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For decades, Indiana University’s college football program was the stuff of legend, but not in a good way.
Correspondent Jon Wertheim was born and raised in Bloomington, Indiana, where IU is located.
“For many, many, many years, this was a really lousy football program,” Wertheim said.
Indiana started this past season as the losingest program in major college football history, having racked up over 700 losses.
But in an epic turnaround, the Hoosiers finished their season undefeated, winning the first CFP National Championship in the history of IU football.
Former quarterback and Heisman trophy winner Fernando Mendoza said the vibe on Indiana’s campus was “electric,” a complete change from what it once was.
“In January [2025], I would be [walking around campus] and no one would even blink an eye, no one would even know who I was, even if I introduced myself,” Mendoza said. “They were like, ‘Oh, cool. Alright. Cool. Whatever.'”
“And then now, whenever [they] see any of our players… a lot of people are excited about the football team, excited about the future, and excited about the playoffs.”
Former linebacker Aiden Fisher said their success can be summed up in two words: “Coach Cig.”
“The people [coach Curt Cignetti] brought in have been phenomenal,” Fisher said. “They want to see Indiana as a winning program.”
Notably, Cignetti recruited many players from outside of the NCAAF’s top-ranked teams using the transfer portal, a database where players who want to transfer to other football programs can make themselves available for recruitment.
The coach told 60 Minutes that his strategy was to value “production over potential” — players who have a demonstrated ability to perform.
“I think when you see a guy that’s been productive for two to three years, it tells you a lot about his discipline, commitment, work ethic, perseverance, ability to stick with things, and stay on the field,” he told Wertheim.
And thanks to a NCAA rule change, those transfers are no longer required to wait a year before they can play.
“It’s basically free agency. And so, you can add and subtract from your roster pretty quickly,” the coach said.
Fisher himself was a transfer to the team. When Fisher was playing for James Madison University over two years ago, news broke that Cignetti, his coach at the time, had just been hired by Indiana University.
“All my friends looked at me and they’re like, ‘You’re going to Indiana,'” he told Wertheim. “I was only in my second year, so [it was] kind of a weird thing.”
According to Fisher, he and other players who transferred from lower-ranked schools have a certain “mindset” from being overlooked.
“The chip on our shoulder that we weren’t wanted… we’re never going to face a team that ever recruited me,” he told Wertheim.
“And I think a lot of the guys in that locker room — they weren’t recruited by anybody… and the people standing across the sideline, they think they’re better than you.”
Wertheim asked Fisher if he ever took a moment to appreciate how far the team had come.
“The Big Ten Championship is nice, 13-0 feels good. But at the end of the day, it means nothing if we don’t finish with holding up the national trophy in the end.”
The Indiana Hoosiers beat University of Miami 27-21 this January, winning the CFP National Championship.
The video above was originally published on December 14, 2025. It was produced by Will Croxton and was edited by Nelson Ryland.
Photos courtesy of Getty Images and the Heisman Trophy Trust
