After earning a birth in the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff, numerous National Coach of the Year honors have begun to roll in for Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti.
Earlier this month, Cignetti also took home Big Ten Coach of the Year honors following Indiana's first-ever 10-plus win season.
It was the fourth time during Cignetti's coaching career that he claimed the conference coach of the year award, going Tom Allen (2020) and Bill Mallory (1986) as the only other Indiana head coaches to be awarded the honor.
SEE ALSO: Indiana's Curt Cignetti tabbed Big Ten Coach of the Year
On Thursday (Dec. 12), Cignetti was name the Home Depot National Coach of the Year by ESPN.
Cignetti is also a finalist for the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year and the Paul "Bear' Bryant Coach of the Year Award watchlist.
Cignetti was hired by Indiana back on Nov. 30, 2023. In just over a year as the Hoosiers' head coach, Cignetti has guided Indiana to the best season the program has ever seen. He is now the fourth Hoosier head coach to win a national coach of the year honor.
The 63-year-old frontman took over an Indiana program that had won just nine combined games over the last three seasons prior to his arrival in Bloomington.
During his short time with the program, Cignetti has changed the culture around Indiana football. This past season, the Hoosiers posted their highest home attendance numbers in the 64-year history of Memorial Stadium.
Indiana was picked to finish 17th in the 18-team Big Ten prior to the beginning of the season. However, after winning their first 10 games of the season, the Hoosiers vaulted into the top five of the AP Poll ahead of a colossal showdown with Ohio State in Columbus.
After falling short against the Buckeyes, Indiana capped off a historic regular season by handing rival Purdue the Boilermakers' worst loss in program history.
During Indiana's second bye week earlier this year, Cignetti's efforts in his first season with the Hoosiers were rewarded with a contract extension that will keep him in Bloomington until 2032.
Up next for Cignetti and Indiana is a first-round clash with Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff at 8:00 p.m. ET on Dec. 20 in South Bend.
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