With the 'proper commitment' from the top Indiana is looking to make last season’s success the expectation

For much of Indiana football’s history, the program has been a bottom feeder. 

Despite a great campus, excellent university, and other strong athletics, Indiana University has never figured to compete in football consistently.

In 126 seasons the program has won just three bowl games and is the current leader of most losses in college football history.

Those struggles didn’t make sense to current Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti.

“What happened here in the past is only because of neglect,” Curt Cignetti said on Always College Football with Greg McElroy. “We’ve got a great campus, great university, and great resources.”  

Indiana has always been considered a basketball school and for good reason. 

Five national championships between legendary coaches Bob Knight and Branch McCracken have solidified the Hoosiers as one of the premier brands in basketball, but football became an afterthought. 

For years the focus of the students and alumni solely revolved around the basketball program, but not anymore.

“You have to be good in football nowadays because that’s where the money is. Maybe Indiana was a little late to the game realizing that,” Cignetti said. “I think getting a new president, Pam Whitten, who loves football, who’s from Alabama really helped.”

With the help of Whitten and Athletic Director, Scott Dolson, Cignetti has created a palpable excitement surrounding Indiana football. 

When Cignetti was hired none of this felt possible. 

The 10-0 start. 

The college football playoff appearance. 

None of it. 

Then it happened.

“This opportunity happened real fast and I knew Indiana’s track record. I felt a real commitment from the president, Pam Whitten, and the athletic director, Scott Dolson, to get football going,” Cignetti said. “Football generates 90% of the athletic revenue across the country and they wanted to get it going.”

It took just six games for them to convert Memorial Stadium from an empty stadium to one of the hardest tickets to get in the state.  

Whitten and Dolson knew what needed to happen when they set out to find the next coach of Indiana football after Tom Allen’s firing. 

Hiring the right coach was not going to be enough. 

They needed the proper commitment to the program and that coach to get to where the program is now.

Cignetti has often said that he was not looking to leave James Madison. He liked the area, the program, and all that came with it.

“I’m not sure how aggressive I was looking to leave. I really liked James Madison,” Cignetti said. “First of all, it was a winner. They won before I got there.”

While jumping from the Sun Belt to the Big Ten seems like a no-brainer to most, the history of Indiana football made the decision more difficult. 

Cignetti was comfortable at JMU and thought he would likely retire there.

But after seeing how invested Whitten and Dolson were in building the football program, he ultimately decided he would take the chance and leave for Indiana. 

“I think you can win anywhere in America with the proper commitment from the top so my wife and I decided to do it,” Cignetti said. 

That commitment was not just talk as Indiana has invested heavily in the football program.

Since hiring Cignetti the school has renovated Memorial Stadium, installed new turf in Mellencamp Pavilion, and more renovations are expected to come. 

The investment into the program will go a long way and there have already been some noticeable differences especially recruiting in the state.

Cignetti has proven he can win at Indiana, but the new challenge comes in maintaining that success. 

Indiana has had seasons of success in the past. In 2021 the program finished the season inside the top 15 in both the AP and Coaches Poll. They followed that season up by winning just two games in 2021. 

From top to bottom, Indiana is working hard to make sure last season’s success was not just another Cinderella run.

Whitten, Dolson, and Cignetti all want last season’s success to become the expectation year in and out for Indiana football.

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