The Indiana Hoosiers are the reigning national champions in college football. A big reason for that is Curt Cignetti and his ability to bring in talent from the Transfer Portal. The Hoosiers have brought in those players by using a treasure trove of NIL money.
Indiana has an extremely wealthy donor base, which helps their NIL efforts. Despite that, Cignetti has claimed that the team doesn’t spend as much money as has been reported. NIL has been a hot topic of discussion in college football, especially in a new bill that has been introduced in the Senate.
Cignetti is now sounding the alarm on the current state of college football and the spending that is occurring within the NIL space.
GettyIndiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti reacts during a game. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images for ONIT)
Hoosiers Head Coach Curt Cignetti Wants NIL Spending Curtailed
Cignetti thinks that college football as we know it will cease to exist if something is not done soon.
“The market is pretty expensive — it’s scary. It’s scary. I think players should get paid. But something’s going to have to be done in the next 12 to 24 months, or universities might not be able to handle this. College football won’t exist the way we’re going right now.”
Many coaches have talked about guardrails that need to occur when it comes to NIL spending. Some want some sort of cap instituted, while others want a totally free market. It’s clear that whatever the College Sports Commission has implemented is not really working.
Cignetti believes that the sport needs some outside guidance since no one can seem to get anything done within the sport. A cap would actually hurt the Hoosiers, since they have people such as Mark Cuban who can write expensive NIL checks to help fund the football program.
Bills have failed in Congress to try to fix college football. That doesn’t seem to be resolved anytime soon, even with another bipartisan bill being introduced. Indiana and the rest of college football will be watching what happens with this one.
GettyIndiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti looks on during the national championship. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Indiana is More Focused on Defending Their National Title
While Cignetti is worried about what happens in the future, he is more worried about defending his team’s national championship. The Hoosiers are now the hunted in the Big Ten, and he knows that the team has to figure out how to operate from a different lens.
Josh Hoover is the new starting quarterback for the Hoosiers, and Cignetti believes he can work the same magic with him that he did with Fernando Mendoza. The schedule is a little tougher, as they get Ohio State and Michigan in back-to-back weeks this year.
However, Indiana gets the Buckeyes at home, and they are already favored in that game. That is the first time in the modern era that Indiana has been favored in a game over Ohio State.
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