Part of what made Indiana football’s 2025 National Championship run so newsworthy was the makeup of the Hoosiers’ roster, largely full of players who were generally described as ‘overlooked,’ in some capacity.
By now, most are familiar with the fact that Fernando Mendoza went from a 2-star recruit of high school to winning the Heisman, or that standout receiver Elijah Sarratt wasn’t even ranked by recruiting services out of high school.
Without lingering too long on how wrong those evaluations were,
which is beside the point now, it’s worth acknowledging that these overlooked – or poorly evaluated – players were the bread and butter of Indiana’s first two years under Curt Cignetti. Some came from the portal, others came from James Madison, and some were even sticking around after committing to Tom Allen, but one thing unified them all – they were underrecruited.
Indiana, under Cignetti’s watch, will always be on the lookout for players with something to prove, but all of a sudden the football team is attracting a different caliber of recruit. Even before adding a National Title to his resume, Cignetti and his staff were able to attract the top-ranked portal class for 2026.
The reason for the turnaround isn’t just that Indiana’s the hot team, nor is it that Mark Cuban is simply buying the best talent available. Cignetti is finally able to recruit at the highest level because, over the course of the last few months, he’s eliminated every reason that an elite recruit might go elsewhere.
Even if Fernando Mendoza doesn’t go No. 1 overall, he will likely be the first Hoosier in the last 30 years to be selected in the first round, and just the third in the last decade to be selected in any of the first three rounds.
Unlike recent coaching staffs who excelled at developing and recruiting one position, like Kevin Wilson’s offensive lines and the running backs who thrived behind them, Cignetti and his staff are developing pros at almost every position.
Though he’s only had a defensive lineman (C.J. West) and quarterback (Kurtis Rourke) drafted so far, the 2026 NFL draft will almost definitely change that. The Hoosiers have pro prospects at receiver (Sarratt and Omar Cooper), defensive back (D’Angelo Ponds), offensive line (Pat Coogan), and defensive line (Mikail Kamara).
The ability to send so many players to the NFL can attract not only elite high school talent, like 5-star receiver Monshun Sales, but also veteran transfers looking to develop and display their skillset on a bigger stage, like incoming quarterback Josh Hoover.
Then there’s the winning.
Not every prospect will have a chance at playing on Sundays, and even those who do tend to be highly-competitive and unlikely to stick around losing programs. This hurt Indiana in the past, with guys like Michael Penix Jr. only fully reaching his potential at Washington after leaving Tom Allen’s program.
Whereas the prospect of upsetting or even just playing on the same field as teams like Ohio State and Michigan appealed to a certain type of player, Cignetti has proven that a player can commit to Indiana and expect to beat those teams.
Through two years, just two coaches have beaten Cignetti head to head, and Cignetti got revenge over one of them when he beat Ryan Day to win the Big Ten Title. Marcus Freeman, the other coach to have beaten Cignetti’s Indiana, failed to make the playoff.
After going 3-0 in this year’s College Football Playoff, Cignetti finally put to bed the one narrative that still plagued Indiana – that the Hoosiers can’t win big games. A National Championship and two blowout wins along the way will do a lot to dispel that narrative.
Finally, the money helps. There’s no reason to deny that. People notice when funds become available for assistant coaches who are outperforming their salaries. Players take note of people like Mark Cuban hanging around the sidelines, pledging to continue giving money to this suddenly elite program.
With money available, a coaching pedigree established, and NFL prospects up and down the roster, Cignetti has made Indiana a destination for football talent. None of the prior assumptions about what Indiana is or can be apply to the program under his watch, and recruits around the country have started to take note.
