Curt Cignetti’s daughter steals the spotlight with viral text exchange after CFP title game

Jeff Hauser

•
Curt Cignetti’s daughter steals the spotlight with viral text exchange after CFP title game image

Curt Cignetti has done something many coaches dream of doing over the course of a career — and especially during a tenure at a place like Indiana. To go from a longtime assistant to a lower-division head coach and then land your first major opportunity in the Big Ten, many would be thrilled just to post a winning season.

However, “Championship Curt” wasn’t satisfied. At least not until Monday night.

Cignetti took a program long regarded as a Big Ten basement dweller and shocked the college football world. It didn’t require an influx of five-star recruits, but rather a roster that fully bought into the culture and put the sport on notice.

This wasn’t Cignetti’s first stop, but it was his greatest transformation yet. He turned a College Football Playoff loss a year ago into a national championship one season later — a leap few coaches ever make.

So, is he happy now?

According to his daughter, Natalie, maybe. She won the internet by sharing a screenshot of a text exchange with her dad after the game, referencing a previous post where she joked about his lack of satisfaction after winning a playoff game at James Madison and finishing 12-1.

But Monday night was different.

Cignetti engineered one of the biggest turnarounds in modern sports history, and with just two losses over the past two seasons, the Hoosiers are positioned to remain elite. This wasn’t a fluke — not even close.

More: Curt Cignetti slams Big 12 refs over Miami's 'dirty' play in title game

Indiana finished 16-0, becoming the first team to reach that mark in 132 years. The achievement is historic on multiple levels, and it’s the kind of story college football may not see again anytime soon. Imagine Kansas making the College Football Playoff and dominating the way Indiana did — not in this lifetime, right?

That’s what makes Cignetti’s accomplishment so remarkable. The hope now is that it lasts awhile in Bloomington.

More college football news: 

Senior Editor