The Indiana Hoosiers, out of nowhere, won the National Championship, finishing off an undefeated 2025-2026 season.
It’s not an understatement to say that it was one of the most surprising outcomes in modern college football history. A program that had little track record of success, more commonly viewed as one of the easy wins on a team’s schedule than a legitimate contender for major postseason accomplishments. It was a remarkable achievement.
In fact, just before the regular season started, Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian said he thought undefeated teams were a thing of the past. Then Indiana goes 16-0.
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You’d think after a season like that, the Hoosiers program, and especially head coach Curt Cignetti, would take some time to enjoy it. Bask in the glow, take some time off, do a sort of “victory lap” through the media, talking about what it meant.
Well, Indiana and Cignetti did the opposite. The exact opposite. Because he’s a football guy first, and football guys think about one thing: more football.
Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti looks on during the College Football Playoff National Championship Game against the Miami Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., on Jan. 19, 2026. (David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire)
Curt Cignetti wants Indiana to match his focus heading into 2026
ESPN spoke to Cignetti on the Indiana campus, where he detailed how he approaches coaching and development.
“We’ve got a way of doing things,” he said. “How you do something is how you do everything. Consistency, performance is the key to the drill. So right now we’re teaching guys not only scheme, but standards, expectations, and how we want to play the game between the white lines, and I see us making progress.”
But perhaps the clearest indicator of how committed Cignetti is to keeping the focus on football came when ESPN reported that he told Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson and university president Pamela Whitten to “turn down all external requests and speaking engagements.” Why? So he could “continue to focus on football.”
“I’m 95% football,” Cignetti said. “We’ve said no to everything except for the Indy 500.”
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“I’ve got to be able to do my job,” he said. “These things pull you out of the office, and they take up your time. I mean, I have a job to do. Believe it or not, I’m busy.”
That’s a football guy if we’ve ever seen one.
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Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti celebrates after defeating the Miami Hurricanes in the College Football Playoff National Championship game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., on Jan. 19, 2026. (Mark J. Rebilas/Imagn Images)
Obviously, all coaches are focused on their jobs. It’s an extremely demanding profession that requires dedication and extraordinary amounts of time for recruiting, game planning, and personnel evaluation. But it’s clear that Cignetti’s focus, potentially as a result of his time coaching with Nick Saban, has completely changed the Indiana program. Along with nailing the transfer portal, of course.
Players can see that single-minded purpose and respond to it, and the Hoosiers played with the discipline and efficiency of a team that mirrors its coach. Even though Cignetti has to replace Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza and other key players, it’s hard to bet against Indiana being right back in contention. Because Cignetti is all football.
