In heavy JMU influx, Cignetti's first IU blueprint finds initial form
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – In moving from Harrisonburg to Bloomington this offseason, new Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti hasn't bothered in hiding his blueprint for laying a foundation of potential success.
The Hoosiers signed 33 new contributors during the early signing period, the program announced on Sunday. Of them, 16 are transfers and 17 are incoming recruits in the 2024 high school recruiting class. That split isn't shocking given the Hoosiers' desire to be proficient in both aspects of a new age of roster building. Take Cignetti's word from his first day on the job.
"You have to engage in the portal because everybody's turning over at least 30 percent of their roster right now," Cignetti said. "If you don't, you've got no chance, but you build it with high school guys."
In doing so, especially in this first season at the helm of the Hoosiers, the personnel will feature a familiar flare of the previous stint for Cignetti. Of the signees the Hoosiers formally announced on Sunday, 14 of the 33 – just over 40% of the class – had some prior tie to James Madison before officially becoming a Hoosier.
Nine transfers are following Cignetti to Bloomington. The remaining five were previous JMU pledges that flipped commitment to Indiana.
That's a significant chunk of the Hoosier roster that will look vastly different at the beginning of spring practice than it did when Indiana exited the field in West Lafayette at the conclusion of the 2023 campaign in November. There's nothing to suggest that the coaching staff is done just yet, either.
"The JMU guys, it was just a matter of them coming out and seeing the place," Cignetti said on Wednesday's National Signing Day. "I didn't have to sell them. They believe that they're going to win. They think like champions. They believe in the coaches. They believe in the program. They believe they're going to step on foot and make a difference.
"Guess what? I believe that too. All they had to do was like the place."
Outside of the acquaintance with each other, the set of transfers bring a track record of production to match the synergy with the familiar face in a new place.
- Edge rusher Mikail Kamara wrecked opposing backfields to the tune of 17.5 TFL and 6.5 sacks on his way to a Second-Team All-Conference selection in 2023.
- Kaelon Black and Ty Son Lawton – the Dukes' top two running backs who totaled 1,205 yards and six touchdowns on the ground last season – add impact and depth that projects to be one of the deepest position groups on next season's roster.
- Tight end Zach Horton was James Madison's top receiving threat at the position last season, hauling in 27 receptions for 275 yards and six scores en route to a All-Sun Belt First Team nod.
- Tyler Stephens and Nick Kidwell help fill immediate needs on an offensive line that will return just one starter from last season after Carter Smith announced a return to Bloomington earlier in December. Stephens and Kidwell each bring years of experience to the Hoosiers' offensive line, with Stephens' efforts in the most recent season earning him All-Sun Belt Second Team honors. Kidwell earned the same selection in 2022, but his '23 season ended prematurely due to injury.
- Also joining Stephens and Kidwell on the Sun Belt's All-Conference Second Team is teammate across the line of scrimmage James Carpenter, who recorded 53 tackles, four sacks and an interception at defensive tackle last season. With a year of eligibility remaining, Carpenter comes bearing Second-Team selections in consecutive seasons.
- The Dukes' two leading tacklers from a season ago, linebackers Aiden Fisher and Jailin Walker, will also see their careers make stops in Bloomington following a stint in Harrisonburg. Fisher's 108 tackles led James Madison by a significant margin, with Walker's 61 total tackles being the second-highest mark for JMU last season. Fisher was a Third-Team All-Sun Belt selection last season as the quarterback of the Dukes' defense, and Walker was the third-highest graded linebacker in the conference last season by Pro Football Focus.
Bringing in nine players with seven all-conference selections spanning them is impressive enough, no matter the level of production it's coming from. James Madison won 11 games in the Sun Belt conference a season ago, and in overtaking an Indiana roster with a drain of previous contributors to either the transfer portal or graduation, the Hoosiers are getting plug-and-play production all over the gridiron this upcoming season.
"We're bringing a bunch of really good football players in here that are used to being successful from all different schools, a lot of Power 5 schools, adding them to the guys that we have retained to create a new roster," Cignetti said.
There will be clear direction upon the return to campus with focus on changing the way people think surrounding the program he's undertaken.
"There will be a new culture, identity here and expectation level in the way we play the game, and we're not done recruiting yet," Cignetti said.
Not unlike a number of new Hoosiers – and certainly not of any less importance – Cignetti's staff of full-time assistants is a group with prior experience and cohesion together. Counting himself and his head strength and conditioning coach, IU has eight coaches on the 2024 staff who were in Harrisonburg a season ago. Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Bryant Haines, offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Mike Shanahan, special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Grant Cain, defensive tackles coach Pat Kuntz, running backs coach John Miller, quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri and head strength coach Derek Owings join Cignetti to don the cream and crimson this year.
In bringing so many members of his coaching staff with him, the Hoosiers were afforded the ability and advantage in re-recruiting previous pledges to James Madison, of which five chose to follow and sign with Indiana.
Defensive backs Dontrae Henderson and Jah Jah Boyd, quarterback Alberto Mendoza and defensive ends Mario Landino and Daniel Ndukwe all had prior commitments to Cignetti's staff at James Madison. In turn, the coaching staff saw fit that they bring their services to the new school, having already evaluated what they could provide to the staff's plan going forward.
"It came together pretty fast," Cignetti said of his staff. "I borrowed a good nucleus from JMU. Part of my success has been staff continuity. Bryant Haines has been with me ten years. Mike Shanahan nine, my teams guy six, my weight guy five. Not always in the same position they're in today. I've got guys on my staff that I hired for $6,000 ten years ago, and now they're coordinators at the P-5 level. They know how I am, how I run the program. They know how to manage me a little bit, some of my little moods.
"You're looking to put the best staff together for Indiana."
In concerns about whether the success will follow from the Sun Belt to one of the premier conferences in all of college football with Indiana in the Big Ten, Cignetti points to his track record of success in transitioning at previous stops. He's oversaw more vast transitions than this one, and he's banking on continuity – both from his trends at previous starts and the bodies he's trusting to join the process at Indiana - in turning it around quickly with the Hoosiers.
Cignetti is 119-35 at three previous stops as a head coach. He was 52-9 with James Madison. He'll let you know about it, too.
"We have a blueprint and a plan that's been successful, proven to be successful, and no reason it shouldn't be successful again," Cignetti said.
Until the blueprint doesn't yield success, there isn't much evidence to oppose his philosophy for leading a program. In 13 seasons as a head coach, each have finished with more wins than losses upon its respective close. Going backwards from the 2023 season, you have to go back to the Hoosiers' 1967 Rose Bowl season to find 13 winning seasons for Indiana's program. That stretch spans 10 different head coaches and 56 years of IU football.
"I'll tell you what, we got some momentum going, and we have a lot of people to buy in," Cignetti said. "Look, the administration here, they want football to win. So I probably have some things that the other coaches didn't, and they got a guy that knows what they're doing."
In overtaking a team in need of a change of culture and results, Indiana believes its got the right man spearheading the charge.
Until proven wrong, why should they believe otherwise?
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