Texas coach Steve Sarkisian credited Indiana’s Curt Cignetti for turning a national title run into a convincing template—while the scheduling debate keeps colliding with concerns over spiraling NCAA football costs and the push to reshape nonconference schedule
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian didn’t try to dress it up. On a recent podcast, he sounded impressed by what Curt Cignetti has done at Indiana—while also circling the larger question that has followed college football’s scheduling shakeups for years: who can afford the new demands, and at what cost?
The discussion flared again after Indiana’s 16-0 season and national championship this past year. The Hoosiers’ path began with home games against Old Dominion. Indiana State and Western Illinois—an opening stretch that became a flashpoint in how conferences and coaches debate strength of schedule. especially as the sport tries to control matchups.
Sarkisian addressed that directly when he credited Cignetti on ESPN’s Greg McElroy on Always College Football. “There’s a lot of ways to find the path to make it,” Sarkisian said. He added: “Curt Cignetti, an amazing job at Indiana. What he’s done the last two years. there’s not a guy in our profession that can’t say. ‘What an unbelievable job.’”.
Cignetti’s approach, as Sarkisian described it, leaned on more than just opponents. The way Indiana managed sixth-year seniors. worked through transfers. relied on a veteran group. and adjusted practice were all part of what Sarkisian said helped produce the results. “But one thing in there, he adjusted their schedule, too,” he said.
That scheduling decision matters because it didn’t fit the usual expectation that teams must constantly chase “hard” nonconference roadblocks late in the season. Sarkisian pointed to the structure Indiana built early. “They’ve got a fresh team. they’re playing a lot of players early in the year. they’re a happy team. ” he said.
The conflict underneath those compliments is getting louder. The source of that tension is the scheduling pressure conferences have been applying—particularly for power programs that now face more standardized requirements. After the SEC struggled the past three years in the College Football Playoff. the conference restructured its scheduling requirements this year to play nine conference games.
For coaches, those extra conference matchups come with consequences that don’t show up on a scoreboard. Sarkisian framed it as the kind of tradeoff that can reshape a season—and a program’s bottom line—by replacing a late-season nonconference game he described as “easily winnable.” “But coaches don’t seem to be happy about the additional SEC clash replacing a late-season (easily winnable) nonconference game. ” the discussion notes.
Even so, Sarkisian suggested the ripple effect has already started to move through the sport. He returned to Indiana’s influence and what it signals to other programs. “We can’t want to adopt the ‘Indiana Way’ but then. not adopt all of the ‘Indiana Way.’ But other people now are starting to follow suit. ” he said. Then he linked the ripple to the practical value of extra wins rather than the abstract branding of always playing the toughest possible opponent. “So to Coach Cignetti’s credit. everybody wants to impact our sport in some way. shape or form in a positive way. He’s impacting people because people now are starting to adjust their nonconference schedules because they’re seeing the value of another win as opposed to the value of the strength of your schedule.”.
What’s clear from the way this conversation is landing is that the scheduling debate isn’t staying theoretical. Indiana’s specific sequence—home games against Old Dominion. Indiana State and Western Illinois—became part of a broader argument about what “successful” scheduling really looks like. And with conferences tightening requirements such as the SEC’s move to nine conference games. coaches like Sarkisian are being forced to reconcile what they admire about Cignetti with the new constraints shaping their own calendars.
Indiana football Curt Cignetti Steve Sarkisian scheduling debate NCAA football SEC nine conference games nonconference schedules ESPN Greg McElroy