When Curt Cignetti arrived in Bloomington, he sought out to change the way people think about Indiana football.
He did so in his first season at the helm in 2024 with an 11-2 record. Those outside the program wondered if the Hoosiers were a one-year wonder. The Cream and Crimson answered that question with their first ever 12-0 regular season and a Big Ten Championship game victory over then-No. 1 Ohio State on Dec. 6.
In turn, Cignetti was named the Walter Camp Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season, according to a release Wednesday. Vanderbilt University head coach Clark Lea and Ohio State head coach Ryan Day were the other two finalists.
The award is selected by the 136 Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and sports communicators.
Cignetti joined John Pont — who coached at Indiana from 1965-1972 — last season as the only Hoosiers head coaches to win the award. Pont was honored for Indiana’s 1967 season, when it went 9-2 and reached the Rose Bowl.
Cignetti now stands alone as the only coach to win the award in back-to-back campaigns. He’s the fifth coach to win multiple times, joining Joe Paterno, Bob Stoops, Nick Saban and Gary Patterson.
QB Fernando Mendoza
The Hoosiers are led by redshirt junior quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who was named the Walter Camp National Player of the Year on Wednesday.
Mendoza is the favorite at all major sportsbooks to win the Heisman Trophy on Saturday. Mendoza has completed 71.5% of his passes this season for 2,980 yards and a nation-high 33 touchdowns to just six interceptions.
The last three Walter Camp National Player of the Year award winners — Travis Hunter, Jayden Daniels and Caleb Williams — also won the Heisman Trophy. All but three of the last 10 winners didn’t win the Heisman.
Mendoza is the second Hoosier to win the award. Former Indiana running back Anthony Thompson earned the honor in 1989 — and he finished second in the Heisman voting that season.
Indiana is the No. 1 overall seed in the upcoming College Football Playoff. The Hoosiers will play either the No. 8 University of Oklahoma or the No. 9 University of Alabama in the Rose Bowl at 4 p.m. EST Jan. 1 in Pasadena, California.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) and columnist Quinn Richards (@Quinn_richa and qmrichar@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football season.
