They aren't nearly as good as those teams talent wise either. They have top 25 talent for sure but not top 10
Curt Cignetti
- Thread starter CyVik7
- Start date
one thing to keep in mind is Bama does not have the NIL that a lot of their conference peers have. For example, there is simply a lot more money at Texas A and M or Tennessee than there is at Bama. Before NIL, kids were willing to go to Bama and be a back up for 2 or 3 years and get their shot and then land an NFL contract. Now the quality depth is not there, those 4 stars that may have to wait behind another 4 or 5 star for their turn, are not doing that anymore. They can go somewhere else, get paid more money, and see the field sooner. So I don't think it is fair to compare DeBoer's situation simply because NIL is the equalizer, it has taken away the advantages that Alabama used to have.
Their resources right now do not lag Iowa or MSU. Across the board their talent is not at the level of OSU and the top SEC teams for sure. But having far and away the best player at far and away the most important position is one hell of an equalizer.
Not to downplay Cignetti. Pretty easily the best coach in the country. But by all indications they shelled out some serious cash for Mendoza and a lot of their other transfers. They got a good number of P5 transfers.
Cignetti is incredible. But they stepped up to be a serious NIL player. They’re not going to outspend OSU or Texas, but they are definitely top half of the Big 10 spenders with an elite coach, and made some incredible investments with NIL.
Alabama has the NIL money to spend. That's not the issue. They are one of the most profitable Athletic Departments in the country and have wealthy donors. Not sure why people keep saying that they cannot compete in NIL? Now, it might not currently be as efficient as some places due to Saban being able to recruit at will promising an NFL future possibility, but they are not an NIL poor. Either way, DeBoer is still not anywhere near as good of a coach as Cignetti (Saban protege). DeBoer is literally destroying the program. However, he won't get fired, but his seat is going to be so hot - I bet he takes another job next year with less pressure like Curry and Franchione die. One can hope.
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They still don't have the resources of the Oregon and Ohio State's of the world. They have comparable facilities to maybe Iowa. They aren't loaded with NFL draft picks other than Mendoza either. There's not another coach in college football that could have stepped into that situation and even sniffed that kind of success given the resources and talent.
they are not NIL poor, but there is simply not as much money in Birmingham as there is in Houston and Atlanta. Schools like Georgia and Texas A and M can buy better rosters than Bama.
Alabama still has a coaching issue. If they fix that, they will be fine.
In the latest CBS mock draft the only teams I see with more guys projected in the first two rounds than Indiana were Ohio State and Oregon.
Top to bottom they aren't nearly at the level of talent as the Ohio State's and Oregon's of the world. This is Dantonio at Michigan State on steroids. Its the same pedigree, same cockiness, etc...
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Yes Ohio State and Oregon are a level above. But I think people view Indiana as Mendoza and a mediocre roster around him. It’s not. Projected to have more guys go in the first two rounds than UGA, Bama, Michigan, Ole Miss, Miami, A&M and everybody other than OSU and Oregon.
I look at Indiana as more like a roster full of really really good college players instead of a roster full of draft day talent. Think of it like a roster full of Mike Rose and Brock Purdy type players. You give me 40 of those guys and make them upperclassmen and you could can build a natty contender with great coaching.
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Imagine making a roster full of great ISU players who never made it in the NFL but were all conference type and sometimes all-americans and add a great coach. You run a 4-2-5 and your front 7 is Berryman, Reggie Hayward, Curvey, Orange(rotate in guys like Nick Leaders) with your LB's being Klein/Rose and Jake Knott/Ace Bowen/Tim Dobbins. That's the type of dynamic Indiana has. If you have 40-50 guys that are all-conference type players and get them on the same page you'll have something special. The organization Cignetti has built is unreal.
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I love listening to guys like that. People who are confident, have a plan in place for every situation, work hard, etc . are going to be successful. He's the type of guy who would have been great at whatever he did. You could take his philosophy and apply it to yourself or any career. Chris Peterson is the same way. There is a reason a lot of these guys are brought in to speak to teams in all professions a lot.
We had a rah rah coach. Took us further than anyone ... except I'd argue Bruce and Majors who did more with far less. But Campbell couldn't coach his way out of a wet paper bag if faced with adversity. He's mentally challenged during the moment ... and doesn't pass the test during key in game moments. But its over... thankfuliy, because he couldn't deliver even a conference championship.
We were never that sharp consistently under Campbell that's for sure. For all the good games we played we had more than our share that were plagued by penalties and stupid mistakes. That's not a talent issue it's a coaching issue
Except that isn’t Indiana. They have the best player in the sport and the first overall pick plus three other guys that are probably going to be drafted in the first two rounds.
Not that a single year and draft tells the full story, but other than OSU and Oregon they are likely to be better represented in the first two rounds of the draft than anyone else.
We had some incredible wins when not expected ... and kept games close ... when historically (80s 90s) we didn't. But damn if we didn't implode when we should have kicked a**. Repeatedly. No killer instinct. Just YMCA win attitude.
They aren't stacked top to bottom though. They are just really good. They may be the best tackling team I've ever seen honestly. And Mendoza became what he is because of Indiana. This is a 2 star guy that was really good at Cal. Not a 5 star high school guy that had been torching the west coast for the last several years. Is he the #1 pick if he stays at Cal? Is he even drafted?
I was in the 'well they're winning overall so whatevs' camp but I can't count how many games ISU looked really out of sorts for most of it but either pulled it off or at least came close somehow.
We'd play 2 great games then absolutely look like hell in the 3rd. Campbell was good but he wasn't great. I never thought he was. We beat some teams we shouldn't have but we lost plenty that we should have won. Had Heacock not revamped the defense in year 2 Campbell would have been screwed.
