Jan 19, 2026; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti hoists the National Championship trophy in the air after the College Football Playoff National Championship game at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
By Matt Yoder on

Curt Cignetti accomplished the unthinkable in leading the Indiana Hoosiers to the national championship in college football. And in doing so, he has a lot of receipts when it comes to the doubters and haters along the way.

Cignetti’s brashness from the moment he stepped foot on campus in Bloomington was always going to ruffle feathers. His infamous “I win, Google me” press conference introduction has been transformed from a stunning display of over-confidence to one of the most epic prophecies in sports history.

But until the final kneel down on Monday night, it was always going to be challenging to accept Indiana as a college football powerhouse capable of winning titles. This was a program who was one of the worst in all of college football, let alone the power conferences. Indiana had won just two Big Ten championships, and won three bowl games in their entire history before this season. Even after their 16-0 season, they still sit in the bottom ten in all-time win percentage in college football history.

Given the improbability of it all, Curt Cignetti had his skeptics. And with all of his trash talk especially in year one, many were celebrating him getting his comeuppance after the Hoosiers lost to Notre Dame in the first round of the 2024 College Football Playoff. Indiana was treated as the poster child of all that was wrong with the sport and widely seen as a fraud in spite of the best season in program history. But Cignetti’s own coaching decisions in the contest combined with his boasts beforehand led critics to pounce.

Instead of folding up shop and going back to Big Ten doormats, Curt Cignetti and Indiana got even stronger in 2025. As they mashed everyone in their path, some still didn’t want to believe and thought it was due to a weak schedule. And when he got a massive new contract at Indiana, the doubters were there again. And none was more vocal than ESPN college football analyst and voice of the south Paul Finebaum.

His comments on First Take after Cignetti’s extension may go down in the annals of cold take history.

I think everyone on this panel agrees that he’s done a phenomenal job. But this is how programs get in trouble. They just gave him an extension and a contract raise at the end of last season. We’re barely at the midpoint. Let it play out before you completely send the Brinks Truck out,” Finebaum said in October.

“I’m still not convinced that Curt Cignetti is one of the top coaches in America,” Finebaum continued. “He has coached brilliantly this year, but can’t you let it play out a little bit? He has one big win this year, maybe one and a half, including the win a couple of weeks ago over Illinois. And, by the way, because Indiana is going to be in the playoffs, there’s no way he could leave anytime before December or January.”

Paul Finebaum has never really embraced Cignetti or the Indiana turnaround. Also in October, he scoffed that Indiana couldn’t survive the gauntlet that Alabama played in the SEC, which turned out to be one of the great ironies we have ever seen. He also said it would be a “cute story” if they lifted the trophy, which they of course did.

But to his infinite credit, Curt Cignetti backed up all the talk by winning it all at Indiana in a victory that could change everything we thought we knew about college football moving forward. And proving his doubters wrong probably made that postgame beer and Chipotle taste all the sweeter.

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