People are calling it one of the greatest turnarounds in sports history. No one thought this was possible. Curt Cignetti did it. He turned the losingest program in Division 1 history, Indiana, into the National Champions in only two years as a coach.
“I think my junior or senior year [at Indiana] we got to go to a bowl game, and that was a huge deal. So now just the idea that we would be a top 25 program is crazy, let alone play for the National Championship and actually win it,” former Indiana student and teacher Nathan Orme said. The meteoric rise of Indiana over the last two years was almost entirely unexpected by fans of the school itself and the rest of the College Football community. However, with the hiring of Cignetti on Nov. 30, 2023, the team has only improved since then in ways that no one thought possible.
“Fast. Physical. Relentless.” Cignetti’s mantra defines what has made the last two seasons possible. The players are incredibly well-coached and it is prevalent while watching the games due to how few mistakes are made. “What has stood out to me the most is how well disciplined the players are. They seem very intentional about everything they do,” lifelong Indiana fan and junior Jacob Mercer said. The difference being made by the new coaching staff is shown not only in the game itself but the results, too. Indiana has only lost two games in the last two seasons, both in the 24-25 season to the two teams that competed for the National Championship, Notre Dame and The Ohio State University. The team has shown dominance, and Cignetti called it from the very beginning, saying “I win. Google me,” in his first press conference as coach.
However, along the journey to a national championship, there were many doubters. “I’m still not convinced that Curt Cignetti is one of the top coaches in America,” sports author and television sports personality Paul Finebaum said in October 2025. Many Southeastern Conference, or SEC, fans like Finebaum claim that their conference boasts stronger teams than the Big Ten, the conference Indiana is in. They commonly use metrics like Strength of Schedule/Record to demonstrate how strong the teams in the SEC are; however, the Indiana team proved them wrong. In the second round of the College Football Playoff, Indiana defeated the Alabama Crimson Tide 38-3, who were second ranked in the SEC this year. It seemed like the more people doubted, the stronger the team became.
“What has stood out the most is seeing Memorial Stadium be full of IU fans on TV and knowing that people are excited about IU Football,” Orme said. Before this year, most Indiana football games would not be near sold out, and usually the stadium would be majority cleared out at halftime. “From a fan’s perspective, it is so awesome to get to see Memorial Stadium rockin’ each Saturday,” Mercer said. With the success the team has had, the home and away tickets continue to sell out, with the Rose Bowl, Peach Bowl and National Championship all being filled with majority Indiana fans despite being neutral site games. The impact shown by Cignetti’s turnaround of the program are shown not only through the team’s success, but through the growth in fandom.
Cignetti’s impact on Indiana University’s football program cannot be understated. The thought that the Hoosiers would be National Champions two years after going 3-9 overall would shock anyone who heard it two years ago. He has done what was thought to be impossible.
