NOTEBOOK: Top-Seeded Hoosiers Embrace Alabama Challenge, Rose Bowl Opportunity
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Curt Cignetti wants no part of a one-and-done playoff repeat. His top-seeded Indiana Hoosiers (13-0) embrace their Jan. 1 Rose Bowl opportunity against ninth-seeded Alabama (11-3) with the relentless preparation that has earned them this playoff quarterfinal challenge.
“We need to have a great two weeks of preparation against a great Alabama team,” Cignetti said during a Rose Bowl press conference. “The team's excited about it, but we’re going through the process.”
IU’s only other Rose Bowl appearance came in 1968, when it lost to top-ranked USC 14-3. It did play there last season against UCLA and won 42-13.
The Hoosiers face a Crimson Tide program that has won 16 official national titles, including six under former head coach Nick Saban. IU, until this season the losingest program in major college football history, has never won one.
“The Rose Bowl's got a lot of great tradition,” Cignetti said. “A lot of great players and teams have competed in that game.
“We're playing a great opponent that has a history of tremendous success. And the Rose Bowl's a great venue. We played there against UCLA last year. So, we've been there once before. It ought to be a tremendous environment.”
Alabama’s playoff first-round rally from an early 17-0 deficit to win at Oklahoma impressed Cignetti. The Crimson Tide are coached by Kalen DeBoer, IU’s offensive coordinator in 2019 before moving on to become the head coach at Fresno State, Washington, and now Alabama.
“That was a tremendous comeback on the road in a hostile environment,” Cignetti said. “To come back from 17 points down and come out with a win, it tells you a lot about the character of their team. They've got a lot of great players. They're extremely well-coached. They're a really good team. It will be a tremendous challenge.”
Cignetti said he watched previous Alabama games during the Hoosiers’ two bye weeks.
“I'm a film junkie, and I've always enjoyed studying Coach DeBoer's offenses from the time he was at Washington. I got to watch their first Georgia game (a Crimson Tide victory) and some of their other things. They do a lot of really great stuff.”
IU made the playoffs last season for the first time in its history, losing at eventual national runner-up Notre Dame, 27-17. The loss hurt then. It still does.
“We went to the playoffs last season,” Cignetti said, “fell short, weren't happy with the way we played. We definitely want to improve upon that.”
Cignetti spent four years at Alabama under Saban as the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator from 2007-10. The Crimson Tide went 12-0 during the 2008 regular season and lost to Florida and coach Urban Meyer and quarterback Tim Tebow in the SEC title game. In 2009, they went 14-0 and won the national championship as part of a 29-game winning streak, beating Florida in the SEC title game and then Texas in the Rose Bowl.
Cignetti helped recruit standout players such as Heisman Trophy winning running back Mark Ingram, linebacker Dont’a Hightower, and receiver Julio Jones.
“We had a great experience at Alabama,” Cignetti said. “It was a real important part of my journey. I learned a lot from Coach Saban in terms of organization, standards, stopping complacency. I wouldn't be where I am today without my time under Nick.”
Cignetti learned well. He’s 143-37 in 15 seasons as a head coach and has never had a losing record in stops at Indiana University-Pennsylvania, Elon, James Madison, and now IU. His 24-2 record with the Hoosiers ties Meyer, who later coached at Ohio State, for the most victories by a Big Ten coach in his first two seasons.
The Hoosiers were just 9-27 in the three years before Cignetti’s arrival.
“What he's done is amazing, just building the program as quickly as he's done to the level it's at,” DeBoer said.
“Coach Cignetti has done a great job providing the spark, which really leads to people continuing to be all in. As you get more people all in, you get the moments that you're in right now. So, I think it works off of each other, the energy and the commitment to the success, working hand in hand with the people that are there.”
Cignetti said he used Saban’s blueprint for building a staff and a player roster and developing a winning culture.
“I probably think about it every single day, to be quite honest, because it had such a big impact in my growth and development. I think philosophically, the program that we run here is probably a lot more the same than different than Alabama. There's probably not a day that goes by where I don't draw from those experiences.”
Cignetti said Saban had reservations when he told him he was leaving Alabama for a small-school head coaching job.
“He had some questions about whether that would be a very good move for me. I was ready to run my own show. I had been an assistant coach -- I was hitting 50, and really I started my full-time coaching career at age 23 at Rice University when they were in the Southwest Conference. So, I'd been doing it 28 years.
“I was ready for something different. I respected his opinion, but I decided to make the move. I can't say there weren't many mornings early on where I wondered what I did because it was such a tremendous, radical change. But at the end of the day, it prepared me for where I am today.”
In the aftermath of the Big Ten title game win over Ohio State, IU signed defensive coordinator Bryant Haines and offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan to three-year contract extensions.
Both coordinators direct units that rank among the nation’s best. Offensively, the Hoosiers lead the Big Ten in scoring (41.9 points a game), rushing (221.2 yards a game), and total yards (472.8). They also have the Heisman Trophy winner in quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who completes 71.5 percent of his passes for 2,980 yards, a best-in-the-nation 33 touchdowns and six interceptions. Defensively, they are second in points allowed (10.8) and total yards allowed (257.2).
Haines, a Broyles Award finalist for the second-straight season, and Shanahan previously coached with Cignetti at James Madison, Elon, and IU-Pennsylvania.
“Both those guys have been with me a long time,” Cignetti said. “They both do a great job.
“Bryant had some calls (from other programs). He had some people very seriously interested in him. We thought it was important to be proactive.
“We also wanted to lock Mike up, who's very deserving. And I'm glad we did. At the end of the season, we'll move on with the rest of staff.”
Alabama’s DeBoer understands the challenge IU represents.
“The thing that jumps out at me is how well they work together, the offensive line, in particular, and just everyone being in sync,” he said.
“They're always moving forward. And the opposite end, the defense, has the tackles for losses and is physical, as well.
“With Mendoza winning the Heisman, that doesn't happen by accident. You put a whole season of film together, of games, and stringing them each and every week and you end up undefeated because a trigger man can make some plays and do his things at an extremely high level.
“I look at their skill around the offensive line, they just all complement each other. They make plays. When the opportunities are there, they get it done.
“There's great coaching to put players in spots to succeed, but also the guys, you can see they play with a swagger, with a confidence, and as they should with the success they've had.”
As for the Crimson Tide, they had one of the season’s most impressive stretches with wins at Georgia and at Missouri, and victories over Vanderbilt and Tennessee, all ranked teams over four-straight weeks.
They are led by quarterback Ty Simpson, who has thrown for 3,500 yards, 28 touchdowns and five interceptions while completing 64.1 percent of his passes.
Player speed is important for DeBoer. It’s among the reasons why he retained strength coach David Ballou, who was the previous strength coach at IU under then head coach Tom Allen, and then under Saban.
“We had as many guys hit their top speeds (against Oklahoma) as we have since the Tennessee game (on Oct. 18), and that's tied for the most players over 20 miles an hour all year,” DeBoer said. “It's great to have more players playing fast in the big moments.”
If Cignetti had his way, IU would not have a 26-day gap between beating Ohio State in the Big Ten title game and playing in the playoff quarterfinals.
“It is what it is, so you make the most of it,” he said. “The way we approached it until we knew the opponent, we treated it like two bye weeks. Now we have almost two weeks to prepare for the opponent.
“Would I prefer to play earlier? Yeah, I probably would, but that's not the case. We're excited about playing. We're off to a good start. And it will be a tremendous challenge.”
Like Cignetti, DeBoer had to work his way up to elite coaching success. He was a wide receiver at the University of Sioux Falls, then became a high school assistant coach before becoming the Sioux Falls offensive coordinator and an assistant baseball coach, and then its head football coach.
Then he became the offensive coordinator at Southern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Fresno State and then, in 2019, Indiana. That led to head coaching jobs at Fresno State, Washington, and now Alabama.
“I wouldn't trade it for the world,” DeBoer said about his coaching journey. “I think there's things that you do that give you an appreciation for the moment you're in, having an opportunity to be here at Alabama. But I also think there's moments you go through. With the playoffs the way they are, us having to go four rounds, been through that many, many years, whether it was as an assistant or as a head coach, going back to Sioux Falls days.”
DeBoer helped IU finish 8-5 in his one season there.
“I felt like when we were there, there was a growth, an investment that was happening,” he said. “It felt like you were getting over the hump and that extended into the next season as well.”
Added Cignetti: “I've been following (DeBoer’s) program for a long time. He started out at a lower level like I did. Ever since he went to Washington, I have really studied his offense. I think he's a great coach.”