If Bama’s jet sweep on 4th and 1 at their own 30 had folks wondering about the head coaching disparity -
One head coach was part of the Saban tree during the peak of the Saban Bama Death Star.
One head coach was IU’s offensive coordinator in 2019…
Jokes aside, IU’s HC/OC/DC trio of Cig/Shanahan/Haines is one hell of a three headed dragon. Phenomenal discipline, preparation, and execution, arguably the best coached team in college football rn. Cig & Co. saw 0-6 for bye teams before the game today and said, “bet”
Why wouldn't they? Their coach had just waived a white flag when there was still time to mount a comeback, even if it was unlikely. It was such a cowardly move.
I cannot believe he picked Alabama after he spelled out all the advantages for IU. He’s rumored to be a Bama fan and that sealed it for me. That’s exactly the type of delusional thing you come with when you are trying to be a homer for your team
He’s an Auburn fan, it’s just that he also is that Finebaum-type of media personality that pushes Alabama as the best team always because it’s draws engagement. Also, his wife is an alum, so that tends to muddy the waters
He did that on purpose so he can pretend he was kind of right in his game reaction.
"I picked the wrong team. There is no doubt about that. But for everyone saying...Josh, you were so wrong. Everything I said IU was good at, they did. I wasn't wrong in my assessment of the teams' strengths and weaknesses, just the outcome. Now, it is hard to beat a team twice which is why I'm picking Oregon in the semi-finals."
All he cares about is engagement. Total hack. This will just further incentivize him to make even more incredibly vague, unfalsifiable statements. Nobody has ever said less with more words than him.
He's so obsessed with not being a hot take merchant that he just talks in circles and says nothing.
His big 'joke' is when he picks against his 'model' and says 'i want all the credit and none of the blame'. He speaks out of both sides of his mouth so he can make a video later showing how he was right.
I'd much rather watch someone who can explain the actual game of football, Xs and Os.
The times that he talks about Columbus are still the times we he’s at his best lol. Towards the middle of the season he had a small tangent about Peachtree Mall and it gave me a good laugh
dude spent 5 minutes saying why IU would win on his show just to say “ehhh idk, Bama to win and cover”. But i’m also highly confident this was probably the first full IU game he’s watched all season
He's a "closeted" Bama fan, even other SEC team fans know this
I'll be honest, I was curious to see if there might be any let down after the high that was winning the B1G for Indiana, but lord above they looked good. The game was over from the 2nd Indiana drive
Eh, he's admitted many times on his show he's watched our games. The thing is he watches the media edited versions afterwards, but I'm not convinced he pays close attention
I have a couple friends who worked for 247 at the same time he did. May be nice, but apparently no one on earth loves them self more than Josh Pate loves himself.
I picked Bama despite thinking IU was the better team in every facet including coaching. It was because with how much neutrals (including myself) love IU and hate Bama, I expected Murphy's Law to kick in. Next time, I should just go with my head & heart.
It’s a very underrated coaching staff going into the year. It goes really under the radar that they have been together for 5+ years now and know exactly what each other expects out of them and it’s all business each week
Yep I think they’ve been together since like 18-20 range. I live in the area and all the radio interviews of him he doesn’t sound like he does on game days. He has said that he’s very hands off with the defense and Haynes runs everything with it for the most part cig just gets brought into the loop and makes sure he likes it. He trusts his coordinators to do everything so he can focus on the players himself. Everything I’ve heard from him or the players seems like the old school hard nosed in your face coach to make you better but will do anything for you.
Deboer ran that exact play at Washington against WSU in the 2023 Apple Cup from our own 35 and it won the game for us. Except this time he doesnt have Rome Odunze
It was definitely cathartic seeing a reckless 4th down try bite them. They did one of those against us when they were down 17 and it was key for them turning it around.
That 3 headed dragon has been coaching together since IUPUI. Kinda insane to think, there’s probably dozens of extremely talented coordinators like them in the FCS level, but nepo babies or people with connections get the spots instead at the top jobs
I don't think it's arguable anymore. Cignetti and staff are the best in the game. Other head coaches have more achievements or rings (for now), but Cig is #1.
I respect Josh Pate for allowing me to be able to know who he was going to pick in this game without even having to watch him say it. His predictably is nice.
Kirby took a program that always had the resources and finally pushed them over the hump. Cignetti took a historically bottom-5 team and has them 2 games away from a championship in his second year.
During the Saban era, there were always people on here asking “Do you think Nick Saban could do what he’s done at X” and it’d be places like Purdue, Indiana, Kansas…
People would always say that they’re different kind of skills and talk about Bill Snyder.
Smart is a phenomenal coach, and he’s earned his reputation for making the right claims about this sport in general. But I don’t think he could do what Cignetti’s done. I do think Cignetti could do what Smart has done at a program like Georgia.
Kirby Smart could absolutely do a great defense without 5-star recruits.
NIL has changed a lot, but Cignetti is the one to crack it open and show everyone just how much. Before him, a two-year turnaround for a program like IU would be unthinkable. I think you're overestimating IU previously (though they did have some really fun offenses to watch some years where they still didn't crack 7 wins). They entered this season with the most losses of any program in history.
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u/Leegend124 Indiana Hoosiers Jan 02 '26
If Bama’s jet sweep on 4th and 1 at their own 30 had folks wondering about the head coaching disparity -
One head coach was part of the Saban tree during the peak of the Saban Bama Death Star.
One head coach was IU’s offensive coordinator in 2019…
Jokes aside, IU’s HC/OC/DC trio of Cig/Shanahan/Haines is one hell of a three headed dragon. Phenomenal discipline, preparation, and execution, arguably the best coached team in college football rn. Cig & Co. saw 0-6 for bye teams before the game today and said, “bet”
One last thing, somebody check in on Josh Pate