“Hoo, Hoo, Hoo, Hoosiers” was the rallying cry for Indiana football’s charge toward a College Football National Championship victory over the University of Miami in January. It was a slogan expressed by head coach Curt Cignetti after the team's 38-3 win against the University of Alabama in the Rose Bowl.
Now, Cignetti uttered the saying on the South Lawn at the White House after several members of the Hoosiers roster met with President Donald Trump on Monday to celebrate the team’s 16-0 season.
The tradition of college football national champions visiting the White House began in 1961. Alabama finished the season with an 11-0 record, which ranked the Crimson Tide No. 1 in the AP Poll, and the team subsequently met with then-President John F. Kennedy.
Indiana became the first college basketball champion to visit the White House in 1976. The Hoosiers met with then-President Gerald Ford after they defeated Michigan 86-68 in the national championship game.
In Trump’s nearly 20-minute remarks, he praised Cignetti’s ability to take a team coming off a 3-9 season in 2023 to the top of college football in two seasons.
"Curt Cignetti, I believe, is the coach of the last decade," Trump said. "He took a team, nobody knew him, nobody knew the team, and he ended up taking this team all the way.”
The Hoosiers had eight players selected in the 2026 NFL Draft, while six others were signed as undrafted free agents. With rookie minicamps starting for many NFL teams, Heisman-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza — along with many other former Indiana players — could not attend.
Still, Trump said Mendoza called him to let him know that he would not be attending the visit.
“He’s at spring training, like his first day or something," Trump said. "I said, ‘You better go there.’ ... Otherwise, if I didn’t do that, believe me, I wouldn’t have even talked about him.”
Cignetti then took to the stage to praise his team, which defeated six teams that were ranked inside the top 10 at the time of the game.
“Great leadership, good talent, great character, coachable,” Cignetti said. “Eleven guys doing their job, play in, play out ... prepare the right way every single day to a high standard and anything is possible in life.”
After Trump and Cignetti’s remarks, the president was gifted a signed football, a red Indiana football helmet and a jersey that bore his name and No. 47. Cignetti then joked that the president could keep the Hoosiers national championship trophy “for an NIL contribution.”
As Indiana turns the page to the 2026 season, the Hoosiers start their quest for another national championship against the University of North Texas on Sept. 5 at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington.
“We've got a chance if we commit, have great discipline, and if we can handle success, and we can handle failure, and we’re consistent, day in, day out, we may have a chance,” Cignetti said after being asked by Trump about his team’s chances of repeating as champions.
Cignetti will make another public appearance May 24 at the Indianapolis 500, serving as the pace car driver.
Sean McAvoy covers Indiana women’s basketball for the Indiana Daily Student. You can follow him at @sean_mc07 and contact him via email at semcavoy@iu.edu.
