Paul Finebaum Makes Bold Declaration About Curt Cignetti

Dismissive Fans

Fans were quick to dismiss Finebaum's critiques of the deal as nothing more than SEC bias. Many asserted that if Cignetti were coaching at an SEC school that Finebaum would be singing his praises to the high heavens.

"Let's be honest here...if Cignetti was coaching a SEC team, Paul Finebaum would be absolutely falling over himself declaring this is the greatest deal ever made!" one user argued on X.

"Finebaum hates there’s a new player on the scene and they aren’t from the SEC," another remarked.

"If Cig was at an SEC school he’d call it the greatest deal ever."

Different Standards

While Finebaum certainly has a point that Indiana could regret giving Cignetti so much guaranteed money if the program doesn't maintain this level of excellence, he may be looking at it through the wrong lens.

Indiana is not a school that is in any way used to success in football. For half a century they were primarily a basketball school where football was a complete after-thought.

The examples that Finebaum listed off that failed were Michigan State, Texas A&M and Penn State. What do those programs have in common? They're all football schools with decades of storied football history and have come close to tasting excellence for decades.

The standard at Indiana is much, much lower by comparison. And while Cignetti has raised the bar considerably with his early success, he doesn't need to be the next Nick Saban, Kirby Smart or Urban Meyer to go down as the greatest coach in IU history.

If Cignetti goes his entire career in Bloomington with a record identical to that of former Penn State head coach James Franklin, he'll probably get a statue and the stadium named after him.