this have on the
potential of keeping guys in town when it comes to
the coordinators, Because I mean, say, they're gonna get interested
for head coaching jobs for sure, and if they leave
that's that's not a bad thing, but it also kind
of shows that to me that the grass isn't always greener.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
You know. The one thing that's always struck me about
Signetti is is I think he's really keen on trying
to build his own coaching tree. You know, we've seen
that because you know, when Cinceri left, he brought in
a young guy, an unproven guy in Chandler Whitmer, and
he's done that. You know, Mike Shanahan was relatively young
when he brought him in. Brian Haynes was really young
when he brought him in. Like it seems like Signetti
has always had in the back of his mind that,
(10:34):
you know, I want to leave a coaching legacy, a
coaching tree, if you will, when I retire, and and
you know, starting you know, getting these guys that are
sort of starting young in their coaching career has been
a big emphasis for him, you know, rather than taking
the established you know, older better, and he wants to
build that coaching tree. So it's gonna be you know,
obviously it's going to be a much easier sell now.
And I think you know the way college football works,
(10:56):
especially now with you know, I don't think it's it's
very smart for a coordinator to take a lower level
head coaching job when you know your your players are
gonna get poached. You know that, you know it's gonna
be very tough to win at the lower levels because
of the transfer portal. And now that Signetti is at Indiana,
it's gonna incentivize him to stay a little bit longer,
maybe wait and hold out for a better job going forward.
(11:17):
Because even just last year, I mean, Brian Haynes had
the opportunity to go to some of these blue bloods
and he didn't. So I think you're gonna start seeing
that a little bit more now. And you know, guys
like Pat Koons, who I'm sure he has bigger aspirations
than just to be a position coach. Those kind of
guys like it's it's it's certainly an easier sell to
those coaches to stick around a bit longer and continue
to build that coaching tree.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
Sig has won games with Curtis Rourke. Uh brought in
for Dandel Mendoza this year and didn't miss a beat.
Mendoza obviously getting a ton of attention on nationally NFL
Draft stock, Heisman Trophy lists, all of that kind of thing.
The fact that you know Sig is going to be here,
(12:02):
how important is that going to be when it is
time to replace, whether it's Mendoza or Eliza Surat or
Omar Cooper, Aiden Fisher, Mikhail Kamar. How important is it
for everybody just to know he's going to be here
and he's going to be here for the long haul.
So you have guys that maybe are in the transfer
(12:23):
portal that are seniors, that's one thing. But you're gonna
have guys that are sophomores or juniors who would not
just look at Indiana and what they've done, but know
that Sig is going to be here. How important is
that for that portion of the program.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
Yeah, obviously it's huge, you know, and it's always felt
like Signetti has wanted to build this thing from the
ground up, as you know, all coaches do. You'd like
to have a foundation where you're not always going to
the portal. But you know, especially with the success Indiana
had last year and looking at their twenty six recruiting
class and then even going further in twenty seven to
twenty eight, it looks like it's only getting better from here.
(13:00):
H And to have a central figure like that that
that you know you're gonna be with for for you know,
x amount of years in your college career, that's huge.
And then the other the other component with Snetti, even
if he does end up losing assistance, which will happen,
you know, going forward, just because the caliber they are,
how good they are. Signetti's talent evaluation, I think is
so good because he doesn't let anybody into his program
(13:20):
that he doesn't evaluate himself. And just having his eyeballs
on these type of players that are coming in alone
gives you comfort that you know, this roster, this this
program is going to be in good hands. Even with
you know, assistants coming and going, He's gonna find the
right guys that that you know, fit him and fit
uh fit Indiana.
Speaker 1 (13:39):
Well, it's certainly on a surprising announcement. I I you know,
we we obviously we knew that Uh Indiana would be
talking to him and about an extension and making sure
that he was he was here. The fact that this
comes through for homecoming weekend is gonna be an exciting thing.
I'm quite confident, h you know, it'll be something that
will be talked about at the basket ball game Friday night.
(14:02):
But this program has jumped to the spotlight, the white
hot spotlight of college football. When you talk about them
being at beating Oregon last week, number three team in
the country, getting first place votes for number one overall
in the country in the span of nineteen games. Jared,
(14:24):
think about where we were at the end of the
Tom Allen era to where we are now. It's just
night and day. And I don't think anybody, certainly I'm
not I don't want to speak for you, but certainly
I'm still have trouble wrapping my head around all of
this of just how fast it has been this rise.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
It's you know, I thought in the offseason, like when
we had some off time to reflect a little bit.
It would it would set in a little bit more,
especially for the fan base, but you know, especially you know,
us who are so embedded in the program every single day.
I figured it would take a little bit for us
to really grasp it all as we try to write
through it and talk through and everything. But it still
(15:03):
really hasn't set in quite Frankly, I'm sure this contract extension,
that the magnitude of it probably won't until the end
of this year as well. And something I wanted to
go back to ken is, you know, I think I
just tweeted this out, but Signetti Bett, Signetti betting on
himself throughout his career has been unbelievable. Like, this is
a guy and everybody knows the lord on the backstory
who left Alabama for a D two head coaching job
(15:25):
was getting paid. You know, Pennies, I just tweeted this out.
His first contract at JMU in twenty nineteen paid him
four hundred thousand dollars and he's making eleven six now
eleven point six million. Now, I mean for a guy
we know Signetti is confident, but that is a massive,
massive bet on yourself, and you know, for him on
(15:45):
a personal level, you just have to feel so good
for him because you know, this is a guy who
really really wanted a head coaching shot throughout his throughout
his life. He finally gets it and look where it's
got got.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Him to now. Well, and you think too, when Scott
Dlson talks about just hiring him, that whole process, how
it wasn't a thing of it came across as Sigg
saying I could win there. Just give me the chance.
Just you know, I know how to do this, Give
me the chance. And Jared, you think about the build
(16:16):
that he had to forget d D two. He goes there,
he bets on himself. He wins on that bet, but
then is part of that transition for JMU from one
double A or FBS to FCS or the other way around.
It's just really is amazing the way that he his
belief in himself just it just oozes out of him
(16:40):
and is absorbed by everyone around him. And it's just
been a complete change in culture that has happened throughout
the football program and allows him to do this and
get another extension that's going to keep him around and
keep that chip on his shoulder that to me is
something that is no small thing. He's confident, but he's
(17:01):
confident with the chip on his shoulder, and he doesn't
want to hear people talk bad about Indiana does He's
he's a funny guy. He has he's intense, he has
the eyes of a cobra. But he is a guy
that belief means a lot, and if you're around him,
you can't help but believe what he's selling.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Yeah, you know, I've done a lot of you know,
when Indiana plays other teams. I've gone on you know,
different podcasts of different teams, and they always ask me.
The first question that was asked me is is Signetti
really like this? You know in person what we see
on TV? Is that really what he's like? And I'm like, yeah,
I mean, you stand around the guy, He's got an
aura to him and everything he says to you, everything
(17:42):
he says to the media, to the public on television,
like you absolutely believe it because everything he said has
come true, right, I mean from the moment he walked
in the door in Memorials Stadium, you know, he was
talking about Big ten championships, contending for national championships, and
it's all come true. So at this point, why would
you not believe him? And I think it trickles down
from the top, and it's really hard, I think for
(18:04):
outsiders to sort of grasp this, especially at a place
like Indiana, where you know, what the head coach says
is ultimately the prevailing thought throughout the building. But you know, Kurtzignetti,
he has yet to be proven wrong. I mean, everything
he has said is coming true. And I think that's
the most remarkable part about it.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Well, I said this on The Collins Show on Monday
night about the Oregon win that that Oregon game they
started winning that at Michigan State last year. Yeah, and
they fell behind ten nothing, and the players couldn't hang
their head. All they could do is look at Sig
and SIG's like, don't worry about it. We're down ten,
that's fine, and then they run off. I think it
was forty eight unanswered or something like that. And when
(18:42):
you have a coach that tells you this is how
it's going to go, and then it does time and
time and time again, it's hard not to believe everything
that the man says. And so if he says we're
gonna compete for national championships you're going to and like
you said, that something that could easily be sold, and
(19:03):
you know the price tag for that belief is now
eleven point six million dollars on average. It's just an
impressive run. Any final thoughts on Sig and just at
this contract extension and what it means short term and
long term.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Well, in the short term, you're keeping your coach away
from Penn s Day, Right, that's the that's the short
term play. But long term play, I mean, the ramifications
of this are huge. You just think of all the
different things that Indiana still has to do in terms
of upgrading facilities, you know, potentially renovating the stadium. Those
things you can move forward with now now that you
know you have your leader in the building for for
years to come. And then on the field, I mean,
(19:42):
I mean we've talked about it. Signey has lost one
game and that's not going to continue forever. You know,
like Indiana is gonna get tripped up here and there.
There might be a down season here and there. But
with Signetti, I mean, he doesn't lose, right, he doesn't
have losing season, never had a losing season as a head.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
Coach, right, Google.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
And you know the fact that he oozes so much
confidence out of himself and to have a leader like that,
I think is so impactful and powerful for a university
like this. And you know we've seen it already. Indiana
on a on a university wide level has reaped the benefits,
and I think it's good. It's only going to continue
for years to come. And this is, you know, offering
(20:20):
a contract to a coach like this is not just
a hey, you know, we want to make our football
program good or profitable. This is a hey, we want
to do this for our university to get more eyes
on our university, to get more kids enrolling in our university.
Like this is not an offer you make to a
coach unless you are absolutely sure that he's going to
be your you know, your spokespersons, so to say, your
(20:42):
front man for many years to come in Indiana has
hitched his wag into signetti and rightfully so I think.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Yeah, it's pretty simple. I win Google me. I have
that punched up at all time. So you know, Jared,
you know, the coaching carousel has stopped spinning, and that
in and of itself is a huge because we went
through so many coaches in a not a short amount
of time. It's just it just kept spinning that has stopped.
Indiana football is in the top five in the country.
(21:11):
Their coach is a is paid as a top five
guy in the country. New Days, New Days. To say
the least, I really appreciate you joining me on the
special edition here and thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Yeah, thanks for having Ken.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
What's out the time we have on this special edition
of the Peaks podcast. I want to thank you for
listening and I want to remind you of it as
a Peaks dot com for the very best and IU
football and basketball coverage you're gonna find anywhere nobody covers.
Who's you recruiting better than Jeff rab John's, Matt Weaver,
Trevor Anderwschock, and Jared Kelly. So come be a part
of a thriving and exciting community at Peaks dot com. Folks.
You are not going to be disappointed. Folks, We're out
(21:47):
of time, But for now and for Jeff, Matt, Trevor,
and Jared, I'm Ken Bikoff saying thanks for listening. Everybody
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