So yeah, the Hoosiers are winning now. Cignetti, still in the first year of a six-year, $27 million deal, is the clear favorite to win National Coach of the Year. He made something that has historically been very difficult — winning football games as Indiana’s head football coach — seem pretty easy. This is the program that has lost more football games than any other in the history of the sport and is now the darling of college football.

Amazing success in Indiana (of all places) could have a lasting impact on the rest of college football. Now the expectations for first-year coaches at any school may be higher (and perhaps unattainable) than ever before. You know, if even Indiana could do this…

Athletics director Scott Dolson said he’s not sure his hiring here adds more pressure to the decisions his colleagues make because they’re constantly under high pressure. Football is already crucial to the profitability of every athletic department, especially at a time when college sports are turning to the expensive new world of revenue sharing.

“In this era of college football, it’s about instant gratification,” Dolson said. “People want to win right away and the reality is not everyone can win, so there will be some bumps in the road. “You just hope the lows aren’t too low and you bounce back from them quickly.”

Dolson admitted that he “would be lying” if he said the 8-0 start and the fan base that has rallied around it didn’t exceed all of his expectations. He said he hoped for some success and confidence; This was proof that Cignetti and his team had built a cohesive, highly competitive team. But he and those of us outside Bloomington may have underestimated Cignetti’s understanding of the portal and player development. He’s definitely a very good talent evaluator. He also pushed every right button as he built a disciplined and solid team that managed to survive without a point guard in its first full game just a week ago.

So could it work as well for others?

The two agents, who spoke to NBC Sports on the condition of anonymity and spoke candidly about the coaching market, said there are a few lessons other athletic directors and coaches should learn from Cignetti’s Year 1 success. First, there is a huge benefit to hiring a sitting head coach; because he can bring the good players from his previous stop with him. Not only can they make significant contributions to the field, but they can also help quickly instill the coaching culture.

Sitting head coaches, especially those winning at lower levels (like Cignetti, who started his head coaching career in Division II), may be better equipped to build rosters in the current era. They’ve had to deal with their best players being poached by others before. They are used to making difficult budget decisions. In general, they are used to doing more with less. (“There is nothing more frustrating to a manager than a head coach who always wants more and is never satisfied with his resources,” one manager said.)

But even if other athletic directors wanted to copy what Indiana did, there doesn’t seem to be a ton of Cignetti around. There’s Kansas coach Lance Leipold and Kansas State coach Chris Klieman, who both cut their teeth as head coaches in Division III. And there’s Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell, whose first head coaching job was in Division II. But these coaches’ paths are unorthodox, and rare athletic directors need someone with a resume like theirs to lead a strong conference program with fan bases that love talented coordinators. You may not win the press conference. But you can win games.

Ultimately, it’s hard to predict whether recruiters will learn from what’s worked so far in Indiana. One representative called it a “copycat hiring era” but also cautioned that even if people try to replicate the practices, they make mistakes.

The second representative noted that Cignetti’s early success may be just another data point for impatient athletic directors and donors. In the past, they had to give coaches time and, in many cases, wait at least a four-year hiring cycle to see if they could turn things around. In the age of portals, these leashes are getting shorter and shorter. Some programs are expecting returns as early as Year 2 or at least Year 3. Florida comes to mind, with third-year coach Billy Napier currently having the hottest season in the country. The pre-Mike Norvell era at Florida State is another good example; Willie Taggart was on the job for less than two seasons.

The coaching carousel will begin to turn in earnest in the coming weeks as schools make changes to bring in their next head coach and their next big prospect. And it’s worth wondering if any athletic director could learn from the magic that permeates Bloomington. Curt Cignetti may not have been the biggest splash of last year’s season, and Indiana certainly wasn’t on anyone’s CFP radar heading into this season. But this is the 63-year-old man who has defined the 2024 college football season so far, and this hire is one who could set wildly unrealistic expectations for everyone else.

“I guess that’s a good thing,” Cignetti said with a smile.