Indiana’s Curt Cignetti Balances Rose Bowl Prep with 2026 Roster Building Amid Transfer Portal Crunch
With the Rose Bowl looming and a perfect 13-0 season on the line, you'd think Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti would be locked in solely on Alabama. But in today’s college football landscape, even the biggest games can’t exist in a vacuum - not when the NCAA’s single transfer portal window opens just one day after the national semifinals.
That’s why Cignetti and his staff used Indiana’s off week not just to fine-tune their game plan for the Crimson Tide, but to lay the groundwork for 2026. Because once the final whistle blows in Pasadena, win or lose, the Hoosiers will have just two weeks - from Jan. 2 to Jan. 16 - to address their roster needs in the portal.
“We're probably 95% through, what I would call the key guys, sort of the guys that everybody knows,” Cignetti said, referring to internal evaluations and portal planning. In other words, Indiana’s staff has already done most of the heavy lifting when it comes to identifying primary targets and potential roster gaps.
And there will be gaps - plenty of them.
Indiana is set to lose a core group of veterans to graduation, including standout running back Roman Hemby, offensive lineman Pat Coogan, safety Louis Moore, wide receiver Elijah Sarratt, and linebacker Aiden Fisher. That’s a lot of experience walking out the door. Add in a few early NFL Draft declarations, and suddenly the Hoosiers are staring down a major roster overhaul - right as they try to sustain the momentum of a historic season.
But in today’s era of college football, it’s not just about replacing what you lose. It’s also about retaining what you have.
Coaches now find themselves re-recruiting their own players, working to keep key contributors from jumping into the portal. It’s a dynamic that’s starting to feel a lot like NFL free agency, with schools announcing they've "re-signed" players to new NIL or revenue-sharing deals.
Cignetti didn’t go into specifics about who might be staying or leaving, but the picture will get clearer soon enough. For teams still playing deep into January - like Indiana - there’s a five-day grace period after the season ends (Jan. 20-24) for players to enter the portal. So while most programs will be scrambling in early January, the Hoosiers get a little extra breathing room.
Still, the timing of it all is far from ideal. Coaches across the country have voiced their frustration with the overlap between the College Football Playoff and the transfer portal window, and Cignetti is no exception.
“I definitely think the calendar could be improved,” he said. “And that would be unanimous amongst the coaches. Whether you got to move the start of the regular season up a week and start playing in the playoffs when the season ends… we’re all looking, I think, for that solution.”
It’s a juggling act - preparing for the biggest game in program history while simultaneously planning for the future. But that’s the new normal in college football. And if Indiana wants to stay on top, it’s a balance Cignetti and his staff will have to keep mastering.