Indiana’s Curt Cignetti closes college football season with quote of the year

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For the first time in the football program’s history, the Indiana Hoosiers are national champions.

The Hoosiers took down the Miami Hurricanes in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on Monday night in thrilling fashion.

The Hurricanes had the chance to take the lead late in the fourth quarter, but quarterback Carson Beck was intercepted by the Hoosiers’ Jamari Sharpe. The Hoosiers were able to kneel out the rest of the clock since the Hurricanes had no timeouts left.

After the clock hit zero, Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti spoke with ESPN’s Molly McGrath and delivered an awesome quote about how he’s going to celebrate. He even smiled after saying it.

“I’m gonna have a beer,” Cignetti said.

The job that Cignetti did with this Hoosiers team was remarkable. He inherited a program that went 3-9 in 2023 and turned it into a national champion just two seasons later.

Cignetti led the Hoosiers to a perfect 16-0 record this season and has a 27-2 overall record over the last two seasons. He also got to coach quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who won the Heisman Trophy this season and will probably be the top overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft in April.

Before taking over at Indiana, Cignetti coached at James Madison for two seasons, racking up a 19-4 record.

Cignetti will be celebrating this win for quite a while before getting to work on trying to repeat during the 2026 college football season. Indiana will open that season against North Texas.

Related: Indiana Coach Curt Cignetti Addresses NFL Rumors Before Miami Game

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Jan 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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