Indiana Football's New Year's Resolutions
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Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)
It’s the time of year when people sit down and write out what they want to accomplish in the next year. A list that hopefully makes it past the month of January and is held true until this time in 2024. Here are our New Year’s resolutions for Indiana Football for 2024.
1. Build on the Momentum Created with the Coaching Change
The excitement and juice surrounding the Indiana Football program has been leveled up since the change at head coach. Incoming head coach Curt Cignetti has injected life into the program with quippy one liners, playful tweets and a no-nonsense attitude about expectations for the program.
The Indiana athletic department as well as the NIL collectives have done a great job of bottling up that momentum and marketing it. NIL money for football is up, advertising for making deposits for season tickets is back and there is apparently more in the works.
With the early signing period over and the transfer portal closing soon, the news cycle for college football is slowing down (kind of), until spring practice. IU needs to keep football in the cycle and build towards a spring game or spring football event.
2. Make Football Games Fun (and an Event)
I’ll start with this, everything is more fun when the team is winning games. However, IU needs to make football Saturday’s an event. Unlike basketball, football culture involves tailgating and many pregame parties. IU has the luxury of being in a great college town and a lot of parking lot space to do some fun things.
Pregame festivities should include Bloomington’s various food trucks, music from local artists or Jacobs School students and other attractions for the younger fans.
IU needs to make a homecoming a big deal and emphasize rivalry games against Michigan State and Purdue. Pep rallies, on-site pregame shows and more should be set up for bigger games.
3. Embrace Success and Learn to Win
The Indiana football fan has suffered heartbreak after heartbreak in their fandom. Those wounds leave scars in the form of what I call the “Cubs Mentality”. Basically they expect to lose and whenever something goes well, they know it will not last or in the end IU will lose. Curt Cignetti will try and change that mentality surrounding the program.
IU as a team also needs to learn how to win and consistently make winning plays. The last three years under Tom Allen saw IU make losing plays when it mattered most.
For all of us at Hoosier Huddle we wish Hoosier Nation, our readers and listeners a happy and healthy New Year. We’ll be here to take you through the 2024 Indiana Football season.