Career Rules Are Dynamic

The Indiana Hoosier's National Championship is proof we can change our stars

Indiana Hoosiers football is historically terrible. Before Curt Cignetti arrived two years ago, Bo McMillin was the last coach to have a winning record during his tenure. That was from 1934 - 1947. Excluding Cignetti’s tenure, IU has delivered only three winning seasons over the past twenty years.

Then, seemingly in an instant it all has changed. Cignetti was ostensibly gifted thunderbolts from Zeus to win IU’s first NCAA Football title on Monday evening. In the process, they vanquished Ohio State and Alabama, NCAA Football Olympians.

Cignetti and the Indiana Hoosiers, the perennial LOO, LOO, LOO, LOOSERS of the Big Ten and the NCAA Football world, used a few more thunderbolts from Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, to smite the Miami Hurricanes in Miami of all places! The Gods must have been on their side.

I got my MBA from IU. I’m not a huge IU Hoosiers fan, however. I traditionally route for the University of Illinois, one of IU’s rivals. While I’m not an IU fan, I was rooting for the Hoosiers last night. A victory would provide hope that more good coaches may see opportunity in reaching the pinnacle of Mount Olympus without feeling the need to do so with a sports blue blood.

The Hoosiers win is about more than a team that traditionally has stunk flipping the script. It’s about more than a team winning it’s first championship. It’s about creating something from next to nothing.

The Hoosiers were football nobodies merely two years ago. The cream and crimson were a once dynastic basketball blue blood that happened to have a football team. They were the annual doormat of teams like Michigan and Ohio State, a guaranteed victory in route to glory.

Hell, as a student at IU, I recall being told that the school always took the picture of the football stadium when Ohio State was in town. It guaranteed that the stadium would be filled to the brim with crimson or a close substitute.

Now, the team is truly somebody! Beyond winning this year’s champtionship, ESPN currently doesn’t expect them to simply vanish from contention in 2026. The Hoosiers are currently projected as the #1 team for 2026. Plus, the Hoosiers currently have a top 10 transfer portal class. The question I keep asking myself: Are we watching a new college football blue blood being built from nothing? There’s reason to believe we are.

Playing ‘Ole Miss is the only thing that could would have made the Hoosiers victory even better.

For those of you non-football fans, other than playing in the SEC and Big Ten, ‘Ole Miss and IU are not traditional rivals. The two teams have only met once in their history.

Nor are they equals. ‘Ole Miss won the 1960 National Championship. ‘Ole Miss has won 22 bowl games. Indiana has won 3. ‘Ole Miss has been ranked in the AP poll 366 total weeks in its history. Indiana 95 weeks. By most measures, ‘Ole Miss is a more storied college football program than Indiana.

So, “Why would playing ‘Ole Miss have made this better?” you may ask. Because Lane Kiffin, ‘Ole Miss’s coach for most of the season, recently ditched the team, that was on the doorstep of winning a national title, for the “greener pastures” of LSU. It’d be easy to wonder if he chose past glory and prestige over current opportunity. It’s the perfect career contrast of believing following the traditional route to success is the right one.

‘Ole Miss nearly played in the final game against Indiana. They lost to Miami in the semifinals. Kiffin decided to leave ‘Ole Miss to coach at LSU, a perennial college football blue blood that has won 5 national championships.

Some have said that LSU offers a coach better resources, career advancement, and more opportunities to win at the highest level. In the old world, it was impossible to win a national championship at programs like ‘Ole Miss and IUs.

Yet, in the new world it is possible! Cignetti just proved it. Sure, he had help. Billionaire IU alum Mark Cuban helped fund the Hoosiers. Cignetti wooed Mendoza — one of the top quarterbacks in the transfer portal — to the school.

It’s hard not to see IU’s success and wonder if Kiffin made the right call. Maybe he can return LSU to the mountain top. Maybe doing so with ‘Ole Miss truly is a pipe dream. However, with ‘Ole Miss, he had an opportunity to win the national championship this year, LSU did not. Plus, ‘Ole Miss has a projected Top-10 team next year. LSU does not. Only time will tell.

Remember, you can make something from nothing. Cignetti and Indiana are proof of this. Opportunities present themselves in a variety of ways. The game of life changes over time which puts the old rules into question. You don’t always have to jump ship or find where the grass is greener. Rather, you need a dream, purpose, help, dedication, and, most importantly, belief in making the impossible possible.

Thanks for reading!

Paul G. Fisher