Caltagirone

Sometimes seeing is not believing.

As head coach Curt Cignetti transformed Indiana football into a national champion in plain sight over the last two seasons, the program’s less-than-illustrious history still raised recurring doubts regarding whether the optics were a mirage.

Obscured by the glow of the blowout victories, school records and program milestones were all the quantifiable measures that contributed to Indiana’s evolution as a dominant force.

During a 16-0 season, Indiana committed a mere eight turnovers and averaged only 27.6 yards per game in penalties.

Those are hallmarks of a smart and disciplined football team. Cignetti takes pains to ensure that his team doesn’t beat itself.

“Alignments, stance — he (Cignetti) makes sure everything’s down to a tee,” said Indiana safety Amare Ferrell. “So when you practice like that day in, day out, it kind of just becomes a habit at this point. I feel like that’s why we play so mistake-free.”

The Hoosiers totaled 134 points off 30 opponent turnovers and scored on 92 percent of trips inside the red zone.

Those are the stats of a team that is opportunistic and efficient.

By winning five games by 10 points or less at away or neutral sites, Indiana proved that it possessed the resolve and mental toughness required to block out distractions.

While that brief summary of competitive mastery might not be a complete blueprint for winning the national title, it certainly represents a solid foundation.

Consistently, Indiana made winning look easy.

Even the last-minute drive that completed the comeback victory over Penn State was executed with poise and a matter-of-fact confidence nurtured by repetitive drilling.

Indiana football experienced three winning seasons from 1995 to 2023.

Considering that degree of futility, it would have been understandable if contentment had enveloped the program after the Hoosiers went 11-2 and lost in the first-round of the 2024 College Football Playoff.

It’s hard to imagine anyone describing Cignetti as contented.

Prior to the start of the 2025 campaign, Cignetti said, “The theme of this year is humble and hungry versus noise and clutter. Humble and hungry. If are you humble and hungry and have that fire burning inside your belly and you’re committed to high standards, and the leadership has a good plan — a structured, organized plan that’s going to lead to your development and team development– then you’re going to reach your full potential.”

Cignetti inherited a 3-9 team when he was hired at IU. The remarkable turnaround in Bloomington puts pressure on every new hire of a downtrodden program to at least approximate Cignetti’s success.

The expectations are even higher for coaches taking over programs with a history of winning.

With Indiana now established as the Big Ten Conference trendsetter, Penn State’s Matt Campbell and Michigan’s Kyle Whittingham won’t have the benefit of the old five-year plan to gets things right with their programs.

Their mandate is to win big now. And not just against Big Ten lightweights and non-conference opponents that have been scheduled to guarantee an automatic victory.

When Cignetti was asked by a network sideline reporter how his team was able to handle the pressure of performing on a big stage like the Rose Bowl, he answered, “Why should it be too big? Because our name’s Indiana?”

For 16 games, the Hoosiers backed up their coach’s chip-on-the-shoulder attitude, and then some.

It was quite the sight to behold.

Jim Caltagirone writes a monthly column for the Mirror.