Indiana president: Hoosiers' sudden rise expected under Cignetti - ESPN

MIAMI BEACH Fla. — While some college football fans might consider No. 1 Indiana's historic run to the College Football Playoff national championship game on Monday night a Cinderella story, IU president Pamela Whitten told ESPN on Sunday this was exactly what coach Curt Cignetti was hired to do.

«It was just an assumption that we were going to go to the national championship,» Whitten said in an exclusive interview on the eve of the College Football Playoff title game against No. 10 Miami at Hard Rock Stadium. «That was the goal. And so, it's funny now when people say, 'Oh, aren't you so surprised and shocked that Indiana's in the national championship?' I don't want to be rude, but no. This was the goal.»

Cignetti took over a school with the most losses in major college football history and will play for the program's first national title after leading the Hoosiers to their first two 10-win seasons in school history. Indiana has produced an FBS-best 26-2 record over the past two seasons after going 9-27 in its final three seasons before Whitten and athletic director Scott Dolson hired Cignetti in 2023.

«Well, we're here because we prepared the right way and we have the right people in the staff and in the locker room, and we have tremendous support from our president and athletic director and we have a great fan base,» Cignetti said at the CFP media day Saturday. «We have a plan and a process, and we have great leadership and good players, and we've been very consistent in terms of our play in all three phases, so we've met every challenge. So, the novelty of being here, to us, isn't there. We're here.»

Whitten, who was hired to lead IU in 2021, said with college football generating 75-80% of the revenue in college