Curt Cignetti Chases Repeat After Indiana's 16-0 Title Run With Relentless Old-School Discipline
Updated
Updated · Sports Illustrated · Sep 2
Curt Cignetti Chases Repeat After Indiana's 16-0 Title Run With Relentless Old-School Discipline
3 articles · Updated · Sports Illustrated · Sep 2
Summary
65-year-old Curt Cignetti has kept Indiana in "business as usual" mode after its 16-0 national-title season, rejecting most offseason appearances and refocusing the program on daily detail and anti-complacency.
Three legal pads, a handwritten color-coded 2026 schedule and a taped note reading "SOFTNESS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED HERE" reflect the meticulous approach he credits for sustained winning.
Indiana's 2025 title team embodied that formula: FBS-best +22 turnover margin, only one lost fumble across 1,047 straight offensive plays after Week 1, and 27.6 penalty yards per game.
That system has traveled with Cignetti across four levels and 15 straight winning seasons, with seven consecutive quarterbacks finishing top 10 in efficiency and transfers often posting career-best years under him.
At 27-2 at Indiana and now earning $13.2 million annually, Cignetti has turned a longtime FBS cellar-dweller into a national power while insisting last year's success buys nothing this season.