How Curt Cignetti Keeps Indiana Football From Making Champ Game 'bigger Than It Is'

Cignetti still arrives astatine Indiana football’s Memorial Stadium astir 5 a.m. each day. He still stays precocious to watch movie until everybody other has near nan building. It’s nan instauration beneath 1 of assemblage football’s abrupt powerhouses, arsenic nan Hoosiers are 26–2 successful Cignetti’s 2 seasons entering Monday night’s College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

Yet arsenic Cignetti reaches superstardom and Indiana continues slaying dragons it ne'er thought possible, nan Hoosiers’ urgency remains higher than ever — because of Cignetti’s non-stop, never-ending desire for betterment and really he instills it wrong his team.

“Every azygous day,” elder tight extremity Riley Nowakowski said, “he comes successful and useful for illustration he hasn’t won a crippled successful his life.”

Cignetti, of course, has won plentifulness — 1 speedy Google hunt tells you that. And aft a 56–22 blowout triumph complete No. 5 Oregon successful nan Peach Bowl, Cignetti has much wins successful his first 2 years astatine Indiana than immoderate different coach successful FBS history successful their first 2 seasons astatine a school.

Indiana is assemblage football’s past unbeaten, and it has 5 wins complete teams classed successful nan apical 10 astatine nan clip of nan meeting. Four of those still clasp up arsenic apical 10 victories.

But it’s imaginable quality quality has been Indiana’s biggest threat this year. The Hoosiers went from Cinderella communicative successful 2024 to plain ascendant successful 2025, yet they’ve hardly stopped to revel successful assemblage football’s top turnaround.

Cignetti allots his squad 24 hours to observe aft wins, past it moves onto nan adjacent week of preparation. The look led to Indiana’s first undefeated regular play successful programme history, and it stood nan trial of nan College Football Playoff en way to nan program’s first nationalist title appearance.

“I deliberation that's why we support moving forward,” elder linebacker Aiden Fisher said. “We're not satisfied pinch anything. We conscionable want to gain much opportunities to play pinch each other, gain much opportunities to beryllium ourself arsenic a team, arsenic an individual. And that's really you beryllium successful.”

If No. 1 Indiana (15–0) knocks disconnected No. 10 Miami (13–2) successful nan title crippled Jan. 19, it will beryllium nan first squad to spell 16–0 since Yale successful 1894 and nan 65th squad since 1936 to decorativeness unbeaten and triumph nan championship.

But nan Hoosiers salary nary mind to history, Fisher said, because it won’t mean thing unless they hit Miami. They’re focused connected fixing mistakes from their 34-point triumph complete Oregon and preparing for nan Hurricanes, who haven’t mislaid since Nov. 1.

No complacency. No satisfaction. No clip to fto one’s mind rotation to immoderate postgame ceremony Monday nighttime successful Miami. And surely nary attraction fixed to Indiana’s position arsenic a touchdown favorite.

“Every azygous clip he talks to us, he's going to hammer connected nan constituent that thing we sewage earlier is going to gain america thing successful nan future,” Nowakowski said. “Every azygous crippled has to beryllium approached nan nonstop aforesaid way.

“I deliberation conscionable having that hammered into your caput each azygous clip you spot him and perceive him talk, yet it gets nan connection across. When that’s each you hear, that's benignant of each you deliberation about.”

Indiana has taken drastic measures to guarantee it hears thing else.

While he was successful nan Hoosiers’ training room, Nowakowski saw ESPN pundits discussing nan nationalist title game. He went complete to nan show and turned it off.

“We don't request to perceive this,” Nowakowski said. “We effort to destruct each that, whether it's bully aliases bad. We don't request to perceive nan talk astir us. You don't request to beryllium going connected societal media, searching up your sanction aliases checking retired what they person to say. It's astir apt a small amended worldly now than possibly astatine nan opening of nan season. People whitethorn person a small much belief.

“But either way, bully aliases bad, it doesn't thief america retired much. Everybody tin opportunity immoderate they want astir us. It's not going to thief america triumph a game. We person to tune that worldly out, and I deliberation nan full squad is successful connected that.”

Senior receiver Elijah Sarratt said he deletes X, formerly known arsenic Twitter, each week because he tries to clasp Cignetti’s regular reminders astir not paying attraction to extracurricular noise. It’s a process, Sarratt said, of listening to Cignetti’s message, believing successful it and asserting it to himself.

Cignetti offered further proposal successful a squad gathering Monday afternoon, 1 week earlier kickoff, centered astir preparing for Miami successful nan aforesaid mode Indiana prepared for Ohio State, Alabama and nan remainder of its opponents.

“The biggest correction our guys tin make … is making this crippled bigger than it is and going down that road,” Cignetti said. “Then, that would beryllium detrimental to our mentation and our performance. This week is nary different than immoderate different week.

“We person to beryllium connected point. We person to stack meetings, practices and spell successful wholly prepared. But past you've sewage to put connected it nan section against a awesome opponent.”

Indiana has continually elevated nan modular for nan biggest crippled successful programme history complete nan past month-and-a-half, and nan Hoosiers person grown accustomed to turning bright-lights, big-stage environments into nan nation’s astir awesome theatrical performances.

Sarratt acknowledged he’s knowledgeable surreal feelings successful anticipation of nan Hoosiers’ vessel games. He remembers watching nan Rose Bowl, Peach Bowl and nationalist title crippled connected tv erstwhile he was younger, and his conflict pinch reminiscing is only compounded by nan realization he’s readying for his last assemblage game.

Indiana grasps nan stakes of Monday night’s crippled — nan program’s first nationalist championship, nan completion of possibly nan top fairytale successful nan history of sports, inarguable immortality successful assemblage shot history — but nan Hoosiers, led by Cignetti’s microscopic, improvement-based mindset, will hole nan aforesaid measurement they did for nan season-opener vs. Old Dominion.

“There's going to beryllium a batch of talk connected societal media astir really large nan crippled is, really large nan infinitesimal is,” Sarratt said. “We're treating it for illustration immoderate different game. That's what you person to do.  You don't want to make nan infinitesimal bigger than it is.

“We understand it's nan nationalist title and a batch of group are going to beryllium watching, but we're going to dainty this believe week nan same. Go in, activity each azygous time starring up to that game.”

Fisher views it arsenic a two-sided coin.

He told Indiana’s linebackers Monday day nan squad has a uncommon opportunity and needs to perpetrate itself for a thorough, afloat focused week of mentation truthful it leaves nan section astatine Hard Rock Stadium pinch nary regrets. But also, nan parameters of nan section won’t change. Neither will nan clip aliases equipment. Ultimately, Fisher said, it’s conscionable football.

Indiana halfway Pat Coogan, who played successful nan nationalist title crippled past play pinch Notre Dame, hasn’t tried to reinvent nan instrumentality pinch circumstantial wisdom. Coogan’s connection to his teammates has focused connected being wherever their feet are, maximizing each time and each believe and translating lessons from nan gathering rooms to nan field.

It’s nan aforesaid mantra Coogan delivered astatine nan commencement of nan Hoosiers’ College Football Playoff run, 1 that’s proven effective and prevented nan infinitesimal from becoming excessively large for nan Cream and Crimson.

“At nan extremity of nan day, it's different shot game, right?” Coogan said. “The shape is big. The shape has been large nan past mates of weeks. The crippled is betwixt nan achromatic lines. I deliberation we person done a bully occupation of having that headspace and having that mindset, ne'er making it bigger than it is.

“And really conscionable making judge we're putting successful nan activity and putting successful nan prep, truthful erstwhile we get to crippled day, we put our champion ft forward.”

Traces of Cignetti’s power are prevalent wrong nan minds, and mentality, of Indiana’s players. The Hoosiers person embraced nan attack of their 64-year-old coach, whose top superpower whitethorn beryllium nan beat he has connected his squad and really to halfway his players nary matter nan stakes of nan game.

Cignetti has agelong preached nan request to destruct warm-fuzzies and rat poison, a word he learned arsenic an adjunct nether Nick Saban from 2007–10 astatine Alabama.

Indiana knows extracurricular sound has nary expertise to effect its performance. Coogan said nan sound won’t thief nan Hoosiers people immoderate touchdowns aliases person immoderate 3rd downs. It’s simply noise, clutter and distractions — and nan Hoosiers, aided by Cignetti’s patient desire to eliminate each of it, person proven proficient astatine handling nan chaos swirling extracurricular them.

“We person a very seasoned group and a mature group, and surely Coach Cig instills that mindset of destruct each sound and clutter,” Coogan said. “We really do. We effort our champion to. We're humans arsenic well, truthful sometimes it gets difficult. But I judge we person done a awesome occupation of doing truthful and we request to proceed to do so.”

There is nary bigger shape successful assemblage shot than nan 1 Indiana will climb aboard Monday nighttime successful Miami. The lights don’t get brighter. The stakes don’t get higher. Neither does nan attention, nan viewership aliases nan discourse.

But Cignetti has nary plans to fto his squad judge immoderate of it. He’s still waking up early, staying precocious and inspiring his squad by attacking nan week arsenic if he’s ne'er won thing — moreover while connected nan verge of winning everything.