This Indiana football season began like so many – with a half-empty stadium and low expectations.
But as the weeks went by and the wins piled up, the Hoosiers became the talk of not only Bloomington, but the nation. They sold out their final four home games, finished 11-2 overall and tied for second in the Big Ten at 8-1. It was Indiana’s best season in more than a half a century.
And while IU lost its opener in the College Football Playoffs to Notre Dame, making the 12-team field was a testament to the job Curt Cignetti accomplished in his first season as head coach.
“We packed the stadium, made a lot of people proud and had a historic season, right,” Cignetti said. “Set the foundation for you know, hopefully, what's to come.”
Cignetti built this year’s team primarily through the transfer portal, brining 13 players with him from James Madison and signing veteran quarterback Kurtis Rourke from Ohio, who turned out to be one of the nation’s best in his lone season at IU.
And it’s a model he’s continuing to follow. So far, IU has added 11 players through the transfer portal.
The Hoosiers signed Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza, Maryland running back Roman Henry and Appalachian State receiver Makai Jackson to fill vacancies on the offense.
On defense, IU was able to retain all-Big Ten players Mikail Kamara, Aiden Fisher and D’Angelo Ponds. All came last fall from JMU. The Hoosiers also added linemen Dominique Ratcliff of Texas State and Hosea Wheeler of Western Kentucky and Ole Miss safety Louis Moore, who played at IU in 2022-23.
“Well, everything's about recruiting and development and now retention, right?” Cignetti said. “So, every year you got to start over. Now in college football, it's not quite the NFL, but it's getting close. So, you can change a lot of things in a year.”
While the roster may change year-after-year, Cignetti is hoping the culture of winning that was instilled this season carries on for many years to come.
And it becomes one where just making the college football playoffs isn’t the goal, but competing for a national title is.
“There's goals out there to be accomplished, but you only have that opportunity because you changed the culture, the product, the result, and the expectation level,” Cignetti said.
