CHICAGO — Curt Cignetti said he’s “stalking complacency” as the Indiana coach makes sure there’s no championship hangover after he orchestrated one of the most remarkable turnarounds in college football history.
Cignetti took over a program that had gone 9-27 the three years before his arrival and led the Hoosiers to College Football Playoff appearances each of his first two years in Bloomington, including a run to the national title and a 16-0 finish last season.
He wants his program to maintain the same edge it carried while working its way up.
“We have a way of doing things,” Cignetti said Thursday at the Big Ten’s football media days event. “We’ve got guys that have been together, and all we do is win.”
Indiana’s stunning two-year run under Cignetti already has allowed the traditional Big Ten also-ran to shed its status as the Football Bowl Subdivision program with the most losses in history. That dubious honor now belongs to fellow Big Ten program Northwestern.
The Hoosiers obviously have bigger long-term goals than that.
They want to keep it going without Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who went to the Las Vegas Raiders with the top pick in this year’s NFL draft after his lone season at Indiana as a California transfer. He was one of a school-record eight players drafted.
“We need to make sure that we keep the same blueprint as last year going into this year, and that includes maintaining the same work ethic,” offensive tackle Carter Smith said.
Indiana did a remarkable job of restocking its roster by getting one of the nation’s top collections of transfers. Indiana’s list of 18 newcomers from the portal includes quarterback Josh Hoover from TCU and receiver Nick Marsh from Michigan State.
Marsh got an early indication of Cignetti’s no-nonsense approach when the former Spartans player showed up for a spring practice in gold cleats and got criticized by his new coach. Cignetti has since praised the work habits of Marsh, who caught 100 passes for 1,311 yards and nine touchdowns over the past two seasons.
Indiana’s chances of earning a third straight playoff bid could depend on Hoover, who threw for 9,627 yards, 71 touchdowns and 33 interceptions over the past three years. He has rather large shoes to fill.
“What separated Fernando was when the game was on the line, those fourth-quarter wins, the last three minutes, four minutes, that’s when he played his best football,” Cignetti said.
Indiana could be on the verge of establishing itself as an annual contender as long as Cignetti sticks around, as the Hoosiers have followed up their portal success by making inroads in high school recruiting. Over the past two weeks, Indiana has gained verbal commitments from Monshun Sales, a five-star receiver in the current recruiting cycle, and highly regarded quarterback Lukas Prock, a member of the class of 2028.
Cignetti is more focused now on making sure his current team is prepared to make a run at repeating as the Big Ten and national champion. Defensive lineman Tyrique Tucker was asked how it felt to enter a season as the hunted rather than the hunter.
“We prepare in a way we wouldn’t think we’re being hunted,” Tucker said. “We’re preparing like we’re predators and we’re hungry. We still have that chip on our shoulder, ultimately.”
Members of the media who regularly cover the Big Ten may have given Tucker and his teammates some ammo in that regard. A Cleveland.com poll of reporters that serves as the unofficial Big Ten preseason media forecast had the Hoosiers finishing third in the conference, behind Ohio State and Oregon.
Cignetti understands the challenge ahead after beating both Ohio State and Oregon on the way to the title last year. Cignetti, who worked as an assistant at traditional Southeastern Conference and national power Alabama from 2007-10 under Nick Saban, closed his news conference Thursday by explaining why he believes the Big Ten is college football’s best conference.
“We don’t run a hype machine up here in the Midwest,” Cignetti said. “We believe everything is earned, not given. When we fall short, we say, ‘We fell short.’ We don’t cry a river, whine and complain. That’s why we’re the best.”