Curt Cignetti gives 2-word response to Purdue AD's Indiana gaffe
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Indiana football’s Curt Cignetti is no stranger to making boastful comments in his early days at a new job.
When it comes to that behavior from the Hoosiers’ chief rival, though, the coach of the reigning national champions took the high road.
While speaking with reporters on Monday, August 10, Cignetti deferred when asked if he had any response to new Purdue athletic director Tommy McClelland’s jab at Indiana during his introductory news conference last week.
“Not really,” Cignetti said.
McClelland, who was hired by the Boilermakers after three years as the athletic director at Rice, said on Thursday, August 6 that recruits and athletes should come to Purdue expecting to win national championships before briefly turning his attention to his new employer’s hated in-state rival.
"If you don't want to win championships, go to Indiana,” McClelland said.
The comment was widely mocked, as the Hoosiers are just seven months removed from an undefeated season that culminated with the program’s first-ever national championship, completing one of the most unthinkable turnarounds in college football history. In two seasons under Cignetti, Indiana is 27-2. That run includes a pair of victories over Purdue in games that were decided by a combined score of 122-3.
In an appearance the following day on “The Pat McAfee Show,” McClelland acknowledged the clumsy bit of trash talk, saying he “knew it the second it left my mouth."
"Every now and then, you line it up on the first tee and you're really excited, about that round; and I put it right in the water," McClelland said, with a smile. "I got 18 more holes to play."
When Cignetti took over at Indiana following the 2023 season, he injected some bravado into what was the all-time losingest program in the FBS at the time. At his first signing day news conference, he famously said that recruits interested in his vision for the program should know that “It's pretty simple. I win. Google me." While rallying the crowd during a break at a Hoosiers men’s basketball game that offseason, he said “Purdue sucks, but so does Michigan and Ohio State,” taking aim at the Big Ten’s two historic powerhouses.
Under second-year coach Barry Odom, the Boilermakers are looking to rebuild a program that was a regular bowl participant under Joe Tiller and Jeff Brohm. Since Brohm left for Louisville after the 2022 season, Purdue is just 7-29, including a 2-10 mark in Odom’s first season.
Though McClelland’s swaggering approach didn’t land nearly as well as Cignetti’s, if he can help deliver something remotely close to what Cignetti has engineered in Bloomington, the early gaffe will quickly be forgotten.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY Sports: Curt Cignetti gives 2-word response to Purdue AD's Indiana gaffe
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