Curt Cignetti isn’t just winning games-he’s rewriting the script on what’s possible in college football. Two years ago, Indiana was limping through a 3-9 season.
Now? The Hoosiers are national champions with a perfect 16-0 record, and Cignetti is the architect behind one of the most jaw-dropping turnarounds the sport has seen in decades.
It’s the kind of meteoric rise that doesn’t just change a program-it changes the conversation around it. And Cignetti, never one to shy away from confidence, summed up his recruiting pitch in five unforgettable words: *“It’s pretty simple, I win.
Google me.” * That line went viral, and rightfully so.
It wasn’t just bravado-it was a promise. And after Indiana capped off their historic season with a win over Miami in the national title game, it became prophecy.
Now, when you type “Curt Cignetti” into Google, the search result simply reads: *“Yup, he won.” * That’s not just a flex-it’s a digital monument to a coach who delivered.
Before he was the face of Indiana’s football renaissance, Cignetti was grinding through the coaching ranks. His journey started at Division II IUP in 2011, where he posted a 53-17 record.
That came after a stint as Nick Saban’s wide receivers coach at Alabama-yes, that Nick Saban. From there, he took over at Elon, going 14-9 at the FCS level.
Every stop along the way was a step forward, a brick laid on the path to this moment.
Now, he’s at the top of the college football mountain. Indiana is 27-2 under his leadership, and the 16-0 finish marks the sport’s first perfect season of that length since Yale pulled it off back in 1894.
It’s not just that Indiana won-it’s how they won. This is a program that had never cracked the 10-win mark in a single season before Cignetti showed up in 2024.
In two years, he didn’t just raise the bar-he launched it into orbit.
Naturally, with that kind of success, the NFL questions have started to swirl. But Cignetti isn’t biting.
When asked if he’d consider making the leap to Sundays, he shut it down fast: *“I’m not an NFL guy. I made that decision a long time ago.
I’ve always been a college football guy.” * That’s not just a statement-it’s a mission.
He’s not chasing the next job. He’s building something.
And right now, what he’s building in Bloomington is nothing short of historic. Cignetti has turned Indiana into a powerhouse, a destination, a program with swagger. And he’s done it all while staying true to who he is-a college football lifer who knows how to win and isn’t afraid to say it.
So yes, Google him. The results speak for themselves.