A New Era in College Football

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — In the last 24 months, Curt Cignetti has forced the college football world to rethink how it builds a roster. A year ago, Indiana was the feel-good story of the sport. The head coach from James Madison, with a group of Group of Six castoffs, rewrote how Indiana football was perceived nationally with an 11-win season.

On Monday night in Miami Gardens, Cignetti and the Hoosiers lifted the CFP national championship trophy. This was the fastest turnaround in the sport without a single five-star recruit. The Hoosiers’ last four high school signing classes have not cracked the top-25. The Indiana starting lineup features 15 of 22 starters who are in at least their fourth year of college football.

And in the age of NIL, Indiana doesn’t have the largest budget. The Hoosiers have a billionaire booster in entrepreneur Mark Cuban, but they spent just under $20 million on this year’s roster. For context, Ohio State’s roster sat around $35 million in 2025, and Texas Tech’s came in over $28 million. Indiana’s CFP title game opponent, Miami, was in the $30 million range.

“He doesn’t look for the most hyped players,” Cuban told sportify. “He doesn’t get into bidding wars. He focuses on players who will know their role, have the right mental focus and produce.”

Coaching Philosophy and Player Development

Cignetti was the wide receivers coach for four seasons at Alabama under Nick Saban, where he learned the ins and outs of player evaluation. Not just what the top talent looks like, but what it takes to create a roster capable of winning championships.

He refined those schools as the head coach in stints at IUP, Elon and James Madison before arriving in Bloomington. Cignetti’s national championship team is developed, experienced and well evaluated. The head coach has not hesitated in deeming a player’s value, on the field and financially, in tooling his rosters.

“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 has a lot of value, particularly for players who were not highly ranked.”

Strategic Hiring and Financial Commitment

When athletic director Scott Dolson and his top staffers met in preparation of hiring Indiana’s next head coach in November 2023, a few key characteristics emerged. Sources have told sportify that Dolson wanted a chief evaluator, a coach who understood a player’s worth. And a coach who knew what winning looked like.

Dolson also wanted a head coach who could consistently go out and land a high-level quarterback. Cignetti went out and landed Cal transfer quarterback Fernando Mendoza last offseason. The Hoosiers fended off Georgia and Miami to land Mendoza, paying him over $2 million, evidence of the commitment to football.

Mendoza played a key role in the national title run, winning the Heisman Trophy and leading one of the most efficient offenses in the nation.

“We wanted to be able to get a coach here who could land a quarterback,” a source close to the situation told sportify. “Quarterback is the most outsized position in all of sport. We knew we needed to get a level of quarterback here that we haven’t been able to. We were prepared to have the cash necessary to go into the portal to get an elite quarterback.”

Building a Winning Culture

Cuban was not involved in Cignetti’s hiring; he told sportify that he met him shortly after at an event to raise NIL funds. But Cuban did have conversations with Dolson about setting up an NIL infrastructure that could operate while working under a revenue-sharing cap — similar to the NBA salary cap.

Dolson and Cuban have ensured that Cignetti has the resources to build a roster to win championships.

“From a personnel standpoint, I learn from my mistakes, and I think most of us who aspire to achieve at a high level either learn from our mistakes or we don’t progress,” Cignetti said. “… To me, there’s a lot to be said about what the guy is made of, his intangibles and his moldability or coachability, what kind of teammate he’s going to be. You still have to have a certain level, obviously, of athleticism to be successful at the P4 level and the Big Ten.”

Team Depth and Experience

Sources across college football told sportify on Monday night that it goes beyond the mix of scouting and development. Defensive coordinator Bryant Haines is viewed as one of the sport’s top defensive minds, with one Power Four general manager comparing him to the “next Kirby Smart.”

The amount of experience is also hard to replicate, with another top Power Four general manager telling sportify that “Reps matter in college football. Hard to duplicate. I do think they hit a perfect storm.”

Cuban told sportify 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.