Indiana’s storybook season ended with a perfect 16-0 record and a national championship, but don’t expect head coach Curt Cignetti to ride off into the sunset just yet. After the Hoosiers capped their undefeated run with a 27-21 win over Miami in the title game, Cignetti made it clear - he’s not going anywhere.
“Good question,” Cignetti said when asked about his future. “Because I’ll be dealing with underclassmen going to the NFL tomorrow and who knows what else.
And if I was smart, I’d probably retire. Then, I’d really be a story.
But we need the money. What would I do?
What would I do?”
What he’ll do is keep coaching - and he’s not hiding the fact that he still loves every second of it.
“I’m a film junkie, and I like putting a team together,” Cignetti said. “We’re going to have a lot of challenges next season.
But I will have a chance to look back at what we got done. These guys made it happen.
Let me tell you, we had some good senior leadership on this team.”
That leadership was anchored by quarterback Fernando Mendoza, whose rise to stardom has been nothing short of meteoric. Mendoza didn’t just win games - he won hearts, and eventually, the Heisman Trophy. But his impact went far beyond the stat sheet.
“This team was exceptionally close,” Cignetti said. “And I think Fernando had a big part of that. I think [Pat] Coogan and [Aiden] Fisher, and going on the road with some of those guys - the Penn State game, what that did for this team, I can’t measure.”
He’s talking about the moment that may have defined Indiana’s season - a gritty comeback on the road in Happy Valley. The Hoosiers were down, deep in their own territory, second-and-17 with the clock ticking under 90 seconds. The season was teetering on the edge, but somehow, they found a way.
“All of a sudden we recomposed and found a way to get that done,” Cignetti recalled. “That was incredible.”
It’s those moments - the ones that don’t show up in the box score - that tell the real story of this Indiana team. A group that believed when no one else did. A team that leaned on each other, rallied behind veteran leadership, and turned adversity into fuel.
Now, with the trophy in hand and the confetti still settling, the questions naturally shift to what’s next. Cignetti knows the road ahead won’t be easy.
Players will move on. Challenges will mount.
But the foundation is strong, and the passion is still burning.
Cignetti isn’t just staying in Bloomington - he’s doubling down. And after the season he and his Hoosiers just delivered, it’s hard not to believe they’ve got more magic left in the tank.