With unfinished business, Aiden Fisher is leading Indiana’s charge for even greater success

The College Football Playoff stickers are gone from Aiden Fisher’s helmet. They’re gone from his water bottle, too.

As far as Indiana’s star linebacker is concerned, last season’s Cinderella story is finished — and the sequel starts now.

“That was a pretty easy decision for me,” Fisher said of his return to Bloomington for his senior year. “I kind of felt like I had a lot left to prove and a lot left to showcase. Nobody wants to go out on a loss, especially one in the playoffs. I was like, there’s no way I can leave on that.”

Fisher, a central figure in Indiana’s 2024 renaissance, isn’t running it back to bask in what was. He’s coming back to raise the bar.

Indiana’s 11-win season in 2024 — capped by its first-ever College Football Playoff appearance — redefined the program’s trajectory.

But that dream season ended in a sobering loss to Notre Dame. And for Fisher and head coach Curt Cignetti, last year was only the beginning.

“We’re not looking to sustain it,” Cignetti said. “We’re looking to improve it.”

SEE ALSO: Takeaways from Curt Cignetti’s Big Ten Football Media Days podium appearance

That improvement isn’t just about wins. It’s about identity. Accountability. Culture. And Fisher remains at the center of it all.

“I think it’s just following up on last year and improving,” Fisher said. “It’s reestablishing that standard, excelling around the field and just keep winning football games.”

Cignetti arrived in Bloomington with a reputation for flipping programs fast. He brought a seasoned staff and several key transfers from James Madison.

The impact was immediate.

“The rebuild, I don’t think it ever really happened,” Fisher explained. “I think it was more so just flipping the switch.”

Indiana’s transformation wasn’t about slow growth. It was about total buy-in — from players, staff and eventually, fans.

Fisher pointed to last season’s midseason home matchup against Nebraska as a defining moment.

“The first game, I think a lot of people weren’t sure about the ‘new Indiana,’” Fisher said. “By the time we got to the Nebraska game, everybody was bought in. There wasn’t a seat in Memorial Stadium open. It was phenomenal.”

For all his on-field production, Fisher is more focused on how he impacts others than how many tackles he racks up.

“How did I lead? How did I bring people along with me? How did I treat people?” Fisher said. “Football, stats and everything will always be there to look up and Google. But I want to be remembered for being a good person.”

It’s that kind of perspective that’s made Fisher indispensable in the locker room — especially with new faces coming in this offseason.

“We have the culture set, the standard is reestablished,” Fisher said. “Now it’s more so about getting the new guys in and getting them adapted to how we do things. We’re way further along this year than we were last year.”

The mission in Bloomington isn’t to repeat 2024. It’s to exceed it.

Last season was great, but Fisher and the Hoosiers are hungry for even more in 2025.

“Don’t get me wrong, it was a great experience and an awesome accomplishment,” Fisher said. “But at the end of the day we didn’t finish the job.”

MORE: Takeaways from Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti at Big Ten Football Media Days

That sense of incompletion is now perhaps Indiana’s greatest motivator. For Cignetti and Fisher, last season was the launch — not the pinnacle.

“We’re trying to build a program that year in and year out competes,” Cignetti said. “For Big Ten championships, College Football Playoffs and national championships.”

With one more season left in Bloomington, Fisher isn’t focused on personal accolades.

He’s focused on the team, the culture and leaving a lasting imprint on a once-overlooked program now climbing toward the Big Ten’s upper echelon.

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