Without a doubt, Indiana football is having the season of a lifetime. They are fresh off a dominating win over Alabama in the Rose Bowl and have Oregon waiting in the wings for the CFP semifinal on Friday.
Earlier this season, Indiana pulled off a 30-20 win over Oregon on Oct. 11. Now, it is public knowledge what head coach Curt Cignetti said to his players before taking on the Ducks, per Michael Niziolek of The Herald Times.
According to Indiana linebacker Aiden Fisher, Cignetti told his players, “We need more dawgs on our team. Those words ring especially true in the lead-up to Saturday.
If Indiana wins, they will move on to the championship game for a shot at winning a national title for the first time in program history. They would face either Miami or Ole Miss. During the regular season, the Hoosiers finished the season at 14-0, including a 9-0 record in the Big Ten.
A major turnaround for a program that has historically been on the losing end. Meanwhile, the University writ large was defined by the success of its men's basketball team. All that has changed under Cignetti's leadership. In the process, QB Fernando Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy.
Curt Cignetti is a buy-the-book type of coach.
Throughout his career, Cignetti has been a straight-laced coach focused on business. He rarely shows emotion and has made it a point to conduct himself in a respectable manner that conveys a demeanor of neither being too high nor too low.
In fact. his approach has been a catalyst in helping Indiana football achieve a level of prominence it hasn't had in probably ever. As a result of his efforts, Cignetti signed an eight-year contract extension worth $11.6 million annually.
Interestingly enough, this move was made right after they had defeated Oregon in October.
