The amount of accolades and recognitions that Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti has received throughout and after his first season with the Hoosiers this year has been astronomical. After spending season after season with numerous mid-major programs at the FCS and FBS level, Indiana took a chance on Cignetti and it ended up paying off ten-fold in just his first season.
While Cignetti now has the tough job of proving consistency, he is already hard at work building a competitive team for the 2025 season, as is every other college football coach. Cignetti has proven a lot throughout his coaching career and is able to translate everything to a program like Indiana, which has never really been known as a football school, which is what makes him an elite coach in the making.
On3's college football expert Ari Wasserman has recently released his top 25 ranking of college football head coaches and while there are a few questionable rankings on there, it feels like he got it right with Cignetti's ranking of No. 12.
NEW: Top 25 College Football Head Coaches via @AriWasserman👀
— On3 (@On3sports) February 4, 2025
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Cignetti still has a lot to prove going forward. He did everything he did this season with a lot of help from the transfer portal and some of his guys from James Madison following him. Now he has to deal with losing players to the portal and to the NFL Draft and continue building with the players coming in from the portal and recruiting.
Indiana has never had a season like what it had in 2024. The most wins in a single season in program history, their first ever College Football Playoff experience could have a quarterback selected in the NFL Draft since 2026, and many more records set. Again, Cignetti now has the tough challenge of replicating the success.
Having all of this success in one season is one thing, but being able to do it year after year, like Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama, and many other programs have, is another thing. Consistency is what makes a great coach and a great program, the championships will come, just look at Ryan Day, it took him a while with Ohio State to win his first National Championship.
Cignetti just has to continue building the program and making it one that everyone thinks about when it comes to recruiting and the transfer portal.