No, you’re not dreaming - Indiana football is on top of the college football world. The same Indiana program that, not long ago, held the dubious distinction of being the losingest team in college football history is now a national champion.
And it’s not just that they won - it’s how they did it. Under Curt Cignetti, the Hoosiers went a perfect 16-0.
That’s not just a turnaround; that’s a full-blown football miracle.
A Transformation Without Precedent
What Cignetti has pulled off in Bloomington is, quite frankly, unheard of. In just two seasons, he took a program with almost no historical football success and turned it into a juggernaut.
And he did it without the luxury of a roster stacked with blue-chip recruits. This wasn’t a case of simply inheriting talent and fine-tuning it.
This was a complete rebuild - and a rocket-fueled one at that.
It’s hard to even find a comparison point. Coaches don’t take over programs like Indiana and win national titles in two years.
That’s not how this sport works - until now. Cignetti has effectively rewritten the playbook on what’s possible.
The Ripple Effect Across College Football
Cignetti’s success isn’t just a feel-good story for Indiana fans. It’s a seismic shift that could reshape how college football programs evaluate their own coaches. And that brings us to USC’s Lincoln Riley.
Riley, like many coaches at marquee programs, has emphasized the importance of patience. Rebuilding a program, especially one with sky-high expectations, takes time.
You need to recruit, install your systems, build a culture - it’s a process. And historically, that’s been a fair argument.
But now, that argument has a massive asterisk next to it. Because while Riley has been at USC for multiple seasons, Cignetti just came in from James Madison and turned Indiana - Indiana - into a national champion in year two. That changes the conversation.
A New Standard, Whether Fair or Not
To be clear, comparing any coach to Cignetti right now isn’t exactly fair. What he just accomplished might be the greatest coaching job in the history of the sport.
You could make a serious case that winning one title at Indiana is more impressive than winning multiple at a powerhouse like Alabama. That’s how rare this is.
But fairness doesn’t always factor into how fanbases and athletic departments make decisions. Expectations evolve quickly in this sport, and Cignetti just raised the bar in a way that’s going to put pressure on coaches everywhere - especially those at big-name programs with big-time resources.
The Lincoln Riley Question
Let’s talk about Riley again. He’s now been at USC twice as long as Cignetti has been at Indiana.
And while USC wasn’t in peak form when he arrived, it wasn’t exactly a rebuild from the ground up. The Trojans had talent, tradition, and a far more robust infrastructure than what Cignetti inherited in Bloomington.
If USC posts another solid-but-not-spectacular season - say, 9-3 - that’s not a disaster by any means. But it would mark five seasons without a playoff appearance.
And in the post-Cignetti world, that’s going to raise eyebrows. Athletic director Jennifer Cohen will have to ask the tough question: If Indiana can win it all in two years, why can’t USC even make the playoff in five?
A New Reality for Coaches
This isn’t just about Riley. Cignetti’s success is going to be felt across the coaching landscape.
Programs that once would’ve given coaches four or five years to build now might expect results in half that time. The patience window is shrinking - and Cignetti just slammed it shut a little more.
So yes, congratulations to the Hoosiers. What they did this season was nothing short of extraordinary.
But their triumph also marks a turning point. The bar has been raised.
The clock is ticking faster. And for coaches across the country, the message is clear: the game has changed.