What a Difference A Year Makes For Indiana Football

Written by T.J. Inman

Very few IU fans need a reminder of the state of IU football just one year ago. The program had lost to Purdue again and went just 3-9 in a terribly frustrating season filled with mostly incompetent offensive performances. If the national media spoke about Indiana University football, it was mostly just to crack a dismissive joke or acknowledge another lopsided loss for one of the sport’s sorriest major conference programs in the country. Scott Dolson fired Tom Allen, hired Curt Cignetti and one year later, the Indiana Hoosiers are seeded tenth in the College Football Playoff rankings and slated to travel to South Bend to play the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on December 20 in the first round of the College Football Playoff. 

Curt Cignetti is still very focused on what lies in front of his football team and the challenge they face against Notre Dame but he admitted to the media on Sunday that a lot has been accomplished during the past 12 months.

“I really still haven’t had the chance to reflect and let it all sink in. I did walk outside my office this afternoon for about 30 seconds and looked around the stadium between interviews and it kind of hit me,” Cignetti told the media in Bloomington on Sunday. “It was like, wow, we’ve accomplished a lot in 12 months.”

As he has often talked about since taking the job, the first thing Curt Cignetti needed to address in Bloomington was the culture surrounding the program. There was an expectation of losing and that was something Cignetti would absolutely not tolerate. He views the playoff bid as a reward for the culture and standards his staff has put in place and the players have upheld.

“Changing the culture is a process. You’ve got to change the way people think inside and outside the organization, throughout the state, and in Big Ten country, and the country,” Cignetti said. “Then you’ve got to have a blueprint and a plan and you work your plan every day to gain the edge. Then you’ve got to be committed to improvement. You’ve got to have high standards, expectations and you can never lower your standards. This is the end result of a process, and this is the reward for a job well done.”

Curt Cignetti and his coaching staff are now juggling preparations for first-round opponent Notre Dame along with attempting to again navigate the demands of the transfer portal as they try and build a staff for the 2025 season that can again compete for a playoff bid. Much has changed in 12 months but the standards and culture instilled in Bloomington should now be a constant for Curt Cignetti’s program.