Gerry DiNardo has been a major figure in college football since the 1970s, when he was an All-American guard at Notre Dame. He quickly entered coaching, and led three power conference programs: Vanderbilt (1992 to ’94), LSU (’95 to ’99) and Indiana (2002 to ’04). He now works as an analyst for the Big Ten Network.
As part of a Big Ten and Samsung-sponsored coaching workshop conducted alongside former Michigan star tight end Jake Butt, DiNardo sat down with Sports Illustrated to discuss a range of topics, including Saturday’s Big Ten championship game, ongoing concerns with sign-stealing in the sport, the Heisman Trophy race, and the College Football Playoff.
DiNardo also weighed in on his former school Indiana’s hire of Curt Cignetti, and went in-depth on the opportunity to mentor some of the state’s high school coaches in Indianapolis this weekend ahead of Saturday’s Big Ten championship. He was particularly passionate about how high school coaches can take a more proactive role in their players’ recruiting in the transfer portal and NIL era.
