Curt Cignetti has been very focused this off-season, rejecting all foreign offers: ‘I’m 95% football’
The Indiana Hoosiers, without fail, won the National Championship, completing an undefeated 2025-2026 season.
It’s no understatement to say it was one of the most surprising results in modern college football history. A program that has had little history of success, often viewed as one of the easier wins on the team’s schedule than a legitimate contender for major postseason wins. It was an amazing success.
In fact, just before the regular season began, 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 would think that after a season like that, the Hoosiers program, and especially head coach Curt Cignetti, would take some time to appreciate it. Shine brightly, take a moment, do some kind of “victory” through the media, talk about what it means.
However, Indiana and Cignetti did the opposite. Quite the opposite. Because he is a football player first, and football boys think about one thing: more than 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 be his focus in 2026
ESPN spoke to them Cignetti on the Indiana campus, where he explained in detail how he approaches training and development.
“We have a way of doing things,” he said. “The way you do something is the way you do everything. Consistency, performance is the key to the drill. So right now we’re teaching the guys not only the scheme, but the standards, the expectations, and how we want to play the game between the white lines, and I see we’re improving.”
But perhaps the clearest indication of how committed Cignetti is to staying focused on football came when ESPN reported that he told Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson and university president Pamela Whitten to “decline all outside requests and communications.” Why? So he could “continue to focus on football.”
“I’m 95% football,” Cignetti said. “We said no to everything except the Indy 500.”
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“I have to be able to do my job,” he said. “These things take you out of the office, and they take up your time. I mean, I have work to do. Believe me, I’m busy.”
That’s a football boy if we ever saw 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 the coaches are focused on their jobs. It’s a very difficult job that requires a lot of dedication and time for recruiting, game planning, and employee evaluation. But it’s clear that Cignetti’s focus, likely due to his time coaching with Nick Saban, has completely changed the Indiana program. As well as encrypting the transfer portal, of course.
The players are able to see that single-minded purpose and respond to it, and the Hoosiers played with the discipline and efficiency of a team like their coach. Even though Cignetti has to replace Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza and other key players, it’s tough to bet against Indiana being back in contention. Because Cignetti is all football.
