Well said.

This staff is a cohesive, well-oiled machine and keeping them together was vital.  It was pretty amazing to see IU do whatever it took to keep them here -- that was not the norm in the past, at all.

Overall, while it's improving, IUFB still has pretty modest resources compared to the top half of the P2.  But, it appears we have one of the top staffs in the country... at least I hope, and they give us a chance to overcome the resource constraints and compete vs. the top-half of the P2.  They also give us a shot to keep improving our resources, as this is a very compelling group of coaches to give money to.

I have to say AD Dolson and President Whitten have really stepped up for this football program like no other administration has ever done in the history of INDIANA University.  Thank you.

The stage spotlight is on Cignetti.  He evaluates astutely the coaches he researches, interviews and hires.  Then has the skill to coach his assistant coaches to evaluate and recruit talent that can be developed successfully.  As he has frequently mentioned, "stick to the process".  Success breeds success with his articulating the process.  Whitten and Dolson recognized this and bought in with a liberal but targeted investing. 

Go HOOSIERS!

With the staff raises, the expectations are raised too.  Which is good and healthy.

Thinking of last season, I'm reminded of this modified quote from one of the greatest coaches of all time, Lou Brown.  

"All right people, we got 10 minutes 'till game time, let's all gather 'round. I'm not much for giving inspirational addresses, but I'd just like to point out that every college football podcast in the country has picked us to finish last.

The Big Ten press seems to think that we'd save everyone the time and trouble if we just went out and shot ourselves.

Me, I'm for wasting the SEC media's time. So I figured we ought to hang around for a while, blow everyone out and go 11-1, and see if we can give 'em all a nice big shitburger to eat!"

Scott Dolson did a good job with his coaching search.  I doubt Whitten did much of anything other than not get in the way.  Of course, that's what a President should do...let the AD do their job.

Anyway, hopefully we can keep this staff together for a while and that Cig assists with setting up a good succession plan when he retires many years from now.

@hurryinghoosiers I believe Pam helped with the money.  I’d guess that loan from IU to the athletic dept that helped fund all this stuff with the staff happened in large part because of her.

Frankly, just getting rid of anti-sports McRobbie was really helpful.  It’s hard to be good when the leader of the school doesn’t like (or even disliked) sports.

Until Memorial Stadium seats 100k and sells out every game, it will be hard to match the top dogs in the sport as far as revenue is concerned. That’s the reality. And it will take more than one good season for full buy in from the fans and boosters. IU has done a good job making sure the staff is paid well but it is important that Cignetti keeps pushing for more and more investment. His expectations are to be the best.

@tammany -Righto, it's all connected. Go Hoosiers.

Really good post and a lot of great comments. It took IU far too long to realize that you need to put effort into football and that it was not just something to get you to BBall season.

That needs to continue to happen. Off the field, IU's top priorities need to be creating more revenue streams (naming rights to the field, suites, merch, etc.). However, I do believe the average fan has been milked dry for the most part. Adding seat donations was necessary, but I understand it's a tough pill to swallow.

While the upgrades to the stadium have been really good and Memorial Stadium is a totally different place from when I was a freshman (2005), IU is still playing catchup due to their failure to keep pace for decades.

A new press box and suites is an absolute must. Adding 10K seats is a must (and doable).

@thehoosierhuddle Yea.  As we know our player payroll is about $23M now and the top dogs are around $40M.  In my mind if we can get to $30M maybe a little more we can take that next step on roster talent that could allow this staff to really compete with the big programs.

Agree a stadium sponsor and suites (need than Indy corporate interest) are the way to go now.  Our average fan won’t get us much further, and honestly we don’t have a ton of them.  That and maybe one more big donor getting more engaged could get us to that next level of top-20 payroll.

It won’t be easy, but we seem to be putting forth a real effort.  Good luck Scott.

@tammany With the Colts in flux and not being very good, now is the time to take advantage of that. Yes, Bloomington is an hour from Indy, but it's still an event (especially when IU is doing well). IU needs to take advantage of that. 

IU has the largest living alumni base in the country. Time to do some fundraising.

@thehoosierhuddle Exactly.

@iugradman well the Oregon stadium only seats 54,000. I believe IU is thinking along those lines, maybe a few more additions but they will never get to 100,000.