‘All we do is win’: Who dares to prove Indiana coach Curt Cignetti wrong in Year 3? originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Curt Cignetti finally delivered a mic-drop moment in the final seconds of his time on the podium at Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday. It is on the B-side of his greatest hits reel of quotes and facial expressions, but it still got the Indiana coach’s message across heading into the program’s defense of last year’s 16-0 national championship run.
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“We don’t run a hype machine up here in the Midwest,” Cignetti said. “We believe everything is earned, not given. When we fall short, we say we fell short. We don’t cry a river and whine and complain, all right, and that’s why we’re the best.”
Cignetti smirked; perhaps satisfied with the delivery. That quote had everything. Big Ten pride. A variation of the phrase LeBron James used when he returned to Cleveland in 2014. And, of course, a shot at the SEC non–conference schedule complaints directed toward the Hoosiers.
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Who could have predicted Cignetti – who had the mic last among Power 4 coaches at media days – would be the main character in the sport after two years?
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Certainly not those clacking keyboards with their heads down when Cignetti took the podium at Big Ten Media Days two years ago. He had a similar message that seemed outlandish at the time when he took offense to being picked 17th in the preseason poll. Cignetti’s teams had picked next-to-last twice in his career.
“In 2022 we won the conference championship and 2017 we had an 8-4 team and played JMU the last game of the year for the conference championship,” Cignetti said during that opening address. “I’m not into making predictions. That’s just a historical fact. I know you guys have been waiting for me to do something crazy. That wasn’t quite crazy. Somebody asked me, ‘How do you define success at Indiana?’ I was like, ‘Well, we want to be the best.'”
You could hear the echo at that point. I smirked with my head buried in the keyboard when Cignetti said that and probably said something like, “Sure thing.”
Cignetti led Indiana to a 11-2 record and College Football Playoff appearance, and I still didn’t believe it. Before last season, I remember saying, “Google Kinnick Stadium, Autzen Stadium and Beaver Stadium” in one of our meetings.
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The Hoosiers won all of those road games before beating No. 1 Ohio State in the Big Ten championship and storming through the CFP as one of the greatest Big Ten teams of all time.
In two years, Cignetti flipped the Big Ten – for almost a half-century known as the “Big Two” – and built a program that will be in the conference championship and playoff hunt as long as he’s there. That is a sure thing, especially after hearing Cignetti start a recap of last season by saying, “I thought we took some necessary steps forward last season in Year 2.”
You cannot doubt the method to this madness any longer.
“I’ll be stalking complacency,” Cignetti said. “I know that question is coming, but I like what I see so far.”
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Curt Cignetti on Year 3 expectations at Indiana
Cignetti was asked to compare this year’s team to last season – which featured eight NFL Draft picks, including No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza. The Hoosiers had at least one player drafted in every round of the 2026 NFL Draft. He gave an atypical answer.
“All of our teams have been successful because they have been more similar than different,” Cignetti said. “We don’t turn it over. We play smart. All three phases play off each other. Stop the run, run the ball. We’re good in the red area – touchdown percentage, fourth-down percentage. Those are things we’re going to continue to do. The faces just change a little bit.”
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Indiana brings back a good mix of returners from last year’s team, including All-American tackle Carter Smith and receiver Charlie Becker on offense and Tyrique Tucker, Rolijah Hardy and Isaiah Jones on defense. The Hoosiers also brought in transfers such as TCU QB Josh Hoover, Michigan State wide receiver Nick Marsh and Boston College running back Turbo Richard to that offense; which averaged 41.6 points per game last season.
Hoover, of course, a three-year starter at TCU, is the key. Will he take the same leap Ohio transfer Kurtis Rourke and Mendoza took the last two seasons? Cignetti kind of took a shot at TCU next.
“We’re not going to put the ball in his hand and say go out and win the game and outscore people,” Cignetti said. “We’re going to go out and give him a run game, defense and special teams.”
Despite all that, there still might be some skepticism about Indiana this season. The Hoosiers were picked to finish third in the Big Ten preseason poll released by Cleveland.com behind Ohio State and Oregon despite a 3-0 record against those teams last season.
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Indiana could easily be 6-0 when they hit a stretch against the traditional “Big Two” from Oct. 17-24. The Hoosiers host Ohio State in the first game with a chance to beat the Buckeyes in the regular season for the first time since 1990. Indiana has not won at Michigan since 1967. So, yeah, there are always narratives to change for the program Cignetti has built even if there are fewer questions than places such as Michigan and Penn State – who have first-year coaches in Kyle Whittingham and Matt Campbell – and USC – which has yet to make the CFP under Lincoln Riley.
Those schools are chasing Indiana now. So are the SEC schools who no doubt have an irritable case of “Cignetti fatigue” breaking out this summer, especially from a coach who talks about his process like Nick Saban used to. That is the ultimate testament to what he’s built in a short time. Cignetti delivered a few gems from the press conference, too.
“I’ve been on vacation long enough,” he said. “I’m tired of being bossed around by my wife, I’m ready to boss somebody else around and develop a football team. It’s all about development.”
When a reporter showed Cignetti a jersey patch option with the Google logo and the word “me” – an homage to his most-memorable podium moment – the coach brushed it off.
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“Is it going to make us better?” he said. “If not, then I’m not interested.”
Why? Cignetti is doing at Indiana what he said that search turns up. The Hoosiers are 27-2 in two years, and anybody who believes this will be a down year hasn’t lifted their head from that keyboard yet.
“We have a way of doing things, we’ve got guys who have been together, and all we do is win,” Cignetti said.
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