Curt Cignetti is the new head football coach at Indiana, taking over from Tom Allen this season. Cignetti was one of the stars at Big Ten media days. His remarks to assembled media in Indianapolis were more colorful, humorous, and generally interesting than most of the other speeches delivered by the 18 coaches in the new-look conference. Indiana is one of the little guys in the Big Ten, predicted to finish near the bottom, alongside UCLA. Cignetti was feisty and lively at the podium, noting that at his previous coaching stops in smaller college conferences, his teams were usually favored to win the league title. Now it’s all different.
One of the things Cignetti was asked about at Big Ten media days was cross-country travel to places such as the Rose Bowl for the UCLA game. Cignetti’s response: “We’re just going to an old stadium to kick somebody’s ass.” Reporters clarified that the statement wasn’t meant to be UCLA-specific, but that point of clarification did nothing to reduce the force of the comment.
Given DeShaun Foster’s viral moment at Big Ten media days, UCLA did not have a good week in Indianapolis, that’s for sure.
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