CHICAGO — Two years after telling Big Ten Media Days he wanted Indiana football to "be the best," head coach Curt Cignetti stood again at the conference podium as a leader of a program that has just completed an unprecedented rise. Entering the 2026 season, the Hoosiers are the reigning national champions, yet Cignetti said Thursday his approach remains rooted in the same daily routine and attention to process that guided him at James Madison and during the program’s rapid turnaround.
Process over product
“We’re very process-driven,” Cignetti told reporters at the Big Ten gathering in Chicago. He emphasized that the team’s internal focus stays on incremental improvement rather than public metrics: championships, playoff berths or final rankings. That emphasis, he said, is not new. It is the blueprint he brought from James Madison University and the same structure he has used since his first Big Ten Media Days appearance in Indianapolis in 2024.
“Our focus is on the things you have to do in the here and now to improve as much as possible. To improve as much as possible today –– those types of things. We don’t talk about product, results. We don’t talk about championships, playoffs, national championships –– those sorts of things.”
Cignetti noted that the team meetings and routines remain largely unchanged. He described a familiar cadence: a Monday morning meeting and a Tuesday night team session with consistent themes and messages he has delivered through his coaching career.
From the losingest program to the top of college football
When Cignetti arrived in Bloomington he inherited a program that had endured a prolonged stretch of losing seasons. Over the past two seasons, those fortunes flipped dramatically. The 2026 milestone — standing as defending national champion — is the latest chapter in that turnaround.
Part of the coach’s credibility stems from his previous success. At James Madison, Cignetti oversaw a run that included a 52-9 record across five seasons, a record he has cited as proof that his process can produce sustained winning. He has repeatedly stressed continuity in the methods that delivered those results.
Roster turnover and the challenge of sustaining success
Even as the program basks in its national title, the work of sustaining that standard will look different practically. The team that finished a perfect 16-0 underwent offseason changes: 20 players from last season’s roster entered the transfer portal. That kind of personnel movement is common for elite teams, creating both challenges and opportunities for coaching staffs tasked with replacing production and integrating new contributors.
Maintaining a championship-level program in the modern college landscape requires balancing the stability of established routines with flexibility in roster management. Cignetti’s message — emphasize daily work rather than destination goals — is a way of keeping the locker room focused amid the churn of transfers, recruiting pressures and higher external expectations.
- Continuity: Cignetti plans to keep the same meeting structures and core messages that he has used previously.
- Turnover: The 20-player transfer exodus necessitates roster rebuilding and depth management.
- Expectations: Public and media scrutiny will intensify as the program defends its title.
Local impact and what fans should watch
For Bloomington and the broader Indiana fan base, the defensive and offensive identity of the team, how quickly newcomers are acclimated and how the coaching staff replaces lost production will be central storylines. Early-season performance will offer the clearest evidence of whether the process-focused approach can absorb roster flux without slipping in results.
Fans should watch the following practical items as the season opens:
- Starter continuity at quarterback and key skill positions, which often determines early outcomes.
- Rotation patterns on the offensive and defensive lines, where depth is tested in a long season.
- How quickly new contributors from transfers or freshmen are placed into substantive roles.
| Year | Notable event |
|---|---|
| 2024 | Cignetti’s first Big Ten Media Days appearance in Indianapolis; laid out vision. |
| 2026 | Stood at Big Ten Media Days in Chicago as reigning national champion. |
Cignetti’s insistence on process is a reminder that championship culture is often engineered in the routine details rather than dramatic pronouncements. Whether that approach produces another banner for Indiana will be decided on Saturdays in the fall, as practices accumulate and new personnel rise to the challenge.
For now, the message from the head coach is steady: keep returning to the daily work. It is an approach that has worked before and will be tested anew as the Hoosiers defend a title few anticipated when Cignetti first arrived in Bloomington.
