"I Like Winning. I Don't Plan on Changing Very Much" - Good News Indiana Fans, Curt Cignetti Says He Wants to Be Like Bear Bryant (Winner of Six National Championships)
Love to hear it, coach. Everything out of this man's mouth is music to Indiana fan's ears. On top of winning them a National Championship, Curt Cignetti has signed multiple contract extensions, professed that he wants to retire as a Hoosier, that he's not an NFL guy, and that he aspires to be Bear Bryant. Bear Bryant won 6 National Championships. So at bear minimum (pun), the Hoosiers should have Cignetti as their head coach until at least 2031. If he wants to match Bear in conference championships, they'll have him guaranteed through 2039.
Unfortunately for Curt Cignetti, he could never be the next Bear Bryant. He's already passed it. Not passed in terms of total accomplishments, or even in terms of overall greatness. But Curt Cignetti is Curt Cignetti. There's nobody he's compares to. What he's done at Indiana University is something unique to him. To take the losingest team in college history from the depths of irrelevancy to the top of the sport in two years time is something no coach has done before, and will most likely never be done again. Most people couldn't achieve what Curt Cignetti has in two years playing College Football 26 on their Xbox.
- Lead Indiana to 16-0 undefeated season
- Lead Indiana to its first Big Ten title since 1967
- Lead Indiana to first bowl win since 19991, and first Rose Bowl win ever
- Lead Indiana to its first CFP win ever
- 27-2 recored at Indiana
- Coached first ever Heisman winner at Indiana
- 2-time AP Coach of the Year (2024, 2025)
- 2-time Big Ten Coach of the Year (2024, 2025)
- 2-time Walter Camp Coach of the Year (2024, 2025)
- Led Indiana to first ever CFP National Championship
Source: Fox Sports
It would be one thing if a guy like Nick Saban came out of retirement to coach UConn (for some reason) and won a National Championship in his second season. Nick Saban has already proven himself to be an elite football coach. Everybody expects him to succeed. Curt Cignetti was coaching at Indiana University of Pennsylvania only 10 years ago. His first FBS head coaching job came in 2019 with James Madison. When he took the Indiana job and told people he planned to win, the world laughed at him.
The only coach who could eventually be compared to Curt Cignetti is a person who's name we probably don't know yet. So I'm sorry, Coach Cig. You can't be Bear Bryant. Your legacy is cemented as completely unique to yourself.