Following a first-of-its-kind 11-win season for Indiana football, head coach Curt Cignetti has been named the Big Ten Coach of the Year, it was announced on Tuesday.
Cignetti earned the Hayes Schembechler Big Ten Coach of the Year from the conference coaches and the Dave McCalin Coach of the Year from the media that covers the Big Ten.
This is the fourth time throughout Cignetti's coaching career that he's taken home coach of the year honors. Cignetti is the third Indiana head coach to win Big Ten Coach of the year, joining Tom Allen (2020) and Bill Mallory (1986).
Cignetti, who was hired by the Hoosiers on Nov. 30, 2023, guided Indiana to the best regular season in the history of the program this season, as well as a likely birth in the 2024 College Football Playoff.
When Cignetti was hired, Indiana had one just nine games its last three seasons combined. The Hoosiers were fresh off a 2023 campaign in which they won just two games.
Cignetti has since come in and changed the culture around Bloomington, both on and off the field. Not only has Indiana won double-digit games this season for the first time in program history, but the Hoosiers also saw their highest home attendance numbers in the history of Memorial Stadium's 64-year existence.
Earlier this season, Cignetti was awarded with a contract exertion, agreeing to an eight-year deal worth an average annual compensation of $8 million through 2032.
The Hoosiers, who were picked to finish 17th in the Big Ten out of 18 teams this year, began the season with back-to-back non-conference wins to open up the season. Across the two home games, Indiana won by a combined score of 108-10.
After that, Indiana faced its first test of the season, a trip out west to the Rose Bowl to play Big Ten newcomer, UCLA. The Hoosiers were favored against the Bruins, but the 42-13 final scoreline in favor of Indiana was still a surprise to many.
Before closing out the season with eight consecutive conference games, Indiana dispatched Charlotte in its final non-conference matchup of the season.
The Hoosiers then rattled off six more wins consecutively in Big Ten play, highlighted by 56-7 beatdown of Nebraska at home, a 47-10 win over Michigan State to reclaim the Old Brass Spittoon and a 5-point win over reigning national champions Michigan.
Indiana's 10-0 start to the season set up a colossal clash in Columbus. In battle between two top five teams in the country, Ohio State handed Indiana its first loss of the season. The Hoosiers managed to bounce back a week later against rival Purdue winning 66-0 and handing the Boilermakers their worst loss in program history.
After tying for second place in the Big Ten, Indiana narrowly missed out on a chance to compete in the Big Ten Championship. Up next for Cignetti and the Hoosiers is a date in the first round of the College Football Playoff against a still yet to be determined opponent.
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