Curt Cignetti has spent the last two years forcing college football to reconsider how a championship roster can be built. A season ago, Indiana was a feel-good outlier, a program revived by a former James Madison coach and a roster filled with Group of Six castoffs that produced an 11-win season and reshaped national perception.
On Monday night, that rethink became unavoidable. In Miami Gardens, Cignetti and Indiana lifted the College Football Playoff national championship trophy, completing the fastest turnaround the sport has seen without a single five-star recruit. Indiana's last four high school signing classes never cracked the top 25. Fifteen of the Hoosiers' 22 starters are in at least their fourth year of college football. The formula was not star-chasing. It was experience, evaluation, and development.
That approach extended to NIL. Indiana does not operate with the largest budget in the sport. While the Hoosiers count billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban among their supporters, their roster spending checked in just under $20 million this season. Ohio State's roster hovered around $35 million in 2025. Texas Tech topped $28 million. Miami, Indiana's title-game opponent, was closer to $30 million.
"He doesn't look for the most hyped players," Cuban told On3. "He doesn't get into bidding wars. He focuses on players who will know their role, have the right mental focus and produce."
Cignetti's background explains the confidence in evaluation. He spent four seasons as a wide receivers coach at Alabama under Nick Saban, learning not only what elite talent looks like, but what championship rosters require. He refined that skill set as a head coach at IUP, Elon, and James Madison before arriving in Bloomington. His Indiana title team reflects that philosophy: experienced, well-developed, and precisely valued, both on the field and financially.
"Players Google him," Cuban said. "They know he knows how to put together a winning team. It becomes a confirmation of their abilities when he recruits you."
That evaluator mindset was central when athletic director Scott Dolson prepared to hire Indiana's next head coach in November 2023. Sources told On3 Dolson wanted a coach who understood player value, knew what winning looked like, and could land a high-level quarterback. Cignetti checked every box.
Last offseason, Indiana landed Cal transfer Fernando Mendoza, fending off Georgia and Miami and paying over $2 million to secure him. Mendoza delivered, winning the Heisman Trophy and leading one of the nation's most efficient offenses during the title run.
"We knew we needed to get a level of quarterback here that we haven't been able to," a source told On3. "We were prepared to have the cash necessary to go into the portal to get an elite quarterback."
Cuban was not involved in Cignetti's hiring but worked with Dolson to help establish an NIL infrastructure designed to function under a revenue-sharing cap. Together, they ensured Cignetti had the resources to win.
Around the sport, Indiana's success is also credited to elite staff and experience. Defensive coordinator Bryant Haines is viewed by peers as one of the game's brightest defensive minds, with one Power Four GM calling him the "next Kirby Smart."
Cuban told On3 that "it would be incredible" if Indiana won a national title. That mission was accomplished on Monday night. He plans to continue to invest only more in the Hoosiers program.
And Curt Cignetti does not appear to be slowing down, forcing college football to reinvent how they build a national championship roster.
Read the full story from Pete Nakos.
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