Kurt “The Coward” Cignetti

[MacIrish75]

I've been a poster on here for years. I'm a staple in the game threads so obviously I'm a fan.

I'm a bit hard on ND the same way I am about the Cowboys. 30 years without a divisional playoff win. It's a disgrace.
I've probably defended Cig on here too much. It's the first championship for one of my teams since 1995 when I was a kid and I still am on a high.

In life, calling yourself a “staple” of anything is such little dick energy lol.

 

[stlnd01]

That had nothing to do with Alabama itself. They hired shitty coaches. I think ND fans could relate. No one said Saban wasn’t a good coach, but he never won anything accept in the SEC at 2 of the most notorious schools for paying players when it wasn’t legal.

Yeah Saban never won anything except at the two schools where he spent 23 of his 28 seasons as a head coach, schools that chew up and spit out head coaches who don’t win titles but kept him as long as they could.

And if Bama and LSU were dirty, remember they were competing with wannabes like Auburn and Ole Miss that were even dirtier.

Saban didn’t win like he did because he paid players. He won because he was an all-timer at running a college football program. Cignetti - himself a Saban disciple - is a good coach for sure but I think we need to see him do more than exploit a wrinkle in transfer rules before putting him up with Saban.

Meyer is a dirtbag human being and I won’t be saying anything nice about him.

 

[Jimmy3Putt]

Yeah Saban never won anything except at the two schools where he spent 23 of his 28 seasons as a head coach, schools that chew up and spit out head coaches who don’t win titles but kept him as long as they could.

And if Bama and LSU were dirty, remember they were competing with wannabes like Auburn and Ole Miss that were even dirtier.

Saban didn’t win like he did because he paid players. He won because he was an all-timer at running a college football program. Cignetti - himself a Saban disciple - is a good coach for sure but I think we need to see him do more than exploit a wrinkle in transfer rules before putting him up with Saban.

Meyer is a dirtbag human being and I won’t be saying anything nice about him.

Saban is a great coach and would've eventually won wherever he coached, but he absolutely won as big as he did because he was paying players.

It's no coincidence he quit when he did. His legacy was about to get a wake up call so he bailed.

 

[Sea Turtle]

When did we start talking about Rockne?

And frank Leahy.

 

[stlnd01]

Saban is a great coach and would've eventually won wherever he coached, but he absolutely won as big as he did because he was paying players.

It's no coincidence he quit when he did. His legacy was about to get a wake up call so he bailed.

He was also 72 years old. And yes I'm sure he saw how free transfers + NIL would level the playing field. He couldn't stockpile talent and depth anymore the way he used to. The days of five-stars being happy to sit on the bench for a couple of years and develop were over.

As for paying players, yeah, that probably gave the entire SEC an advantage over other conferences. But if Bama was paying players, everyone in the SEC was paying players too, and he beat all the rest of them a lot more than they beat him. I still contend that the dirtiest teams aren't the superpowers, they're the ones trying to catch the superpowers, at any cost.

 

[Jimmy3Putt]

He was also 72 years old. And yes I'm sure he saw how free transfers + NIL would level the playing field. He couldn't stockpile talent and depth anymore the way he used to. The days of five-stars being happy to sit on the bench for a couple of years and develop were over.

As for paying players, yeah, that probably gave the entire SEC an advantage over other conferences. But if Bama was paying players, everyone in the SEC was paying players too, and he beat all the rest of them a lot more than they beat him. I still contend that the dirtiest teams aren't the superpowers, they're the ones trying to catch the superpowers, at any cost.

OSU, Texas, Texas A&M, Oregon, Miami, and us do not seem to have a problem stock piling talent, depth, and five stars in this new era.


Saban is a GREAT coach, who happened to be cheating the whole time.
I suspect there will eventually be a reveal that Cig is probably dirty too (in a Harbaugh way).

 

[tirishman505]

You guys shouldn't even bother anymore.

The sour grapes and straight up jealousy from many on the board here is insane.

Maybe they liked it it better when Alabama was prison sexing Notre Dame in the playoff and championship game instead of Indiana doing it to Alabama with a roster that Saban and Meyer would go 8-4 with.

I don’t know what you’re hoping for here. Expecting non IU fan bases to celebrate Cignetti is beyond naive. How long have you been a sports fan? The best you’ll get is some people begrudgingly acknowledging his accomplishments, and half of those guys are just going to be doing it because they’re pissed at their own coach. The rest are going to downplay and/or talk shit. This is the way the world works.

If this upsets you so much you should move on to a more friendly forum. You’re not changing anyone’s mind.

 

[Old Man Mike]

... just to add one more IE-er to an important point: Alabama DEFINITELY paid players illegally. At one time they even had MUCH enhanced "university" living quarters as well. And the classroom requirements were crap. (Some athletes DID go to school and get a real education, but it was an option.) I had a brother playing big time ball at the time (once played against Bama in their stadium). EVERYBODY knew that they cheated all around the edges. ... AND most of the SEC cheated too, including Auburn, Georgia, et al.)

But Saban IS a great football mind, disciplinarian, coach at the same time. His ability at THAT can't be rationally denied.

By the way, as what I think is an interesting aside, my brother Tom said that standing in that stadium pre-game and having the famous and powerful ROLL TIDE!!! cheer wave endzone to endzone made him jump in the air and want to get on the field and kill someone wearing a red jersey. (it didn't just fire up "their" players; it fired up anyone who was REALLY a player.)

 

[NDFAN420]

Alabama DEFINITELY paid players illegally.

Don't confuse NCAA rules with state and federal law, lol.
Besides, if the SEC was paying players, which they were, they were doing the right thing (Thomas Aquinas). That's a weird thing to say about the SEC, but here we are.

 

[Notre Dame Joe]

I dunno...we played Sparty every year from 1970-1994 and in that time Sparty only won 3 games. When the series resumed in '97 Saban was Sparty's HC and of course he wasn't a huge household name then, but he won 3 straight before jumping ship and he had them rolling so well his replacement won 2 more before we finally ended the losing streak.

I spent my high school and half my college years watching us lose to Sparty, so I remember where I was when Battle caught the pass from backup QB Dillingham to put us up late. I was at work, watching the game on an 8" TV and screaming my head off while everyone looked at me like I was nuts.

The question is: Does Saban win the 2025 National Title at IU with the Hoosiers' roster?* We know he's a good coach. He was good enough to have an undisputed stars advantage at all times. When UGA and NIL changed that, he became one of several good coaches.

Oh and at 2:45, not having a defender behind Charles Rogers was criminal negligence.

*Second question is does Saban go 16-0? Every one of his titles (that I remember) had 1 loss. Coaches like Lou did not get a mulligan.

 

[tirishman505]

The question is: Does Saban win the 2025 National Title at IU with the Hoosiers' roster?* We know he's a good coach. He was good enough to have an undisputed stars advantage at all times. When UGA and NIL changed that, he became one of several good coaches.

Oh and at 2:45, not having a defender behind Charles Rogers was criminal negligence.

*Second question is does Saban go 16-0? Every one of his titles (that I remember) had 1 loss. Coaches like Lou did not get a mulligan.

Saban’s first Bama title team was 14-0.

Maybe we should wait until Cignetti wins some more titles before trying to say he’s a better coach than the greatest to ever do it.

 

[HouseofPain]

OSU, Texas, Texas A&M, Oregon, Miami, and us do not seem to have a problem stock piling talent, depth, and five stars in this new era.


Saban is a GREAT coach, who happened to be cheating the whole time.

So was OSU cheating when they beat Bama for the national championship? What about Clemson?

It’s ironic how we are fans of a sport that requires anabolic steroids to be competitive, but no one wants to admit that their team is actually doing it. As in every player not called a kicker on the team.

It’s entertainment. Big dollar entertainment. It’s win at all cost and when you quit winning, you get replaced. You say the same thing for the players. When they quit producing they get replaced.

Everyone in the game cheats until the cheating becomes status quo then you find new ways to cheat like Michigan did.

 

[Dale]

So was OSU cheating when they beat Bama for the national championship? What about Clemson?

It’s ironic how we are fans of a sport that requires anabolic steroids to be competitive, but no one wants to admit that their team is actually doing it. As in every player not called a kicker on the team.

It’s entertainment. Big dollar entertainment. It’s win at all cost and when you quit winning, you get replaced. You say the same thing for the players. When they quit producing they get replaced.

Everyone in the game cheats until the cheating becomes status quo then you find new ways to cheat like Michigan did.

I can 110% guarantee you not every competitive player in 2026 is on steroids

 

[HouseofPain]

I can 110% guarantee you not every competitive player in 2026 is on steroids

We agree to disagree then.

 

[Dale]

We agree to disagree then.

I don’t agree to disagree, you’re wrong.

 

[slaughterhouseX]

So was OSU cheating when they beat Bama for the national championship? What about Clemson?

It’s ironic how we are fans of a sport that requires anabolic steroids to be competitive, but no one wants to admit that their team is actually doing it. As in every player not called a kicker on the team.

It’s entertainment. Big dollar entertainment. It’s win at all cost and when you quit winning, you get replaced. You say the same thing for the players. When they quit producing they get replaced.

Everyone in the game cheats until the cheating becomes status quo then you find new ways to cheat like Michigan did.

This is incredibly false. One of the absolute worst takes I've read on this board. The vast, vast majority of NCAAF players are not roiding.

 

[ulukinatme]

The question is: Does Saban win the 2025 National Title at IU with the Hoosiers' roster?* We know he's a good coach. He was good enough to have an undisputed stars advantage at all times. When UGA and NIL changed that, he became one of several good coaches.

Oh and at 2:45, not having a defender behind Charles Rogers was criminal negligence.

*Second question is does Saban go 16-0? Every one of his titles (that I remember) had 1 loss. Coaches like Lou did not get a mulligan.

I think Saban does go 16-0 with IU's schedule. IU had a couple tough regular season games, but not the same gauntlet that Saban went through regularly. I mean, they had 4 tune up games against Kennesaw State, Old Dominion, Indiana State, and Illinois, then the one dimensional Iowa, and finally got their first real test on October 11th against Oregon. After that it was 3 more blowout easy games before nearly stumbling a bit against a Penn State team with an interim HC. They ended the regular season with an awful Wisconsin and Purdon't. Given the fact IU started against FCS or former FCS teams in their first 3 games it makes our schedule this year look impressive by comparison. I think Saban easily goes 12-0 and then he does even better in the playoffs, the Miami game is a 2-3 score win.

 

[Irish#1]

So was OSU cheating when they beat Bama for the national championship? What about Clemson?

It’s ironic how we are fans of a sport that requires anabolic steroids to be competitive, but no one wants to admit that their team is actually doing it. As in every player not called a kicker on the team.

It’s entertainment. Big dollar entertainment. It’s win at all cost and when you quit winning, you get replaced. You say the same thing for the players. When they quit producing they get replaced.

Everyone in the game cheats until the cheating becomes status quo then you find new ways to cheat like Michigan did.

Ok

 

[HouseofPain]

I understand that there is a lot of misconception regarding steroids out there. Being a former competitive power lifter and bodybuilder, I know what the look is when you take it. You do realize that there’s many different types of steroids; And not all give you the puffy swollen look. Some you take just to maintain and some you take to grow.

If you wish to convince yourself that a human being can be 300 pounds of muscle and that just be from eating chicken breast and doing the bench press a couple times a week, then there are some serious oceanfront property opportunities to buy there in Indiana for you.

I remember the testimony of a former Chicago Bear safety who back in the 90s wasn’t even a starting player. How he said everybody was on the juice and you had to be just to be remotely competitive. Now take that statement and compare the athlete to the 90s to the athletes of today mass, muscle, speed, and endurance wise, and you should be able to get your answer.

 

[CoachB]

Anyone else get the feeling that IU will be just as good as last year?

 

[tirishman505]

Anyone else get the feeling that IU will be just as good as last year?

I think this largely depends on the play of Hoover. In IU’s 4 tight wins last year Mendoza showed up in the big moments and played clean throughout the year. Hoover has been turnover prone, so if his performance is closer to Rourke’s they’re going to take a step back. But I do think their team overall could be better. Another thing I think about is that the had good injury luck last year, which means we never really got to see their depth. That could be a problem if they revert to the mean.

 

[stlnd01]

Anyone else get the feeling that IU will be just as good as last year?

They seem like one of the half-dozen or so teams with a legit chance to win the title. Their schedule is tougher than it was last year (Ohio State and USC at home. @Nebraska @Michigan, @Washington). But it's manageable enough that they *should* at least go 10-2 and make the playoffs. Beyond that it's all kind of a crapshoot.

 

[NDPhilly]

I don't think they can replicate (1) Their +1.5 per game (#1) turnover margin and (2) Mendoza's performance with Hoover, but they have a damn easy schedule. I expect them to be a power rated top 7-12 team. While they added some solid transfers, i still think NFL talent matters eventually and while 2025 was a magical year where everything aligned, talent over a long period of time eventually shows.

 

[Dale]

I think certain parts of their team will definitely be more talented.

QB: likely downgrade
RB: wash
WR: more talent, not sure Marsh has same consistency
TE: downgrade
OL: better
DL: better
LB: probably more talented, lose veteran Fisher
DB: probably more talented, lose veteran Ponds/Moore

The reason they may be worse would be: there should be zero chance they have the same injury luck. What type of drop off or not do you get from losing veteran system guys versus talent, especially on D. There is still some competitive advantage they’ve accomplished that we cannot properly put a finger on yet (cheating, AI usage etc) , if that is weakened they could be worse.

 

[Dale]

I think we are at 103? Fact check that. I can’t see any world where ND “cuts” a kid in the fall. I know we do effectively in the winter but just doesn’t seem like a thing Freeman would do. Does a medical redshirt get you back to 105?

 

[TorontoGold]

I think we are at 103? Fact check that. I can’t see any world where ND “cuts” a kid in the fall. I know we do effectively in the winter but just doesn’t seem like a thing Freeman would do. Does a medical redshirt get you back to 105?

If you’re part of the 95-105 group, would you take an extra $100k to not be on the team for a year? Like if a booster said to you “Hey, if I cover your expenses and give you an additional $100k will you be ok with losing your scholly?”. Like a plane overbooking.

 

[Jimmy3Putt]

Once the players started getting paid legally, the sympathy of getting cut goes out the window.

Of course I love that Notre Dame would still honor the scholarship. Another reason to trust the school and staff when choosing hard.

 

[IRISHbluehen]

Any guys who were walk ons before the 105 started are grandfathered into not counting against the number, so we could be over the 105 this year.

 

[slaughterhouseX]

If you’re part of the 95-105 group, would you take an extra $100k to not be on the team for a year? Like if a booster said to you “Hey, if I cover your expenses and give you an additional $100k will you be ok with losing your scholly?”. Like a plane overbooking.

If that's the plan, why not just offer that to the Wyatt kid they added to put them over the limit? Seems that would be the path of least resistance.

 

[TorontoGold]

If that's the plan, why not just offer that to the Wyatt kid they added to put them over the limit? Seems that would be the path of least resistance.

No, the point is that you would be forfeiting inclusion in the team activities and training for a year for that additional pay out.