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Is IU football a one-hit wonder? No, says a Big Ten coach: 'They'll be in the hunt for a playoff spot again'

headshotby: Alec Lasley06/05/25allasley
NCAA Football: Michigan at Indiana
Nov 9, 2024; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti reacts in the second half against the Michigan Wolverines at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

The IU football program took the college football world by storm in 2024 — leading to the most successful season in program history, all on the back of first-year head coach Curt Cignetti. Not only did Indiana win 11 games and lost to just two — the eventual National Champion and Runner up — the program also made the College Football Playoff.

Now the question is; was it a fluke or can IU football repeat its success this year and make its success in 2024 a common theme?

Before last year, Indiana had just three winning seasons in the past 30 years, and one came in a shortened Covid season. A season that ended with above six wins has happened just six time in the past 40 years.

Related: Biggest improvement for IU football this offseason? Its offensive line, says opposing Big Ten coach

So, the national hesitance around the program and being able to sustain this success is understandable.

However, an anonymous Big Ten coach predicted Indiana to be in the national conversation once again.

“Everyone is asking who the next Indiana is, but there’s no real reason why it isn’t Indiana again,” they told Athlon Sports. “Will they win as many games? Probably not, but they’re going to be in the hunt for a playoff spot again.”

Indiana’s success in year one could be directly connected to the culture that was built, a culture that was expedited when a handful of players like Mikail Kamara, D’Angelo Ponds, Aiden Fisher, James Carpenter, Elijah Sarratt, Ty Son Lawton and numerous others joined Cignetti from James Madison.

The foundation and the building blocks of the JMU success were now in Bloomington and able to be the extension of this coaching staff. They knew how to win and they knew what it took to be successful. They also knew listening and following what the coaching staff wanted would lead to success.

(On3+): One thought on every incoming true freshman on the IU football roster

While part of the core group graduated, players like Kamara, Fisher, Ponds, Sarratt and others are back. And that doesn’t include the returnees from last year who weren’t part of the JMU success.

“It’s not so much of a ‘what are we going to do this year,’ you know? ‘Are we going to be good’? You know, that’s the standard now,” Fisher said last month. “Everybody knows that.

“With going to CFP and having a successful year, that’s not going to do anything for us this year. So, obviously, we know we’re capable of, we know what we can reach and kind of things that we’re destined for. We just got to make it happen.”

So while questions still remain about how repeatable 2024’s success was for IU football, and is, the culture change is evident to many and that’ll go a long way in helping build what’s now expected to be a program competing at a much, much higher level than before.

“Maybe the biggest culture change at a program in the history of the sport,” said another anonymous Big Ten coach. “IU is a case study for putting your money where your mouth is. They invested heavily in NIL and support. Cig [Curt Cignetti] is a fantastic coach, obviously, but he wouldn’t come without that commitment. That’s how they succeeded immediately.”

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