I know they spent money on players, but it wasn't the best of the best. They had to flip their roster much like Stein is doing. I'm not sure where we are at, isn't it like 30 players now? My point is UK can do the same thing.
Wow
- Thread starter FreedomWallace
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I hope so. Seems like Stein is at mimimum going to compete and make it enjoyable to watch.
They did indeed have some of the best. They weren't the best recruits or the best nfl potential, but they were some of the best college players. That's all that really counts anyway.
They got to bring almost an entire top 25 jmu team with him. Had a good but way overrated first year. Then money injection hit and they landed Mendoza and an almost entirely new wr corp plus more.
They didn’t spend that much. They didn’t go out and buy talent. They identified guys who are team players, some under the radar talent, and key guys are certain positions like QB/RB/WR. The coaching is what won them the title along with an entire team on the same page where everyone knew their role and played it to perfection. It was a perfect storm.
For the 2025 season, estimates placed Indiana's football NIL budget around
$20-$21 million, with some sources reporting it just under $20 million and others at $21.1 million, supported by booster Mark Cuban and a focus on strategic portal pickups, leading to a successful championship run.
Key
I told my GF before we watched the game that Beck would throw at least 1 int, he saved it for the last play of the game lol.
Welcome to the NIL era. Cash is an even bigger king than it was before NIL came around.
IU is a great story, but a giant part of this is Cignetti having a substantial backing from Cuban (and I’m sure some others) to go get the exact coaches and players he wanted. Again, cash is king.
Absolutely. And he gives all the glory to the Lord. But this IU team was one of the better football teams of the last several years in my mind. Watched the online all the time and they were one of the very best of the last several years. Precision
Hoover is an exciting QB who needs to make better decisions. I think IU will have a good one. That staff may be really good for him.
Every AD in the past 45 years has taken heat from a portion of this fanbase. Mitch has been a really good AD for football. He has made some mistakes, but football has really improved under his watch.
The past 2 years for IU have been remarkable. But , remove those two years and UK has been better under Mitch. But I get it, we’ve never really seen a turnaround like IU in CFB history, but now that it has happened, fans of all non-traditional powers will demand it.
For the record, they have just won 3 in a row. Prior to that, the SEC won 4 in row. If you include the ACC, it gets more interesting. Before this current Big 10 streak, 8 national titles were won by either the ACC or the SEC. Ohio State won it in 2014 and Florida State won it in 2013. The prior 7 national champs all came from the SEC.
To sum it all up, the SEC has dominated the national title games beginning in 2006 with SEC teams winning it 12 times to the Big 10 winning 4.
I think you hold an opinion on Mitch that would definitely be in the minority of the fanbase which is fine. The hiring of Will Stein is certainly a feather in Mitch's cap, so far (time will tell), and he deserves all the credit for it (again, so far). But how we arrived at Stein is something that is debatable. What I mean by that is would Mitch have hired Stein if Stoops loses to UL 28-21? I think Stoops would still be here, which would be a major mistake, but make no mistake, he would still be here.
Look at the excitement of Stein, the portal successes, the coaching hires, the football gm, the overall movement of UK football into the 21st century/NIL/Portal-era of college football (implemented by Stein). None of that would be happening if Stoops doesn't lose to UL 41-0. So you have to ask yourself, why?