Isiah Thomas won a basketball national title at IU playing for legendary coach Bob Knight.
He’s now witnessing the remarkable turnaround of IU football under the direction Curt Cignetti, who will eventually require the same “legendary” modifier in front of his name.
Before Thomas arrived at IU, Knight orchestrated the sport’s last perfect season, a 32-0 run to a championship in 1976. And 50 years later, Cignetti led his sport’s most recent perfect season, and the first 16-win campaign since the 1890s.
Thomas isn’t immersed in Cignetti’s football program like he was with the basketball program at IU under Knight for two seasons from 1979-81. But Thomas says football is his favorite sport, and he sees a lot of similarities between the two iconic coaches.
“A lot of similarities,” Thomas said during appearance on FOX Big Noon Kickoff on Saturday. “Here’s what I see in terms of style. They stress not turning the ball over, so they don’t turn the ball over.
“They stress the fundamentals in terms of blocking and tackling. Coach (Knight) was like, make sure we set good screens, OK? Make sure we pass, don’t turn it over, and make the other team beat themselves, right?
“And when I look at Indiana right now from a football perspective, they don’t turn it over. They block, they tackle, they do all the things you’re supposed to do fundamentally and the other team makes mistakes and they capitalize on it.”
Thomas’ full appearance on FOX Big Noon Kickoff is below.
See also: Cignetti says he liked Bobby Knight
For complete coverage of IU football, GO HERE.
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
- You can follow us on X: @daily_hoosier and find us on Facebook and Instagram
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
