1 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:10,240 You're listening to the Back Home Network presented by Home 2 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:22,120 Field Apparel. Welcome back to Crimson Cast, 3 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:24,400 Galen Clavio, Scott Caulfield joining you. 4 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:28,080 It is Saturday, November 16th. Scott. 5 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:33,400 It's the buy and yet Indiana still won as we get news this 6 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:37,920 morning early early on that Kurt Signetti has signed a contract 7 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:39,480 extension. Indiana stepping up to the 8 00:00:39,480 --> 00:00:43,560 plate, getting it done. We are still digesting all of 9 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:46,320 the news right now, but we're excited to be talking about 10 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:48,640 this. I, I texted Scott, I was like, 11 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:51,440 Scott, we should do an emergency podcast. 12 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:53,360 And Scott's like, I just got out of bed. 13 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:54,840 Like, I haven't been on the Internet yet. 14 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:57,520 What's happening? So we're catching Scott up on 15 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:00,680 the way here. But this is great news right off 16 00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:02,800 the bat, Scott, we can react to the top story. 17 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:05,680 Kurt Zignetti, according to reports. 18 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:06,360 Wait. It's not. 19 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:08,280 It's not about the Tyson. Fight it's not about the Tyson 20 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:10,120 yeah, I. Thought we were talking about 21 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:12,000 Tyson. That deserves a whole different 22 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:15,960 podcast, I think. But no, $8 million a year 23 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:19,760 average annual compensation for Kurt Signetti in this new deal 24 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:23,520 along with a $1 million annual retention bonus. 25 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,080 We'll talk about that a little bit later on and what that 26 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:31,080 means. Contract runs through 2032. 27 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:34,960 So, Scott, they have managed to lock up Kurt Signetti for the 28 00:01:34,960 --> 00:01:39,040 rest of the decade and then some, basically two additional 29 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:45,000 years on to what he already had. And well, just First off, it's 30 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:48,720 great finally to be able when people say or ask like, well, 31 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:50,720 what are you gonna do when Kurt Signetti gets picked up by a 32 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:53,760 bigger school? Now we can say, hey, suck it. 33 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:56,240 Don't need to listen to you on that at this point. 34 00:01:57,040 --> 00:01:58,320 I guess. Let me get your initial 35 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:00,960 reactions on all of this so far. Scott, what are your thoughts? 36 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:03,200 I mean, it's awesome. I mean, it's, it's, it's 37 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:06,920 fantastic. He's Signetti has a plan. 38 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:09,080 Signetti has obviously turned things around. 39 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:11,800 This is the best season Indiana's ever had. 40 00:02:12,920 --> 00:02:15,480 And by the way, like it could get better, right? 41 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:19,840 Yeah, if they win next weekend, which isn't out of the realm of 42 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:22,240 possibility, then suddenly it's like this is, this is a pretty 43 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:25,120 good deal. I I have, I, I have a ton of 44 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:27,400 thoughts about him leaving. So if you've been asking about 45 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:28,960 it, you know, the last like 5 or 6 weeks. 46 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:31,760 So I definitely have takes. But here here's the high level 47 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:36,400 thing is, you know, initially people might think for, you 48 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:38,560 know, for those of us who are fans and like signetics, like 49 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:40,640 this is great. The other side of the coin is 50 00:02:40,640 --> 00:02:42,200 like, oh man, you just lock yourself in. 51 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:46,560 It's like, well, yes, but you know, Indiana also needs someone 52 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:49,000 to drag them into high level football. 53 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:51,360 And so I'm not saying it's not going to work. 54 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:55,040 But even if things don't end great, like the the Tom Allen 55 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:58,200 thing wasn't awesome, but what it did do was raise the price of 56 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:01,920 our coach, which able to get us a coach like Signeti and so, and 57 00:03:01,920 --> 00:03:03,720 I'm, I'm not I'm not already being negative, but it's like, 58 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:07,160 even if things don't work out fantastic, you're still showing 59 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:09,560 like, all right, IU's willing to pay 8 million a year for a 60 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:13,120 coach, which means we're in the echelon that we need to be in as 61 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:15,720 a football. Program I think that's a really 62 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:18,480 good way to to frame it Scott. You know, it's one of those 63 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:22,800 things where you have to keep in mind that what Indiana was 64 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:27,080 paying Signetti this season was a significant raise over what he 65 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:29,600 was making at James Madison. Like I heard a lot of people say 66 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:32,720 he's only the 49th highest paid coach in in the country. 67 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:36,960 But look, he's the 49th highest paid coach after having made 68 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:41,600 like $650,000 a year at JMU. Like he took a big jump there. 69 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:45,320 So, you know, this was not necessarily going to be somebody 70 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:48,400 who was only going to be cashing in because, you know, this was a 71 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:50,480 cash in already as far as he was concerned. 72 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:54,400 But the number that is being talked about here, $8 million a 73 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:58,200 year with a basically a $1 million a year kicker. 74 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:00,600 This is this is really interesting stuff. 75 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:04,120 You know, if you look at the the top highest paid coaches, I'm 76 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:05,160 going to go ahead and call this up. 77 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:10,520 I'm not sure how well it will actually show here, but for 78 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:12,680 those who aren't watching, actually that's not showing very 79 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:14,000 well at all. I'm just going to take it off 80 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:15,800 and move us back to where we were. 81 00:04:16,079 --> 00:04:18,920 But if you go down the list of the highest paid coaches in 82 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:21,760 college football, Kirby Smart's the highest paid. 83 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:24,760 He makes about $13.2 million a year. 84 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:30,160 Dabo Sweeney's at 11,000,000, Steve Sarkisian's at 10, Lincoln 85 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:32,920 Riley's at 10, Mike Norvell and Kaylyn de Boer at 10. 86 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:37,280 Everybody else is in that the the under 10 million range. 87 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:42,640 And when you look at $8 million a year, that's 15th, 16th in the 88 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:44,240 country. That's more than Mario Cristobal 89 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:46,600 makes at Miami. It's more than Mike Gundy makes 90 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:49,080 at Oklahoma State. It's more than Jed Fish and Luke 91 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:53,080 Fickle are making. These are numbers that really do 92 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:57,000 indicate like this is a serious program that is going to go out 93 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,280 and pay top dollar for a successful coach. 94 00:05:00,280 --> 00:05:03,600 And, you know, you look, there are SEC schools who are paying 95 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:06,240 their coaches less than annual salary billion. 96 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:08,320 Napier is only making 7.3 million. 97 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:11,400 Mike Elko at Texas A&M is making 7 million. 98 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:14,680 So, you know, Matt Rule is only making six and a half million at 99 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:17,160 Nebraska. Like these are big brand name 100 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:21,200 football programs. And for Indiana, where, you 101 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:24,960 know, 10 years ago, as you, as you kind of allude to, they're 102 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:28,360 not paying much at all for head coaches, for assistant coaches, 103 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,440 This is a huge amount of money. It's a huge investment in the 104 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:34,400 program. And as we look at what Zach 105 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:38,960 Osterman's tweet looked like earlier on, it's also about, you 106 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:41,480 know, continued capital improvements with the program. 107 00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:44,560 We heard the news earlier this week about renovating the 108 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:46,680 stadium. It's about increasing the 109 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:48,640 assistant pool. I think I saw that in one of the 110 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:51,720 reportings as well. Just a lot of things being done 111 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:55,440 in a very short period of time as Indiana tries to jump start 112 00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:59,760 this football program into an echelon financially where it can 113 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:03,440 actually compete with the top teams in the Big 10 and college 114 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:05,400 football as a whole. Well, the other thing that I saw 115 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:09,440 in there in in the Indy Star report that I'm just reading is 116 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:11,520 that you know, that IU is planning and going to get 117 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:13,960 together to do a financial Memorial Stadium renovation, as 118 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:17,640 you said, but you you need signetti to to run that program 119 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:19,560 like, and this is the kind of news that can help. 120 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:22,880 And it's, I also like it because you know, the, again, if you're 121 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:25,160 a naysayer, you could be like, man, it's only as he finished 122 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:27,280 his first season. It's like, well, it's been a 123 00:06:27,280 --> 00:06:29,640 pretty good first season. Like if you're going to, if 124 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:32,280 you're going to ask someone to get extended in their first 125 00:06:32,280 --> 00:06:35,800 year, like going 10 and O having college game day here, like just 126 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:37,320 doing everything that we've done. 127 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:39,080 This is pretty good. I mean, you've asked, this is 128 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:40,560 about everything you would ask for. 129 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:43,760 The other thing is something that you and I have talked about 130 00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:48,760 for a while is, you know, for, for Indiana to get to where it 131 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:53,400 wants, where we want it all to be, you can't just continually 132 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:56,200 kind of go at a 2% increase every year. 133 00:06:56,560 --> 00:06:59,280 You know, you, you have to understand that basically from 134 00:06:59,280 --> 00:07:02,560 when we went to college until you know, kind of the Kevin 135 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:05,080 Wilson era, they just didn't focus on football. 136 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:06,800 I mean, I guess maybe with Hefner, they started with the 137 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:09,680 South end zone, but like for a 10 to 12 year span there, they 138 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:10,920 just really didn't focus on football. 139 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:13,320 And then it focus on funding football and then it focus on 140 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:15,080 paying the coaches, paying the assistance. 141 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:18,400 And so if you just go with normal increases, it's like, 142 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:19,880 great, you're still 10 years behind. 143 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:23,960 Like at some point you're going to have to make huge jumps up to 144 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:27,000 catch up with everybody else because you basically didn't run 145 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:29,560 the race for 10 years and now you have to catch up. 146 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:33,720 And so this is going to be needed at some point anyway if 147 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:35,520 you wanted to really compete at a high level. 148 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:39,200 And again, I go back to it's a short sample, but it's a pretty 149 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:43,280 damn good sample of what Signetti has done thus far. 150 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:47,360 And he's been, what I also like is that Indiana's has shown 151 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,240 they're not effing around because you've seen even in just 152 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,520 Signetti's interviews the last couple of weeks, it's like, you 153 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:55,560 know, how are you able to get a program like Indiana? 154 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:57,640 It's like, well, we have great support, but we got to continue 155 00:07:57,640 --> 00:07:59,040 that support. I mean, that's basically 156 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:02,080 Signetti being like, hey, guys, let's let's keep this up. 157 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,920 Like, let's not lose the momentum we had, and this is not 158 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:07,240 losing the momentum. For sure. 159 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:09,800 So so let's go back in time a little bit. 160 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:13,280 You know, it was really very early on in the season where we 161 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:16,200 started hearing people asking questions about whether Kurt 162 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:17,760 Signetti was going to be leaving. 163 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:22,320 And you know, really I would say probably post Maryland or post 164 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:24,400 Northwestern, those things started. 165 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:27,200 They really picked up in earnest immediately after Nebraska. 166 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,240 And and that was probably the question I was getting most from 167 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:31,880 fans. We got the question on the 168 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:33,960 podcast all the time. I have family members 169 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:37,480 contacting, you know, asking about, you know, what was going 170 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:39,960 to happen, whether IU was going to be able to hold on to 171 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:43,679 Signetti. We never, or at least I, as we 172 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:46,960 talked on the show, I never really put a lot of credence in 173 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:49,240 the idea that Signetti was going to go somewhere else. 174 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:50,920 And there were a couple of reasons for that. 175 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:54,720 AI think people really underestimate the focus that 176 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:58,560 Indiana has on taking their football team to the next level. 177 00:08:58,560 --> 00:09:02,600 And look, I understand why people would be skeptical that 178 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:04,000 that was actually what was happening. 179 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:06,960 It really is one of those situations after so many decades 180 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:11,160 of not properly supporting it, you know, leading up to, you 181 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:14,840 know, to like the 2000 tens, you have to show that you're 182 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:16,920 actually going to do it, not just talk about it. 183 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:20,040 But there were other things about Signetti and what I had 184 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:22,720 heard about him and his family and the kind of their overall 185 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:25,800 response to the situation here that just made me think he 186 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:29,560 wasn't going to be catching the first bus out or, you know, 187 00:09:29,760 --> 00:09:33,360 hopping on the 1st opportunity one, He's got a really good deal 188 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:39,040 here at IU, you know, and what I mean by that is this, you have a 189 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:41,240 a lot of NIL money. You've got a great NIL 190 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:44,880 collective that has seen steady increases in the overall amount 191 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:46,200 of money they're able to throw around. 192 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:49,680 You know, is it SEC level money? No, but it's certainly 193 00:09:49,680 --> 00:09:52,240 competitive money in the way that Signetti seems to like to 194 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:54,760 coach and the way that he likes to select players. 195 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:57,600 You may not need the absolute largest NIL budget, but this 196 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:01,040 will probably help even add more to the pile now that it's 197 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:03,400 secured that he's going to be the one managing the funds. 198 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:07,280 You know the second you're able to basically run the program 199 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:10,120 however you want. I don't think people realize how 200 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:15,320 unusual that it is that a coach is hired at a Big 10 program and 201 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:19,920 gets to bring almost his entire staff from a Group of Five 202 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:23,000 school that wasn't in Division One like 5 or 6 years ago. 203 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,320 It wasn't an FBS at at least for him being able to come in, 204 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:29,480 establish the program the way that he wants run it, you know, 205 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:31,160 not have a lot of booster interference. 206 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:33,960 That's something that you deal with a lot of SEC schools and 207 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:36,760 and certain ACC schools where, you know, the people that 208 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:39,120 control the purse strings, the people that paid for you to be 209 00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:42,360 there in the 1st place, want to have a lot of oversized control 210 00:10:42,640 --> 00:10:44,760 of the program you're running, want to have a lot of access 211 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:48,120 that doesn't really exist at IU. There's not a booster network 212 00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:51,880 that's set up for that. So you get kind of a blank check 213 00:10:52,360 --> 00:10:54,280 to do what you want with the program. 214 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:57,560 And I think, you know both, that is both an advantage for 215 00:10:57,560 --> 00:11:00,920 Signetti, but it's also to some degree, I think why IU has 216 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:04,360 capitalized so much on hiring him in the 1st place because he 217 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:07,760 was able to basically import his entire culture without having to 218 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:09,480 deal with a bunch of outside influence. 219 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:11,920 And, and that is a, a big thing that you're not going to get at 220 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:14,360 a lot of other places. Well, let me can I expand on 221 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:16,440 this first, because I, it's something I've been thinking 222 00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:17,920 about. I've talked to a lot of people 223 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:20,120 off the. Air I just I I think you and I 224 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:22,080 have the same mindset. I didn't want to get into a big 225 00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:25,240 signetti leaving discussion on our pod because I didn't think 226 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:26,680 he was leaving. So it's like, what, what are we 227 00:11:26,680 --> 00:11:28,440 talking about? And I'm not really worried about 228 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:31,040 it. You know, I, I I like you. 229 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:35,280 My answer has been I I actually frame it very similar to my 230 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:37,760 discussion for the Pacers with Pascal Siakam. 231 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:40,520 And, and here's what I mean is when this offseason everyone's 232 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:42,400 like, oh man, the Pacers going to resign Siakam. 233 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:45,120 Like that's yeah, like that's, that's not, not really the 234 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:46,760 question. The question is where would 235 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:49,520 Siakam go if he Pacers, if he doesn't even go to the Pacers? 236 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:52,520 It's like start looking at the teams that have the salary cap 237 00:11:52,760 --> 00:11:55,120 and that have a need for a guy like Siakam. 238 00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:56,720 And there's not a lot of options. 239 00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:00,000 And that's what I was thinking with Signeti is that I, I felt 240 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:04,240 like if you look around college football, if you're Cignetti, 241 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:06,920 you're not going to leave for a school that isn't in the Big 10 242 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:08,920 of the SEC. Like all those other schools are 243 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:11,640 just not in the same echelon. So then you've already narrowed 244 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:13,600 the pool down to like 40 schools. 245 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:15,960 And then if you're Cignetti, you're not going to leave to go 246 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:18,720 to Purdue or Maryland or Mississippi State. 247 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:21,320 You, you want, if you left, you'd want a school that was 248 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:23,240 better than where you're at in Indiana. 249 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:26,400 And and the the list gets really small really quick when you 250 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:29,240 start looking at it that way. Now, on the flip side, Indiana 251 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:31,680 would have to step up. Like Indiana can't just take for 252 00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:33,600 granted like, well, you're not going to go to Florida and leave 253 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:36,000 here for all the reasons you said they have to step up. 254 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:39,520 But I also felt that was at our advantage as well. 255 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:41,760 Is it if you're signeti, it's like you look at it, it's like 256 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:45,120 maybe Ohio State would be a place you would go. 257 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:48,000 Maybe, you know, Auburn or Florida, But then everything you 258 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:50,680 said is true. You go there, there's going to 259 00:12:50,680 --> 00:12:52,920 be strings attached to the money here in Indiana. 260 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:57,120 You basically in a matter of 10 weeks recreated Bob Knight in 261 00:12:57,120 --> 00:12:59,880 the on the football side, you can kind of do whatever you want 262 00:12:59,880 --> 00:13:03,880 to do. The the last thing that I would 263 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:08,600 say about it is, you know, that and I, I just to frame this a 264 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:10,600 little. And again, this is, this is now 265 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:13,680 no longer, you know, no longer makes sense because he got the 266 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:15,280 extension. But the other thing to think 267 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:19,000 about too, is for as much as we love Signeti and and as much as 268 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:22,640 I think he's the best coach in America, if if you're, let's 269 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:25,280 just pretend you know, Florida, Auburn or Ohio State, you're 270 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:28,040 Auburn. OK, if you want to make a run at 271 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:30,160 Signet, but you can't do it now. But this is what I was thinking 272 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:33,400 two or three weeks ago. If you're Auburn, those fans 273 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:36,240 would be like, hey, man, So what are we hiring a 63 year old guy 274 00:13:36,240 --> 00:13:40,080 who two years ago was at JMU, had a good run at Indiana on a 275 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:42,400 soft schedule, you know, air quote, soft schedule. 276 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:44,880 And that's who we're hiring. We're not going after Kirby 277 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:46,560 Smart. Like there's an arrogance those 278 00:13:46,560 --> 00:13:49,680 other teams that I'm not even sure they would want Signetti 279 00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:52,320 because they all could have had him last year and nobody went 280 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:53,760 after him. I mean, it would have been a 281 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:56,120 wild hire for, you know, Auburn to do that. 282 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:59,280 But that there's something there too where even within his 283 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:04,200 resume, there's just kind of a this isn't a top level coach, 284 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:07,720 which I think is helping Indiana get him and now Indiana stepping 285 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:09,360 up to keep him. But those are all the reasons 286 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:11,880 that I thought he's not going to leave. 287 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:16,320 But my only fear was, you know, Indiana, the university can't F 288 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:17,440 around on this. Like you. 289 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:20,880 You have lightning in a bottle. Let's keep the momentum going 290 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:22,800 and. Dude, they did it, they did it 291 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:24,400 well. And look, we've, we've heard 292 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:28,120 that Signetti's wife really likes Bloomington, you know, 293 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:30,520 and, and actually Signetti just kind of verified that in the 294 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:32,800 statement that he made where, you know, he talks about how 295 00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:35,400 appreciative he is and his family is. 296 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:36,840 I'm going to just read the statement here. 297 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:40,360 Actually, this was Signetti and their response to the the 298 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:45,240 signing of the contract. I am beyond I have beyond 299 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:47,880 appreciative for the tremendous commitment, confidence and 300 00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:50,240 support from President Pam Whit and Athletic Director Scott 301 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:52,760 Dolson. Minette, his wife and I love 302 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:55,000 Bloomington and are grateful for how the IU community has 303 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:57,240 embraced us. I look forward to leading this 304 00:14:57,240 --> 00:15:00,240 outstanding program and doing my part to continue the momentum 305 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:03,880 for Hoosier football and and every statement and Purdue 306 00:15:03,880 --> 00:15:05,800 sucks. Yeah, Purdue's been doing this 307 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:07,680 IU sucks for years. Like just he's like, make that 308 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:10,600 ours. Anyway, You know, I, I think, 309 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:11,880 and actually Patrick brought it up. 310 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:14,160 I think it's a good point. You know, there's a legacy 311 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:18,880 possibility here with Signeti and it it's interesting that he 312 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:22,680 would be willing because, you know, again, what I think 313 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:26,960 everything you said was correct about would he have been a a 314 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:28,880 viable candidate at some other places? 315 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:31,080 But I think absolutely, like there would have been some big 316 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:33,520 football brands, traditional football brands that would have 317 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:36,560 have gone after him because they wouldn't have been that worried 318 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:38,640 about the money. But for him to say, you know 319 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:41,640 what, we're not even going to wait until bowl season or 320 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:44,000 playoff season. We're going to go ahead and get 321 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:46,320 this done, you know, in the middle of November. 322 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:51,360 I, I think part of that has to be this idea of here we are, 323 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:55,480 we're at a place that kind of mirrors my own career pathway in 324 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:57,480 some ways. You know, this is, this is not 325 00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:00,320 landing at a top level institution and doing this. 326 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:03,600 You know, Signetti, you listen to all these interviews he's 327 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:06,720 done over the course of the last several weeks and months. 328 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:09,800 And he talks so much about his journey and how unusual it's 329 00:16:09,800 --> 00:16:13,520 been and how he had to bet on himself and go to a small 330 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:17,960 school, another Indiana PA, and then slowly work his way up this 331 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:19,960 ladder. And he gets this power for job. 332 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:22,720 And it's, you know, it's arguably, you know, one of the 333 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:25,240 least attractive power for jobs, particularly from a legacy 334 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:26,880 perspective. And he does this in the first 335 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:30,120 year. I mean, you know, people, I 336 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:33,120 don't think that if you can see that you can do this and you can 337 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:34,800 win here. And if you're convinced that, 338 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:37,920 hey, they're they're going to increase nil, they're going to 339 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:40,440 increase, you know, do things with the stadium to make the 340 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:42,840 stadium situation even better. You know, we're going to get the 341 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:45,560 practice facility situation taken care of, whatever it is. 342 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:50,280 You know, I think that there is a, an attitude from Signetti 343 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:53,600 where it's like, I would love to shove it in the face of the 344 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:57,160 college football establishment that ignored me for so long and 345 00:16:57,160 --> 00:17:00,840 do it at Indiana, a place that nobody thought that you could do 346 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:02,920 it. I mean, I, I, I got to think 347 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:05,560 that in some ways, you know, and it's, and this is actually where 348 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:08,240 I think fans really stepped up after those first couple of 349 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:10,000 games where there wasn't a lot of attendance. 350 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:15,720 The, the way that the fan base reacted, almost filling for the 351 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:18,280 Maryland game, the way they reacted for big noon, the way 352 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:20,800 that they reacted for game day, the atmosphere that's been in 353 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:23,800 there the last three games in particular that the fans 354 00:17:23,800 --> 00:17:27,040 traveling on the road. I got to think he looked at that 355 00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:30,560 and said, this could be my place like this did the support is 356 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:32,560 there. People are excited. 357 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:34,960 People do care about football in Indiana. 358 00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:39,920 This is potentially a place kind of like a, a Barry Alvarez at 359 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:43,440 Wisconsin where you can essentially become the the 360 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:46,600 reason why you became nationally relevant. 361 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:50,440 And you know that that's really a fascinating thing to think 362 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:52,280 about because that's not how most people think. 363 00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,200 But so much about this signeti hire for Indiana has been 364 00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:58,520 unusual. You hire a 62 year old who 365 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:02,040 that's a very old age for a Power 4 coach. 366 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:04,160 I mean, go down the list, look at the number of people who got 367 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:05,320 hired. Most of them got hired in their 368 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:10,320 40s or 50s, you know, to to hire a guy from James Madison. 369 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:12,600 That's a bit of a risk, especially when there were, you 370 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:15,520 know, probably higher level coaches or assistants you could 371 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:18,520 have gone after. But this is just another kind of 372 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:21,760 step in the unusual but awesome nature of how all this has come 373 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:24,120 together for Indiana And and yeah, you just can't help but be 374 00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:27,200 excited by it. You mentioned something too 375 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:29,720 about, you know, I, I've heard this thrown around that, you 376 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:34,640 know, the Indiana Nil collective, even for football, 377 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:37,880 has more money than you would really expect for a team that's 378 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:39,840 bad. The success that we've had up to 379 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:42,080 this year. And I think that's something 380 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:44,520 that's also kind of funny is, you know, people might look at 381 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:46,200 this like, Oh my God, Indiana, what are you doing? 382 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:48,120 It's like, well, Indiana's got a lot of money. 383 00:18:48,920 --> 00:18:50,400 Like there is a lot of money there. 384 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:52,440 You know, we are part of the Big 10. 385 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:56,920 We get our checks too. And, you know, this is not, this 386 00:18:56,920 --> 00:18:59,040 is not, you know, funds that we don't have. 387 00:18:59,120 --> 00:19:01,520 We have it. And I, I, I know the amount of 388 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:04,000 money that they're making at every home game now is 389 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:06,840 exponentially more than they ever made before. 390 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:10,040 And the train's going. And, you know, you also have to 391 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:13,640 give credit to Scott Dolson, you know, Whitten as president. 392 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:16,440 You know, I, I, I would say with Whitten, you know it, it's 393 00:19:16,440 --> 00:19:18,640 definitely shown she's at almost every game. 394 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:22,480 She's down there whenever they announce, you know, a, you know, 395 00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:25,280 a, a, a championship for like a golf team last game. 396 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:28,320 Like she's down there. We definitely have support 397 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:32,560 across the administration for athletics, which I think it's 398 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:35,560 fair to say has not always been the case in Indiana. 399 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:37,880 Yeah, I mean, there has been presidential support. 400 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:40,080 At times it feels like there hasn't even been athletic 401 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:42,760 director support for football. You know, that that's what I 402 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:46,360 also am very happy with is that you you see across the board, 403 00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:49,000 the administration understands, hey, this is important, this is 404 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:50,920 special. And you know, it's it's what you 405 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:53,520 and I have talked about the entire time we've done this 406 00:19:53,520 --> 00:19:56,360 podcast is how does Indiana turn it around? 407 00:19:57,160 --> 00:19:59,560 They have to have support. But then you need to get that 408 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:04,480 coach like the Barry Alvarez, like God, the guy at Kansas 409 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:07,240 State. Snyder Yeah. 410 00:20:07,240 --> 00:20:10,200 Bill Snyder, Yeah. You, you have to find that one 411 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,840 coach who can come in, turn it around and stay. 412 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:16,120 And if you do that, you can get a nice little run. 413 00:20:16,120 --> 00:20:19,240 And if you're Wisconsin, you can change the paradigm. 414 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:21,760 I mean, but, you know, Wisconsin was nothing before Barry out. 415 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:24,280 They they were just kind of like any other Big 10 school. 416 00:20:24,520 --> 00:20:28,360 Alvarez comes and then suddenly they're Wisconsin and they are 417 00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:31,400 just a perennial year in, year out power and then it actually 418 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:34,200 extends to the entire athletic department at Wisconsin. 419 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,520 You know, so these can be seismic changes. 420 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:40,880 So I just think you have to give credit for the administration 421 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:44,040 for understanding this. But again, I go back to this 422 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:45,840 isn't like we just made him the highest paid coach in the 423 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:48,480 country. Like this makes us a competitive 424 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:51,040 mid to high mid level big 10 team. 425 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:53,480 So the idea of like, Oh my God, what are you guys doing? 426 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:56,040 Like just so quick? It's like, well, we, we, we took 427 00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:58,960 an advantage to kind of use a situation that's very 428 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:02,680 advantageous to help pull us into the the strata that we 429 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,160 already needed to be in anyway. You know, there's a couple of 430 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,680 things I think that are worth reminding people of, and I've 431 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:11,600 talked about these on the podcast before. 432 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:15,160 I was talking with some friends within the university the other 433 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:20,600 day and they said applications for freshmen at IU are up like 434 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:23,920 10 to 12% over this time last year. 435 00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:26,760 That is football doing that. I mean that. 436 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:30,520 And this is something that when you think about that cinematic 437 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:34,680 open for the Michigan game on CBS. 438 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:35,520 Oh, I know. It's awesome you. 439 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:38,720 You think about, you think, you think about all of those images 440 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:41,880 coming from the Washington game, coming from the Nebraska game, 441 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:46,600 the amount of free advertising that you're getting for the 442 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:50,160 entire university through the conduit of the football program. 443 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:54,240 This is the thing that people often forget about when we talk 444 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:58,000 about the high salaries that are getting paid to coaches or the 445 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:01,040 money being paid now to players via NIL. 446 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:03,800 Is that the reason why there's so much money in this? 447 00:22:03,800 --> 00:22:07,080 The reason why Indiana makes so much money from television is 448 00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:11,080 that there's, you know, what you're trying to do is a college 449 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:13,520 athletic department or as a university in general. 450 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:15,880 Why do you do college athletics in the 1st place if you're a 451 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:17,520 university? Think about the universities 452 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:19,320 that don't really like the Ivy League schools. 453 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:21,560 They don't need to go advertise themselves. 454 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:23,720 They already have the name recognition. 455 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:26,600 Everybody wants to get into Yale or get into Harvard or whatnot. 456 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:30,360 For the rest of the schools that are out there, you're engaged in 457 00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:33,520 essentially a marketing war with every other major school in the 458 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:35,600 country. And, you know, I've told the 459 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:38,200 story before, like when Butler went to those back-to-back 460 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:42,600 national championship games and basketball, they saw a huge 461 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:45,320 increase in applications, particularly out of state 462 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:48,080 applications. You've got kids from Indiana 463 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:51,480 going to Alabama, going to Georgia, you know, going to 464 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:53,160 Florida, going to these Southern schools. 465 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,360 Why are they doing that, even if they're not necessarily the, 466 00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:59,400 like, top academic programs? Well, because it's fun to be on 467 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:01,400 a campus that has a great football program. 468 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:05,520 And you cannot have been in Bloomington or on campus at any 469 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:09,360 point this fall without having felt the palpable buzz that is 470 00:23:09,360 --> 00:23:11,640 coming directly from the football program. 471 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:14,680 I was walking out of my office the other day walking through 472 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:18,200 the sample gates and there's like 2 what look like college 473 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:22,280 freshman girls with taking videos of themselves, you know, 474 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:25,640 saying like we win Google us out of the blue randomly. 475 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:28,400 It's like we got people doing cig memes in front of the sample 476 00:23:28,400 --> 00:23:32,120 gates on like a Thursday in a bye week. 477 00:23:32,120 --> 00:23:35,720 Like that. That level of, of culture and 478 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:37,840 excitement is what students want. 479 00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:40,680 You know, I mean, all of these universities they have they're, 480 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:42,960 they're great points and they're not so great points in terms of 481 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:45,520 their academics. You know, Indiana's got a lot of 482 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:47,520 great academic schools. I teach in one of them. 483 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:51,040 But you, you, you have to understand how this business 484 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:53,360 works. And this is where this 485 00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:56,640 administration, I think has made the investments that kind of get 486 00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:59,760 Indiana back to where they were in the 80s and 90s when they 487 00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:02,680 were a national brand because of how prominent the football or 488 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:05,400 the basketball program was. You know, you're on television 489 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:08,160 constantly, you're winning titles, you got people that are 490 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:11,040 coming from all over the country to come to IU because they want 491 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:13,200 to be part of that. That's exactly what you're 492 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:14,680 seeing. But football is just so much 493 00:24:14,680 --> 00:24:18,120 exponentially bigger, Scott, and it it attracts so many more 494 00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:20,480 people. It includes so many more people. 495 00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:25,000 And that's why it's exciting that Indiana over the course 496 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:28,240 really of the last 15 years, but absolutely with what we've seen 497 00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:32,040 over the last 12 months has finally decided that this is the 498 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:34,520 business we have to be in and we're not going to take any half 499 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:36,520 measures in doing it. Yeah. 500 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:38,280 And and as you said, the money's exponential. 501 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:41,280 I, I heard this from someone within IU that, you know, up to 502 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:44,160 this year, the most money that they'd ever made from 503 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:47,360 concessions at one game was $450,000. 504 00:24:47,360 --> 00:24:50,960 Now, obviously you have beer sales and and inflation added to 505 00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:55,000 some of this, but this season alone at just the Washington and 506 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:58,840 Nebraska games, they made $800,000 at each game. 507 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:01,400 So you know you're you're doubling concession sales. 508 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:03,760 Those are real numbers and those are things that can continue. 509 00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:07,200 And you know that this is also, you know, you're getting to a 510 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:09,160 point. And I, I think we joked about it 511 00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:11,000 a couple weeks ago. But as they talk about this 512 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,800 Memorial Stadium refresh, there is a world where it's like, all 513 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:16,840 right, if, if you can, you know, obviously you're not going to 514 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:18,960 keep this level of, you know, we're not going to be in the 515 00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:20,400 college floor playoff every year. 516 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:24,560 But if you can keep the floor at six or seven or eight wins, you 517 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:26,200 know, there's a world where we're like, all right, maybe we 518 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:29,200 not only refresh the Memorial Stadium, let's add another 519 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:32,000 20,000 seats. Because now you, you get, you 520 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:36,280 know, that that becomes 1.21.4 million a game at, you know, 521 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:37,840 concession sales and ticket sales. 522 00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:40,800 And it's not, it's not an absurd thought at this point now. 523 00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:43,840 Yeah, well, it's funny because one of the there's always 524 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:47,200 trolls, there's always people who are like, oh, are they going 525 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:49,880 to keep the assistants or hey, well, what happens if the if 526 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:52,520 this is like Mel Tucker, which it won't be Mel Tucker 2 point O 527 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:55,520 but like what you and I think talked about this or maybe it 528 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:56,760 was somebody else I was talking with. 529 00:25:57,600 --> 00:26:02,640 I'll note if Kurt Signetti wins one less game next year than 530 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:06,800 he's already won this year with Indiana, that season would be 531 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:10,560 tied for the second best season in program history. 532 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:14,280 You know, I mean, that's, that's where you're at at this point 533 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:18,560 with this program and the stability you get from this, the 534 00:26:18,560 --> 00:26:19,880 ability to go out and get recruits. 535 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:23,520 We saw last night Indiana flips a cornerback from Colorado, 4 536 00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:25,360 star. It hops their recruiting ranking 537 00:26:25,360 --> 00:26:28,960 up to 39th in the country. You know, now's the time. 538 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:31,120 You mentioned like expanding the stadium. 539 00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:34,200 You know, this is where I think you you get the luxury boxes 540 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:35,640 that we that we've needed forever. 541 00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:38,280 You, you figure out a way to build those in, you know, the, 542 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:40,400 the capacity of Memorial Stadium. 543 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:43,480 I think you wait a few years because you want to make sure 544 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:45,640 that you can build this momentum, you know, make the 545 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:48,200 make the ticket a harder ticket to get. 546 00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:50,400 Then you can think about what do we need to expand the stadium. 547 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:54,440 Most people are going the other direction, the live in person 548 00:26:54,440 --> 00:26:57,720 audience across the country. Unless you've got one of those 549 00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:01,000 mega stadiums, it's probably at about the 6570 thousand range 550 00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:04,560 regularly, you know, But to me it's about how do you capitalize 551 00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:08,080 on bigger ticket items within the stadium? 552 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:11,240 How do you get donors? It's so easy now, as you know, 553 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:13,600 Scott, to get down here from Indianapolis. 554 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:17,360 You know, it is, it is, it's like a suburb basically at this 555 00:27:17,360 --> 00:27:20,120 point with the Interstate, you know, to be able to say to the 556 00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:22,400 business owners up there and the people that are interested in 557 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:25,160 watching good football, you know, let's get you some sweets 558 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:29,280 in Memorial Stadium. And hey, you drop, you know, 20, 559 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:32,360 five, $30,000 or whatever on one of those where you, you bought a 560 00:27:32,360 --> 00:27:35,240 lot of concessions just with that, you know, in terms of 561 00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:38,040 equivalencies. So Salubi suites, Salubi suites, 562 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:42,080 yes, exactly. So look, there's, there's a lot 563 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:44,960 of things I think that Indiana can go with from here, but 564 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:46,880 getting Signeti nailed down was important. 565 00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:51,320 And this is where you know what, what I think we've seen it 566 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:54,360 Indiana as much as anywhere. And you, you see this at a bunch 567 00:27:54,360 --> 00:27:57,120 of other places, certainly, but, but you look at the examples of 568 00:27:57,120 --> 00:28:02,800 Indiana, the argument that a program wins or loses or that a 569 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:06,000 program is ultimately responsible for the success or 570 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:09,920 failure of of itself. I think it's always been a bit 571 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:12,240 of a misnomer. There are a couple of programs 572 00:28:12,240 --> 00:28:14,800 where it seems like that, but realistically, it's all about 573 00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:17,120 who the coach is, What can the coach do? 574 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:21,160 And that is more important. And I would I would say, you 575 00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:24,800 know, look around the country at some of the places where people 576 00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:28,680 are having success, like Georgia for years was a contender, but 577 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:32,000 was never a team that could win beyond a certain level. 578 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:34,520 They hire Kirby Smart, they give him a few years runway. 579 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:36,240 He wins multiple national titles. 580 00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:40,280 You know, Clemson had the exact same issue, you know, and and 581 00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:42,000 you know, they hire a coach that's able to get it done. 582 00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:44,560 But you flip the script, you know, you look at what Lincoln 583 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:48,480 Riley is struggling with at USC, you would think USC that's a 584 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:51,760 program that just wins on its own and it doesn't matter who 585 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:54,080 the coach is. And yet since Pete Carroll, they 586 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:57,360 have struggled time and time again to properly hire somebody. 587 00:28:57,360 --> 00:29:02,040 We saw this with Alabama, you know, post Gene Stallings, where 588 00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:05,160 they went through coach after coach after coach until they 589 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:08,960 finally landed on Nick Saban and Saban made them great. 590 00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:12,040 But a lot of people conflate that with just Alabama being 591 00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:14,760 great, You know, and I think you can go down the list with a lot 592 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:15,840 of the coaches that are out there. 593 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:18,520 So when you have a coach like Signeti, when you've when you've 594 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:21,400 lucked into hiring him. And I mean, look, Scott Dolson 595 00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:24,080 deserves a ton of credit, but it's still luck that he happened 596 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:27,720 to be available and interested at that particular time and that 597 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:30,800 Indiana managed to scrape together the funds to fire their 598 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:35,400 coach a year early at a a huge expense, a $15 million 599 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:38,800 ultimately expense. Like the stars had to align just 600 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:40,960 right. So when you align those stars 601 00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:44,680 just right and you get a coach like this, the worst thing you 602 00:29:44,680 --> 00:29:47,440 can do is, you know, pussyfoot around with the money and say, 603 00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:49,240 well, is this guy actually worth that much money? 604 00:29:49,240 --> 00:29:51,400 Or is it six or seven? You've got to. 605 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:54,200 And and I think we know enough about Signeti now, this isn't 606 00:29:54,200 --> 00:29:57,200 like a one hit wonder. This is sustainable. 607 00:29:57,440 --> 00:30:01,160 The you know, the fact that he's doing all of this with an array 608 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:04,200 of transfers and leftovers from the previous roster. 609 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:07,440 This isn't even a a chance for him to build his own roster yet. 610 00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:09,480 He's basically had to Scrabble all this together. 611 00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:14,440 You know that the fact that IU was smart enough to get on this 612 00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:16,480 early because they had to have been working on this for a 613 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:19,040 couple of months leading into this, the fact that they got 614 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:22,560 this done early is so key. You don't even let a guy like 615 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:24,560 that like consider going out the door. 616 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:26,640 What do you need to do to make it worth his while? 617 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:29,480 To be here? That is, It's so important and 618 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:31,400 you all you have to do is look around college football to see 619 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:33,520 why. Well, and I also look at it, you 620 00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:35,920 know, I, I, I, I often think of this when we're, you know, 621 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:38,560 playing a game, it's like, what does the other team not want us 622 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:39,760 to? It's like a fourth and two. 623 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:42,160 And it's like the other team would hate for us to go for it. 624 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:43,760 Like that's what I want to do is to go for it. 625 00:30:43,960 --> 00:30:47,440 You think of the other teams in, you know, our, our phylum of, 626 00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:50,480 you know, we're still probably not at the level of Ohio State 627 00:30:50,480 --> 00:30:53,360 or Penn State, but you look at, you know, Purdue, Illinois, 628 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:56,680 Northwestern, you know, Michigan State, those teams, yeah, 629 00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:58,600 they're looking at this, you know, like, like I kind of how 630 00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:00,560 we looked at Jeff Brohm at Purdue. 631 00:31:00,560 --> 00:31:03,800 It's like, man, he, he's got something going though, like 632 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:05,800 he's, he's figuring some stuff out. 633 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:08,640 What I want is an Indiana fan is for him to leave. 634 00:31:09,040 --> 00:31:12,080 Like I, I would like to see them have to try and recreate that 635 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:14,280 again. If you're a Purdue, Illinois, 636 00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:17,600 Michigan State fan, you know, you look at this and it's like 637 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,120 you're, you're probably talking about all I, he's gonna go to 638 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:21,480 Florida. Like you, you want that to 639 00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:24,760 happen. The Purdue fans are not happy on 640 00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:28,640 Reddit right now that that is. This is not been received 641 00:31:28,640 --> 00:31:30,360 particularly well by them, Yes, So. 642 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:31,680 What's their take? IU sucks. 643 00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:33,560 Let me guess. Well, no, they're just, I think 644 00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:35,960 one of them said like this is the worst possible timeline or 645 00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:38,560 something like that. It's but, but yeah, no, I mean, 646 00:31:38,760 --> 00:31:41,640 that's the thing. You're you want your team to 647 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:44,760 make the right hire and then do what they need to do to retain 648 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:47,000 that hire. And it's a little more of a 649 00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:48,720 blank slate with a place like Indiana. 650 00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:50,280 Yeah. And we'll see. 651 00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:52,160 You know, you never can tell how these things are going to work 652 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:53,880 out long term. But I don't know that you would. 653 00:31:54,240 --> 00:31:57,120 I don't know anybody wouldn't be love to be in Indiana's position 654 00:31:57,120 --> 00:31:59,840 right now with all of this and that I. 655 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:03,200 Agree and I mean I I stand by you know, we did a similar 656 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:05,720 podcast. Let's let's call everything 657 00:32:05,720 --> 00:32:08,080 true. We did a similar, maybe not with 658 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:10,880 as much love, but a similarly positive podcast when they 659 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:14,120 signed Alan to his extension because at that time Alan had 660 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:17,200 turned things around. And you know, I stand by our 661 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:21,800 feeling at that point because again, we are so far behind in 662 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:24,880 spending on coaches and assistant coaches that you just, 663 00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:26,480 you need someone to drag you there. 664 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:29,560 And even if it didn't work out with Alan, that was good because 665 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:32,320 now we were paying, you know, 3 to 4 million a coach, which 666 00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:34,680 allowed us to get Signeti like I talked about before. 667 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:37,120 And if this, you know, if, if things don't work out in a 668 00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:40,480 couple years, I, I still will stand by this podcast because 669 00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:43,760 it, it shows that Indiana's a place that commits to football. 670 00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:46,240 And if you do things right, we will really commit to you. 671 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:50,640 Again, I, I think there's more things at play here where this 672 00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:53,200 feels like this is going to work for the next couple of years. 673 00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:57,560 But, you know, the only thing I would tell fans and is that, you 674 00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:02,480 know, next year is key. But it's also like just 'cause 675 00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:05,600 we don't go, you know, if we win seven or eight games next year, 676 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:09,880 that's not a step down. Like this year is so special and 677 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:13,320 every year we're not going to be competing for a Big 10 title or 678 00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:16,280 the College Football Playoff. You know, Indiana, our goal is 679 00:33:16,280 --> 00:33:19,800 to get to six or seven wins a year, go to a bowl and then 680 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:22,760 every couple years can you pop and have the season that we're 681 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:25,160 having now? And I think that's that's what 682 00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:28,360 we got to get get keep at. But I think we need to keep that 683 00:33:28,360 --> 00:33:31,160 in mind next year because I don't I'm I'm assuming next 684 00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:32,480 year. We're also not going to start 10 685 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:34,520 and O and have the same run. You know, there might be a 686 00:33:34,520 --> 00:33:36,960 couple more bumps. That doesn't mean that we made a 687 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:38,840 mistake. Yeah. 688 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:41,800 I mean, and to wrap things up, because I mean we've kind of hit 689 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:45,600 all the salient points here, but you know, my feeling on that is 690 00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:47,880 as follows. If you're, if you're going to be 691 00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:50,520 in the business of doing this stuff, you better do it right. 692 00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:54,680 And you know, the, again, when you're talking about donations, 693 00:33:54,680 --> 00:33:58,120 when you're talking about people being invested in the program 694 00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:02,200 both emotionally and financially, that doesn't just 695 00:34:02,200 --> 00:34:04,720 happen on its own. This is now the opportunity to 696 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:07,760 build a culture around football the way that there's a culture 697 00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:09,560 around basketball that still exists. 698 00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:12,360 I mean, basketball, you know, even though basketball hasn't 699 00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:15,840 had anywhere close to the level of success in the last 2530 700 00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:19,320 years that it had in the 30 years before that, it's still, 701 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:23,000 you know, draws huge crowds. It still draws a lot of money, a 702 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:24,679 lot of donors, a lot of interest. 703 00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:27,600 You're starting at the ground floor essentially here with 704 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:30,840 football, but you're doing it with a guy who's already grabbed 705 00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:35,400 the attention not just of IU and who's your nation, but of the 706 00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:37,840 nation, the entire nation of college football. 707 00:34:38,159 --> 00:34:41,880 Indiana has become like the feel good story of the season. 708 00:34:41,920 --> 00:34:43,480 Everybody's paying attention to them. 709 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:48,600 The and this, as you said, like this shows assistants, you know, 710 00:34:48,600 --> 00:34:51,199 that might be coming here because certainly a lot of these 711 00:34:51,199 --> 00:34:53,159 assistants that Kurt Signetti has brought with them are going 712 00:34:53,159 --> 00:34:57,040 to be getting looks as head coaches in various places. 713 00:34:57,640 --> 00:34:59,840 You know, you want to try to hang on to Mike Shanahan if if 714 00:34:59,840 --> 00:35:02,720 he doesn't have a head coaching job that's out there, you know, 715 00:35:02,720 --> 00:35:05,840 you don't want him to be tempted to go to an SEC school. 716 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:07,480 You want to hang on to a Brian Haynes. 717 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:10,800 I mean, you got all these people who are clearly integral parts 718 00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:14,600 of the success, and I'm sure Kurt Signetti can replace some 719 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:17,080 of them if they end up going. And then the natural order of 720 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:20,720 assistance is they're going to go find, you know, new vistas or 721 00:35:20,720 --> 00:35:22,480 try to get head coaching jobs of their own. 722 00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:26,200 But to be able to be competitive in the salary pool for 723 00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:28,080 assistance is certainly something that we're going to be 724 00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:30,040 seeing. Indiana, you know, if they're 725 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:32,520 going to make this much of an investment in the head coach, 726 00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:34,720 you're almost certain that they're going to make the same 727 00:35:34,720 --> 00:35:37,240 levels of investment with the assistant coach pool. 728 00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:40,400 And that's been kind of the big leverage point for a lot of 729 00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:44,520 college football programs is we can pay our offensive and 730 00:35:44,520 --> 00:35:46,440 defensive coordinators 7 figures. 731 00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:50,040 We can pay, you know, our, you know, a really good strategist 732 00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:52,720 on either side of the ball a really high amount of money and 733 00:35:52,720 --> 00:35:55,040 retain them rather than constantly having to go out and 734 00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:56,480 try to find new people to fit in. 735 00:35:57,160 --> 00:36:00,000 This is it's going to be fascinating to watch Indiana 736 00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:02,240 compete in this environment because it's just not something 737 00:36:02,240 --> 00:36:04,400 we're used to seeing. And let's just call it what it 738 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:06,160 is. You know, they have the big 10 739 00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:09,600 TV money, but you know, the signetti towel right there, 740 00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:11,600 those are selling for 150 bucks on eBay. 741 00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:14,280 So if you're IU, you just, you just make, buy another batch of 742 00:36:14,280 --> 00:36:16,760 50,000 towels, throw them on eBay and like, there you go. 743 00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:18,200 You, you got the money you need to make. 744 00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:19,760 I mean, they've they, they have it there. 745 00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:21,400 Sig towels are going to pay for all of this. 746 00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:25,680 Well, Scott, you know, I'm glad I was able to to roust you out 747 00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:28,320 of bed and and onto an emergency podcast this morning. 748 00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:30,960 Great news for Indiana, obviously, and Congrats. 749 00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:32,920 Yeah, and Congrats to the Signetti's. 750 00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:37,440 I mean, it's, it's been a joy watching this thing develop over 751 00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:39,600 the course of the first few months of the rain. 752 00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:43,200 I'm just excited that this is going to be something that will 753 00:36:43,200 --> 00:36:45,000 extend for quite a while into the future. 754 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:47,000 Now. I was talking with some friends 755 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:51,200 last night and one of them said on text, you know, it was 756 00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:54,560 something that I, I also agreed with, which is I don't think I 757 00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:59,080 can go back to what Indiana football was before what we've 758 00:36:59,240 --> 00:37:02,120 experienced this season. You know, and, and look, I'm not 759 00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:05,120 expecting 1011 win, 12 win seasons every year. 760 00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:07,320 That would be ridiculous anywhere. 761 00:37:07,600 --> 00:37:11,760 But to be consistently in the 8910 win range, to be able to 762 00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:14,320 jump up to that next level and be competitive because right now 763 00:37:14,320 --> 00:37:16,840 you've got that set up. And to have a coach that 764 00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:19,680 clearly, I think is going to be someone that can continually put 765 00:37:19,680 --> 00:37:22,640 Indiana in that spot, that is really exciting. 766 00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:27,760 And to to be able to not have that hanging over us as we roll 767 00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:30,720 into this offseason is really, really one of those things that 768 00:37:30,720 --> 00:37:34,200 I'm, I can't put it into words how happy I am that this has 769 00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:35,880 been taken care of by the institution. 770 00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:38,440 And, and I just want to yes, yes. 771 00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:41,240 And let's just take a moment because we don't, I don't 772 00:37:41,240 --> 00:37:43,320 normally hop on all the but previews with you. 773 00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:46,800 You know, there's a world where Indiana beats Ohio State. 774 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:50,160 Like it it, it feels insane because you know, we're still in 775 00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:52,880 the season and it's like us going into Columbus winning is 776 00:37:52,880 --> 00:37:54,680 crazy. But I've been telling people 777 00:37:54,680 --> 00:37:56,400 this, you know, I, I think that we'll compete. 778 00:37:56,400 --> 00:37:58,920 I think we'll play well. I don't think we'll win. 779 00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:02,080 But if you talk this, this is fever dream level. 780 00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:05,600 If we win, if we win this next Saturday, First off, it's like 781 00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:08,120 this looks like chump change, like this is like, all right, 782 00:38:08,120 --> 00:38:12,360 this is the greatest deal ever. But secondly, I will come out on 783 00:38:12,480 --> 00:38:14,640 after that game being like, we're the number one team in the 784 00:38:14,640 --> 00:38:17,600 country. I mean, Oregon's got to win at 785 00:38:17,600 --> 00:38:19,920 home against Penn State. We got one on the road. 786 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:23,040 We're better than everybody. And I mean, it's, it's like 787 00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:26,120 that's what's insane is that's what's at our feet right now, 788 00:38:27,560 --> 00:38:30,200 Indiana. Signs Kurt Stignetti to an 789 00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:31,960 extension. He'll be here through 2030. 790 00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:35,960 Two, $8 million a year, plus A $1 million retention bonus every 791 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:37,640 year. So effectively $9 million a 792 00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:41,240 year. Heady times in IU football land 793 00:38:41,240 --> 00:38:43,600 and certainly about the best news Indiana could have gotten 794 00:38:43,920 --> 00:38:46,120 on the bye week. Thanks to all you folks for 795 00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:49,600 tuning in. We will be back later with more 796 00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:52,600 content surrounding this. We'll talk about it more during 797 00:38:52,600 --> 00:38:54,320 the week. We'll also have some previews as 798 00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:57,680 Indiana gets ready to face Ohio State at the Horseshoe. 799 00:38:58,240 --> 00:39:00,320 For Scott, I'm Galen. This is Crimson cast. 800 00:39:00,520 --> 00:39:02,800 Thanks for joining us, folks. We'll catch you folks. 801 00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:06,400 On the flip side, Bring Back the Bison, Stay never Daunted song, 802 00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:06,760 everybody.