Coach Nick Saban of Alabama Endorses Curt Cignetti, the New Coach of Indiana
Bloomington, Indiana: On Thursday, Indiana announced the hiring of Curt Cignetti, the coach of James Madison, to succeed Tom Allen as the 30th head coach of the Indiana football team. Cignetti, 62, comes to Bloomington with a 119–35 career record, which includes head coaching positions at Elon and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. According to a report from Chris Vannini of The Athletic, Cignetti, who will coach the Dukes in their bowl game, is currently leading James Madison to an 11-1 season. Since 1983, he has also served in a variety of offensive coaching capacities at Alabama, NC State, Pittsburgh, Rice, Temple, and Davidson.
Nick Saban, the coach of Alabama, was impressed by Cignetti and gave the new head coach of the Hoosiers his blessing. “Having known Curt for what seems like most of his life, I am thrilled for he and Manette and the Indiana fanbase, and am excited for this opportunity for him,” said Saban. Since he was with us at Alabama, I’ve really enjoyed getting to watch him grow. He has always been successful, so I have no doubt that Indiana will be a great place for him to continue his success. Not only are they getting an excellent coach, but they’re also getting a coach that follows the correct procedures. Curt and his family are having a wonderful day, and I am so proud of him.”
Prior to the 2007 season, Saban hired Cignetti as his wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator after he left the Miami Dolphins for Alabama. Cignetti stayed in Tuscaloosa until 2010, during which time he helped the Crimson Tide achieve a 43-11 record.
With a 14-0 record, Alabama won its first national championship under head coach Nick Saban in 2009. In addition, the Crimson Tide triumphed in the Capital One Bowl and Independence Bowl but fell short in the Sugar Bowl. Alabama was ranked No. 1 for at least one week in three of Cignetti’s four seasons.
In his capacity as Alabama’s wide receivers coach, Cignetti assisted in the development of future NFL star Julio Jones. Cignetti’s last three seasons and Jones’ three in Tuscaloosa corresponded exactly. In 2008, after gaining 924 receiving yards, Jones won the SEC Freshman of the Year award. In a three-year college career, he would go on to total 2,653 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns. After the 2010 campaign, Cignetti accepted his first head coaching position at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and Jones was selected sixth overall in the NFL Draft.
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Arkansas’s FAYETTEVILLE Bobby Petrino’s return to Arkansas to lead the offense has suddenly sparked a renewed interest in Razorback football, so it seemed worthwhile to look at the schedule for the upcoming season to see if any games will have a similar impact on the program. The entire 2024 schedule is ranked below based on how much fans are expected to care about each individual game. Whether or not Arkansas fans would be concerned if the Razorbacks were winless was one of the main factors considered when making the decisions. Indeed, there are a few games that fall into that category on this rather unusual schedule.
Perhaps the most fan-friendly schedule in history was made possible by conference expansion and the league’s willingness to hold off on deciding what format the SEC will use moving forward when creating schedules. The most startling realization of how things had changed was realizing there would be no Alabama game when checking to see if a date had been set officially. Without further ado, let’s discuss what fans can expect from them in nine months.
It’s disappointing to see Alonzo Hampton’s Golden Lions ranked this low because in-state teams ought to create some excitement, but there isn’t much because UAPB hasn’t proven to be even mildly competitive against Arkansas, and the game will take place at War Memorial Stadium, which might or might not have water and concessions on a hot August day.
Fans’ curiosity about how Bobby Petrino’s offense will play will be the only slight source of intrigue, but it won’t be significant. Ultimately, to what extent did they acquire knowledge about the Dan Enos offense when Western Carolina visited the Little Rock Zoo parking lot to play?
This game may have had a slightly higher rating at one point. Although the Bulldogs have fielded strong teams in the past, the program is currently unavailable. The slightest amount of attention will be paid if defensive lineman Kelvie Rose remains available. He was a musician in Ruston before moving to Arkansas. Who knows if fans will be watching at that point? This is the out-of-conference game that is always thrown in late November.
UAB is an AAC school at a lower tier. But, it will take place earlier in the season, immediately following the Oklahoma State game, so supporters will still be keeping an eye on the team at this point and hoping that, before Arkansas travels to Arlington two weeks later, the areas they have identified as weaknesses can be strengthened. It’s also possible that this is Fayetteville’s home opener.
This game will go to No. 8 if it is moved to the SEC opener, which it should be. However, since the league enjoys making Arkansas fans feel forced to watch this fictitious rivalry, it will probably stay at the end of the season, where it is always forgotten about. Although Missourians seem to take great pride in this game, Eli Drinkwitz’s act of smoking a cigar won’t be enough to change Arkansas’s perspective on it. There is now a genuine rivalry when it comes to basketball. It’s the match that ought to have a trophy.
Tiger supporters will contend that because Mizzou has been winning a lot lately, Razorback supporters should view them as rivals; however, SMU also defeated Arkansas a few times in the 1990s. Nevertheless, the Hogs didn’t view a WAC team as their rival, even though it infuriated fans more than the Tigers do.
Rather, upon Houston Nutt’s arrival, he decided to tackle the SMU problem. He made it his mission to put SMU in its proper place, where it belonged, so the program could concentrate on more important issues, and that’s precisely the situation with Missouri. Fans of Arkansas want the annoyance to be resolved so that attention can be fully directed toward football programs that are important to them.
This game will move up to No. 7 if KJ Jefferson decides to leave to become the quarterback in Starkville during Jeff Lebby’s rookie season. That’s not because people will harbor general animosity toward Jefferson. It will only be out of curiosity. This game moves up two spots if Lebby manages to sign Jefferson and appoints his brother-in-law, Kendal Briles, as his offensive coordinator. That’s because there will be a degree of mild contempt involved at that point.
Hugh Frost. White Walker. Have I brought up Hugh Freeze? This is as far as it needs to go. Fans of Arkansas will be satisfied if Bobby Petrino attempts one final score during kneel down time, even if he somehow hangs 75 on Auburn. Although fans aren’t too upset with the Tigers themselves, they would prefer to see Freeze coach Delta State and be soundly defeated.
This was once a pleasant little rivalry. This game once held the highest level of intrigue, from wanting to take down all those great quarterbacks back when Tennessee was actually good at football, to the Stoerner fumble and redemption, the six overtime game, the upset in Knoxville with an interim coach, and snatching elite recruits out of Warren. It’s difficult to deny that Arkansas fans would genuinely be interested in seeing the Vols play again because old habits die hard.
Because of how the season usually goes, Arkansas fans are always interested in this game. All Hog fans really want to know is whether the Razorbacks can put on a strong performance in their final game at Arlington; if they do, it could be a sign of great things to come.
Take out the Mississippi schools and win the non-conference, and bowl games usually fall into place. Ole Miss is usually the one game on the schedule where Arkansas has the best chance to defeat a ranked team. When the Rebels are at their best, the Razorbacks, led by Hugh Freeze or Lane Kiffin, have always managed to steal victories.
There’s extra intrigue because this is the season’s first major game and it’s being played in Stillwater on the road. For those who haven’t been, just picture what would happen if Mississippi State was suddenly plucked into the middle of Monticello, Osceola, or Booneville and then a wealthy individual decided to upgrade the football stadium. It ought to be an amazing match. For those who go in person, it just won’t be that much of a trip. There are very few hotels and restaurants in Stillwater, along with almost nothing in the way of major roads. There’s not much to see outside the football stadium itself, save for Eskimo Joe’s
