Curt Cignetti gains love from West Virginia fans with comment on Darian DeVries

West Virginia football fans likely spent most of last year having wished they could have snatched up current Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti, as the son of former Mountaineer head coach Frank Cignetti Sr. led Indiana to a College Football Playoff appearance in his first season with the Hoosiers while the Mountaineers limped to a 6-6 finish under sixth-season head coach Neal Brown before he was canned following the season.

Now, Mountaineer fans seem to be happy with their future as prodigal son Rich Rodriguez returns home for his second stint leading West Virginia. But those who support the old-gold-and-blue had to deal with some more resentful feeling towards Indiana as the Hoosiers scooped up WVU's first year head basketball coach Darian DeVries after a 19-13 season for the Mountaineers.

And a recent comment to the press by Cignetti this offseason likely endeared himself even further to West Virginia fans who may have initially wanted to bring him to Morgantown, as he made a sarcastic remark regarding roster additions that threw a tad bit of shade towards his new colleague in the athletic department in Bloomington.

When asked about the group of talent he's bringing into the program this year, Cignetti expressed a desire to have signed more players -- but circumstances regarding DeVries' arrival at Indiana seems to have tied up the flow of some NIL funds that Cignetti may have been expecting.

"I'd liked to have signed a few more but ya know when we hired Darian and he lost his whole roster money got a little tight," he said.

While the comment was most likely in good spirits towards DeVries and delivered with a chuckle, it resonated with West Virginia fans who understand why much of Indiana's roster may have ditched the program following the hire and that may even relish in the fact DeVries has another full rebuild ahead of him -- certainly, after DeVries' controversial departure, WVU fans can relate to players for other programs not fully trusting that DeVries will be around this time next year.