Nebraska’s Matt Rhule: “Coach Cignetti is making a lot of us look bad”

Curt Cignetti’s immediate success at Indiana has put the pressure on every coach in America.

Already, three of the coaches who entered the Big Ten with Cignetti in 2024 have been fired, and several other coaches around the league are looking over their shoulders.

That includes Nebraska’s Matt Rhule, who has gone 19-18 in three years at a high pressure job in Lincoln, including 10-17 in the Big Ten.

Perhaps Rhule’s worst loss at Nebraska came a year ago in Bloomington, when Cignetti’s Hoosiers pummeled the Cornhuskers 56-7. After that game Rhule said he didn’t see the dominant Indiana win coming, and he still can’t process what’s going on at IU.

“I can’t explain it,” Rhule said yesterday of Indiana’s run of success under Cignetti the last two years on his ‘House Rhules’ podcast. “Nothing like it has ever happened. I just think you have to tip your cap to Coach Cignetti. He came in, he called it, and he did it. The first year it was like, you know, they brought in all their players and I think there’s something to that.

“Bringing in players who are used to you, so you’re not having to establish your culture. But last year, they went and got a quarterback from Ohio (Kurtis Rourke) and he plays at a really high level. This year, they go get the quarterback from Cal (Fernando Mendoza) and he wins the Heisman Trophy. They’re just coaching really well, and their coaching staff, their coordinators have been there for a long time.

“I just think we all have to say to ourselves that Coach Cignetti has done something that is absolutely amazing. The rest of us are all chasing it. I got hired and a bunch of guys got hired with me. We’re doing better than some of the guys who got hired at the same time, so we should feel good about that. But when you look at Coach Cignetti and what he’s done, it’s like, it makes you not want to sleep at night.

“If I’m keeping it real, bro, and I know this clip will probably go viral, but Coach Cignetti is making a lot of us look bad right now. So we’re going to chase it. But I have to tip my hat to him because what he’s done is amazing. I’m anxious to see them in the Playoff.”

Cignetti is 24-2 in his two years at Indiana, including 18-1 in the Big Ten. The No. 1 Hoosiers (13-0) will take on either Oklahoma or Alabama at the Rose Bowl in the CFP quarterfinals on Jan. 1.