‘It’s coaching, but it’s entertainment’: Curt Cignetti’s bravado on display at Big Ten Media Days

INDIANAPOLIS — While Washington head coach Jedd Fisch answered questions from media on the main podium at Lucas Oil Stadium, Curt Cignetti gathered himself for his turn on stage.

The lights were bright and the scene was big at Big Ten Media Days. Cignetti had a loaded day ahead of him with various interviews, press conferences, and other media work. And he capitalized on one of the fleeting free moments he had. As Fisch spoke, Cignetti paced around the turf behind the stage aimlessly, by himself. He seemed to use those few minutes to get in the right headspace to speak in front of the large group of media gathered in Indianapolis. And when Fisch’s press conference ended and he walked off stage, Cignetti was there to greet him with an immediate handshake.

That wasn’t common behavior among the other coaches who appeared on Thursday. Some hadn’t even emerged from the tunnel by that point before their press conference. Others remained stationary and chatted with their SIDs next to the stage.

And from the moment he took the stage, Cignetti was his usual self: overflowing in his style of snarky bravado. He’s not afraid to throw his successful track record in people’s faces. He’s heard all too much about Indiana football’s troubled history, and he’s supremely confident he has the secret recipe to get the Hoosiers humming.

“Normally at these things, I stand up here and we’re picked to win the league. It’s just usually how it’s been. I have been picked next-to-last twice. We’re picked 17th out of an 18-team league, and I get it. The two times we were picked next to last, in 2022, we won the conference championship, and in 2017 we inherited an 8-45 team and won eight in a row and played JMU the last game of the year for the conference championship,” Cignetti said. “Now, I’m not into making predictions, that’s just a historical fact. I know you guys have been waiting for me to say something crazy. That wasn’t quite crazy.”

Cignetti has talked like that since his first day in Bloomington, when he boldly shared his vision for the program during his introductory press conference — and later produced a viral moment at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall by dissing Purdue, Michigan, and Ohio State.

He’s made clear that he isn’t trying to be disrespectful towards opponents, instead trying to generate buzz around his football program. Sure, he may go a step too far sometimes — a diminished filter that Cignetti said comes with age. But a lot of Cignetti’s character seems calculated, whether to excite fans, motivate players, or encourage donors or whatever other audience he has.

“I’ve kind of had to speak a big game taking over a job like this because we had to wake some people up and create some excitement. And after all, this is the entertainment business too,” Cignetti said. “It’s coaching, but it’s entertainment.”

By all accounts, Cignetti is just wired with this confidence. His energy and bold personality never shut off. He’s like this all the time.

And it rubs off on his players. When he goes out in the media and makes brash comments, IU players see the clips and spread them around their group chats. It fires them up.

“The thing with coach Cig and how contagious his attitude and his self-belief is, it’s huge for our team. We have a guy that’s going out there and he believes so highly in himself just because of the way he prepares himself. So that kind of leads into us,” said linebacker Aiden Fisher, who played for Cignetti the last two seasons at JMU. “And we believe so much in ourselves and what we can do because we have the guy at the head of it who’s taking care of things on the back end to where there’s nothing that we’re not prepared for. It’s because he’s taking care of those things behind the scenes.”

Cignetti’s persona has worked as intended through the offseason. IU fans have exuded the excitement he’s wanted. He said the response has been positive around Bloomington. He’s more than talked the talk for the last eight months.

His confidence will be put to the test when fall camp begins next week. Words don’t win football games, which is clearly what Cignetti all about. Indiana will need its play to back up its coach’s conviction. It could work out, and it could fall spectacularly flat. But if nothing else, he’ll make sure it’s entertaining.

As a new IU football season dawns, this much is clear: the energy around IU football is noticeably changed.

“With coach Cignetti and the confidence he brings to this program, this community, I think the fans are getting behind him and us, and I think that’s what we needed,” offensive lineman Mike Katic said. “We needed some support — not that we don’t get the support from the fans and the community, but it’s feeling different this year.”

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