Not that it's unusual for Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti to look angry when he's talking to the media on any given day, but today he seemed to have a compelling reason.
Speaking to the media after Indiana's first spring training session, Cignetti admitted that he was annoyed at star transfer wide receiver Nick Marsh for wearing gold cleats to the session. He said he ripped Marsh for everyone to see and mused that he might not be used to it from when he was at Michigan State.
"He learned what getting your (expletive) ripped is all about. I don't know if that happened to him very often at Michigan State," Cignetti said.
Getting what you paid for
Football fans largely mocked Cignetti for his reaction to Marsh. Many fans pointed out that in paying Marsh so much NIL money to come over from Michigan State, he shouldn't be surprised that Marsh is going to have an attitude about it.
"I mean… y’all paid him and Michigan State didn’t. Now you’re mad at what you paid for?" one user on X remarked.
"Its almost like when you pay players millions of dollars they are going to act like they are millionaires," wrote another.
"Whats wrong with gold cleats? They come in several colors," a third wrote.
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Others absolutely loved that Cignetti was willing to put his foot down on Marsh like that:
"Guess we now know how Indiana football was able to turn their football program around so fast!" one user declared.
"Not an IU fan but man I respect their operation so much."
"Bro transferred onto a team that won the natty and thought he was Michael Johnson at the 1996 Olympics..."
There's always a certain level of pressure on the team that just won the national title. If Indiana don't look just as good with a whole new cast of players, there will be critics asserting that they only won in 2025 because of star QB Fernando Mendoza (who is off to the NFL now).
It will be on Cignetti and his staff to ensure that their next starting QB (likely Josh Hoover) is able to pick up almost exactly where Mendoza left off.
