By Mark Pszonak
Before the transfer portal became the biggest thing in college sports, an overnight rebuild was extremely rare. Usually, it took a few years to hire a new coach, recruit better players and then hopefully have them develop. But nowadays, everything is different. And a situation like Indiana, which would’ve been impossible only a few years ago, may be the start of a trend.
With Tom Allen in charge, the Hoosiers had their moments, but during his last three seasons he was only able to lead Indiana to a 9-27 record. That led to an understandable coaching change and the arrival of Curt Cignetti.
Coach Cignetti became a hot name during his time at James Madison where in five seasons with the Dukes he led them to a 52-9 record. Most impressive was James Madison’s 19-4 record during Cignetti’s last two seasons, which were the program’s first two at the FBS level. Most schools making that epic leap struggle, but James Madison thrived.
A new coach always brings hope and expectations. But Cignetti did more than that, as he also brought numerous important players from James Madison with him. What would’ve been impossible a couple of years ago became a reality in Bloomington.
Some of the JMU transfers who have played vital roles this season for undefeated Indiana include WR Elijah Sarratt (32 rec, 578 yds, 3 TD), DE Mikail Kamara (22 tackles, 8.5 TFL, 6 sacks), DT James Carpenter (16 tackles, 6.5 TFL, 3 sacks), LB Jailin Walker (40 tackles, 3 TFL), LB Aiden Fisher (66 tackles, 3 TFL, 1.5 sacks) and CB D’Angelo Ponds (35 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 5 PD) have led the way. Other transfers have also made huge impacts, such as QB Kurtis Rouke (Ohio), RB Justice Ellison (Wake Forest), and DB Shawn Asbury II (Old Dominion), but without the group from James Madison, Indiana wouldn’t be where they are now.
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Coach Cignetti and his transfers have helped the Hoosiers to a 7-0 start and #13 ranking. A position that nobody outside of the football offices in Bloomington thought was possible. No matter how this season concludes, Indiana’s success has brought immeasurable positive attention to the program.
Even if next season proves to be more of a struggle, with many of the transfers running out of eligibility, Indiana and Coach Cignetti have proven that this philosophy can work. Hire an up-and-coming G5 coach and then have numerous of his players follow him to his new school through the transfer portal. Its not guaranteed success, but its enough to have some copycats in the next few years.
Expect it to happen again. But will it work again? Now that will be the interesting part. It takes the right coach, the right transfers, the right players already in place and the right new school. In other words, it is far from simple. This Indiana season my just be a perfect storm for the Hoosiers which can’t be copied, but you can be sure that other schools will try.
