Indiana Hoosiers Head Coach Remains Flexible, But Wants Level NIL Playing Field

Name, Image, and Likeness has driven many of the older football coaches from the ranks, with even the legendary Nick Saban calling it quits and working with the president of the country to try and reverse course.

The same can not be said of Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti. Cignetti, 63, is one of the few coaches his age who remain amidst the ever-changing landscape that is collegiate athletics in the era of NIL. For Cignetti, it is all about adapting to the changes and being flexible.

“You got to adjust, adapt, or die,” Cignetti said at a Bloomington fundraiser earlier this month via The Daily Hoosier. “You got to be light on your feet and be flexible, which I’ve tried to do the last five years.”

Indiana Hoosiers Head Coach Curt Cignetti Calls for Level NIL Playing Field

While Cignetti is not afraid of change, he does still want things to be fair across the board. In collegiate athletics, much like the professional leagues the colleges feed, there are have's and there are have-nots. As things currently stand, the Hoosiers can only be considered a "have-not."

“I’d like to be able to see some regulation down the road so that us, Texas, and Oregon are playing by the same rules,” Cignetti said. “I don’t think it’s too much to ask for, but it’s a complicated issue right now when you get the courts involved.”

The national powers like the Texas Longhorns, the Oregon Ducks, and the Ohio State Buckeyes are filled to the brim with donors to their NIL programs willing to throw major donations at their favorite schools to help them win. The national not-so-powerfuls are at a stark disadvantage, even with a historically known name like Indiana.

The NCAA and the conferences within did agree to a settlement that is currently in the final stages of approval. It is expected to bring more rules and regulations to the NIL landscape, including a cap of around $20.5 million that schools can spend on student-athletes.

That settlement will still have to make it through the final stages of approval, as well as Title IX vetting. Should it make it through successfully, it should prove to be a good stepping stone for NIL that can bring more parity back into collegiate athletics.

That parity is all Cignetti is asking for. It would be better for the lesser-known programs, and better for the products that are put on the field across the board.