One call flipped the script in Bloomington. In November 2023, Curt Cignetti landed the Hoosiers head coaching job, and Indiana hasn’t looked back since. But how did he feel about taking over “the losingest team” in college football? The Indiana athletic director tells the story of Cignetti’s first words when he took the reins as the Hoosiers’ boss.
“Two years ago, on a Wednesday night around 10:15 p.m., I called Curt Cignetti on the phone and said, ‘Coach, you’re going to be the next head football coach at Indiana University, and we’re going to dominate the world,'” Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson recalled.
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And there was a pause. And he said, “You’re absolutely empty, that’s right, we’re going to do it, Scott, let’s do it!” »
Cignetti was on fire at James Madison in 2023. He compiled a 19-4 record in the Dukes’ first two FBS seasons. Fresh off being named Sun Belt Coach of the Year, he caught the attention of Indiana.
But he had to step in to replace head coach Tom Allen, who was fired after a 33-49 record in seven seasons.
On November 29, 2023, Dolson spent the day with university president Pam Whitten, hopping from airport to airport to interview three finalists for the position. They had a private discussion in one of the undisclosed locations to deliberate on the candidates.
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“We kind of knew that’s where we were going to go,” the Indiana athletic director said in an interview with The Herald Times.
While Dolson and Whitten finished their in-person interviews with Cignetti, he went home to mull over the offer. The then-James Madison head coach even admitted to his wife, Manette, that staying at James Madison was the plan.
Cignetti considered the Dukes a “high-profile job” and had a lucrative contract extension on the table from the school. However, Dolson could be courting Cignetti.
“He kind of evolved, but I didn’t ask him, ‘Would you be the next coach?’ I said, ‘You’re going to be the next coach,'” the athletic director explained.
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Indiana fans should be eternally grateful to Dolson for making that call, because the rest is history.
When Cignetti took the Indiana job in December, he signed a six-year, $27 million contract. He left James Madison, where he earned $677,311, intending to turn around the Hoosiers’ historically struggling football program.
Cignetti went on to guide Indiana to its first-ever 10-win season. Even at the start of 2025, after an impressive 11-2 campaign in 2024, the Hoosiers still had 715 losses all-time, the most of any college football program.
From there, to lifting the Natty, the first in Hoosier history, Cignetti did something magical. He capped this wonderful run with a memorable speech at Indiana’s championship celebration.
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Curt Cignetti builds excitement for Indiana’s next chapter
On Saturday, January 24, Cignetti and the Hoosiers made one final march from Assembly Hall to Memorial Stadium. Frigid winds, temperatures barely above 10 degrees and forecasts of snow topping a foot didn’t stop the celebration of college football’s first 16-0 season in more than a century. And Cignetti’s fiery speech was definitely worth enduring the pain.
“Chapter 3 starts tomorrow!” the head coach addressed the crowd.
Indiana’s rags-to-riches story also left a mark on former American presidents. Both Barack Obama and Bill Clinton congratulated Cignetti and his team for X. However, former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer had already put Cignetti on alert, saying that this honeymoon period wouldn’t last long.
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“Everyone is targeted. Everyone is a target,” Meyer said in a blunt verdict. “I mean, great staff, they’re getting poached, man.”
Cignetti reached the top in 2025, but his program’s meteoric rise has made it a goldmine of talent. Winning the Natty can make a coach and a program prime poaching material. Jim Harbaugh’s departure from Michigan after his championship is a prime example of this.
Curt Cignetti agreed with Dolson, but now he must lead Indiana through another season without losing any key pieces.
The position Indiana AD shares Curt Cignetti’s first words that led to national championship appeared first on EssentiallySport.
