Curt Cignetti had a welcome-to-Indiana message for transfer Nick Marsh: Leave the gold shoes behind

By Canadian Press on March 26, 2026.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Curt Cignetti is not about to let the Indiana Hoosiers put flash in front of fundamentals after their first national championship.

Newcomer Nick Marsh apparently found that out in humbling fashion before his first practice with the team.

During Cignetti’s news conference to preview the start of spring ball, the no-nonsense coach revealed during a discussion about the transfer wide receiver from Michigan State that he chewed out Marsh prior to practice for an equipment faux pas for the old-school program.

Gold shoes.

After praising the production Marsh gave the Spartans over his first two seasons in the Big Ten, with 100 receptions for 1,311 yards and nine touchdowns in 23 games, Cignetti made a point to mention he put Marsh in his place for his choice of cleat color.

“I don’t know if that happened to him very often at Michigan State,” Cignetti said. “That was a wakeup call.”

Perhaps Cignetti was simply trying to use Marsh to send a message to the entire team with a reminder that glamour — or complacency — will get the Hoosiers nowhere in 2026 after winning all 16 of their games in the 2025 season. Whatever his motivation, the 64-year-old Cignetti — who is 27-2 in two seasons at Indiana — quickly softened his tone to seemingly steer the spotlight away from Marsh’s first-day mistake.

“He’s worked really hard, done a great job for us,” Cignetti said.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

The Associated Press