Believe it

The greatest turnaround in college football history continues

After beating #1 Ohio State (12-1) in the Big Ten championship game, Indiana (13-0) has earned the nation’s top ranking as well as the top seed in the College Football Playoff.

This Saturday evening, IU quarterback Fernando Mendoza is favored to win the Heisman Trophy, awarded annually to the nation’s top college football player (the school has no previous Heisman winners).

HeisMendoza deserves it. He has been outstanding.

The next stop for the only unbeaten team left in the sport this season is the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day, facing the Bama-OU winner Dec. 19.

Head coach Curt Cignetti now stands 24-2 with IU (143-37 overall). Unheard of.

In only two seasons, the 64-year-old has lifted the program from Division I’s second-least winningest all-time to the sport’s mountaintop. Astonishing.

I attended the Ohio State game at Lucas Oil Field on Saturday. During my transit back to Texas from Indy, I rewatched the 12/2/2023 Cignetti introductory press conference (he takes the podium at 09:30). 

Some observations from that presser:

Impossible not to root for, Cig is exactly who he said he would be, and what IU football would become.

Not only did he call his shot during this media event, laying out what was to come… He did it again famously later that evening at the basketball game, delivering a hilarious poke at Big Ten rivals. 

“Purdue sucks. But so do Michigan and Ohio State!”

You gotta remember that, at the time this guy is saying these words, Indiana held the sport’s least all-time win total.

Hadn’t won a bowl game in 30 years.

Hadn’t been in a Rose Bowl in 58 years.

And had won its only other conference title in 1945 — 80 years ago.

Ripped the following items and ideas from Cig’s opening remarks, two years ago. Enjoy!

Coaching Philosophy

• Wage a tenacious battle against complacency
• No self-imposed limitations on what can be accomplished
• Process-oriented approach: focus on the present moment, improve daily to position yourself best for tomorrow
• Each play has life and history of its own. Play each like it matters most

Standards & Culture

• High standards, high expectations, accountability
• Building culture through discipline, commitment, toughness, work ethic, pride
• Changing the way people think is the biggest challenge
• Consistency in preparation and performance
• Avoiding complacency requires constant vigilance (starts at 5am, staff meetings at 7am)

Player Development

• Production over potential in evaluation
• Focus on habits and character – checks high school transcripts for attendance
• “First you form your habits and your habits form you”
• “You got freedom of choice but not freedom of consequence”
• Developing quarterbacks is central (four consecutive conference offensive players of the year at JMU)
• Build with high school players, supplement strategically with portal

Recruiting & Evaluation

• Never looks at star ratings – trusts his own evaluation
• Focuses on physical traits, production, character, and habits
• Best transfers often come from smaller programs
• “Do you really think some guy who puts stars on kids knows what he’s talking about compared to coaches watching hours and hours of tape?”

Game Preparation

• When the game’s on the line, you’re just doing your thing because you’ve practiced that way
• “The margin for victory in this game is like this” (narrow gesture)
• First 2-3 games everyone’s ready to play; after that, it’s who shows up ready – “that’s called coaching and it counts”

Key Cignetti quotes from the presser – and we’ve been hearing many of these weekly, since:

“One play at a time, six seconds a play, every play’s got a life and a history of its own. Play every play like it’s nothing, not affected by success or failure. Be able to compartmentalize and go to the next play”

“There will be no self-imposed limitations on what we can accomplish”

“The time has come to make some noise and make a statement”

“To be great, you got to have special focus, special commitment, special preparation and discipline and the ability to say ‘No'”

“One of the keys to success is we have everybody thinking alike”

“How to avoid complacency, which Nick Saban [whom Cignetti coached under at Bama 2007-2010] was so good at on a day to day, minute to minute, second to second… Making sure complacency isn’t setting in on your organization on Sunday after a big win or Monday”

“It’ll be a day by day process that is hinged on being focused on the present moment and improving as much daily as possible to put yourself in the best position tomorrow” 

“You’ve got to be uncomfortable to grow and I’m too young to stop growing”

“It’s wanting to be great versus wanting to be normal. Normal kind of equals average — and average is okay. There’s no problem with average, except in my business. My business, average is the enemy, and to be great you got to have special focus, special commitment, special preparation and discipline”

“We’re going to change the culture, the mindset, the expectation level and improve the brand of Indiana Hoosier football. There will be no self-imposed limitations on what we can accomplish” 

On the biggest challenge: “Changing the way people think“

The decisive plays from Saturday 12/6/2025 at Lucas Oil. Final score INDIANA 13, OHIO STATE 10:

First is the go-ahead TD, Mendoza to Sarrat making the score 13-10 IU, midway through the third.

Trailing with three minute to go, on 4th-and-1 Ohio State passed up the first-down try electing instead for a game-tying field goal: