Big Ten Head Coach Makes College Football History After Saturday’s Win

Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti is solidifying himself as one of the top coaches in college football during his first season at the helm in Bloomington, and he's made some history along the way.

The Hoosiers were at the bottom of the Big Ten under former head coach Tom Allen. In seven seasons under Allen, Indiana made two bowl games and put together two winning seasons. The Hoosiers went 9-27 over the last three seasons before the program brought in Cignetti from James Madison.

From the depths of the Big Ten, Indiana has risen to No. 13 in the AP Poll after reeling off eight strait wins to begin the season undefeated.

After the Hoosiers' 31-17 win against Washington on Saturday, Cignetti became the first coach in Division I college football history to start a season 8-0 in back-to-back years at different schools.

Cignetti, 63, has been in the college coaching ranks since 1983. He's served in multiple places, including four seasons under Nick Saban at Alabama. Cignetti didn't get his first opportunity as a head coach until 2011 at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (Division II).

After one season at Elon, Cignetti joined James Madison and led the Dukes to a FCS championship appearance in his first season in 2019. James Madison made the FCS playoffs in each of his first three seasons before the Dukes made the jump to the FBS level in the Sun Belt.

Despite playing against tougher opposition, Cignetti and James Madison went 19-5 from 2022-23, including a 10-0 start last season. Cignetti was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year in both seasons.

Cignetti's start has already exceeded expectations in Bloomington. After all, Indiana was picked to finish 16th in the Big Ten preseason media poll , per USA TODAY Sports.

He completely overhauled the roster by bringing in 31 transfers, similar to the efforts that Deion Sanders has popularized at Colorado. The experiment has clearly worked, and Indiana is right in the thick of things at the top of the conference with the College Football Playoff in sight.

The Hoosiers will travel to Michigan State (4-4) in Week 10 with a highly-anticipated matchup against No. 4 Ohio State (6-1) set for Week 12 at Ohio Stadium.

Related: Top 15 College Football Program Makes History On Saturday

Related: Oregon Quarterback Dillon Gabriel Made College Football History on Saturday