r/CFB • u/LaDainianTomIinson Florida Gators • UNLV Rebels • Jan 20 '26

History [Pompliano] Curt Cignetti took over the worst program in college football history and then proceeded to win the school’s first-ever national championship within just two years. It's the most remarkable coaching job in the history of sports.

https://x.com/joepompliano/status/2013466392553505228?s=46
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u/Axelrad77 LSU Tigers • SEC Jan 20 '26 edited Jan 20 '26

Agreed. I think we'll get some moneyball-style revelations out of this, given how poor Indiana's talent composition is vs how well they actually played. It seems clear that Cignetti and his staff are looking at different analytics than the big scouting places, and that it worked better.

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u/B0NESAWisRRREADY North Texas Mean Green Jan 20 '26

100%. It'd be one thing if it were a fluke, but we're talking about a 16-0 undefeated season in which they were mostly dominant. Wins against Bama, Ohio State, Oregon twice, Miami. They beat Iowa by 5, Penn State by 3, and ODU by 13. The other 8 wins were blowouts. They were so ridiculously in control of the outcomes this year that they have to know something that the field does not.

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u/gwaydms SMU Mustangs Jan 20 '26

Some of those four-star players might be five-stars in whatever system Cig and his guys use, and so on.

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u/StalinsLastStand Indiana Hoosiers • Billable Hours Jan 20 '26

Yeah, all five of them really played above their level.

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u/tenclubber Kentucky Wildcats • Army Black Knights Jan 20 '26

I think the biggest thing is they look at results instead of potential. The best way to figure out if a guy can play football is to watch him play football.

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u/EscapeTomMayflower Nebraska Cornhuskers • Chicago Maroons Jan 20 '26

It's crazy how much people overrate tools and underrated "is this guy just really good at the sport".

I remember when Derrick White got drafted by the Spurs everyone talked about it being such a Spurs pick because he didn't have elite physical tools but was just really good at basketball.

Now he's still really, really good at basketball.

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u/JoeMcKim Missouri • Notre Dame Jan 20 '26

Who's going to play Cignetti in the movie? If they get a Moneyball-esque movie out of this hopefully Aaron Sorkin writes this also.

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u/OswaldBupkis Jan 20 '26

Andy Buckley

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u/JoeMcKim Missouri • Notre Dame Jan 20 '26

David Wallace!!! I wasn't sure who AB was since I'm wasn't familiar with the actors name. But as soon as I saw his pic after I searched for him on youtube, that's perfect.

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u/poop-dolla Virginia Tech Hokies Jan 20 '26

Suck it!

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u/gkryo Jan 21 '26

Jeremy Renner

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u/JoeMcKim Missouri • Notre Dame Jan 21 '26

Renner definitely would be Andy Buckley since he's a much bigger name actor.

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u/wsteelerfan7 Indiana Hoosiers • Rose Bowl Jan 21 '26

It's because his coaching background means he was already doing NIL stuff at IUP. They have limited partial scholarships at that level and he had to figure out a competitive roster construction on a budget. He also focuses on body flexibility he himself can see on tape over the standard numbers you see for recruits. As the head coach at a P4 program with money, he is still personally watching tape on every recruit IU offers and he has the final say

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u/iluvs2fish Jan 25 '26

Poor? Thanks for the laugh.😆