If you’re looking for someone inside the Indiana locker room who’s caught up in the moment, Aiden Fisher is not your guy.
The accolades, the metrics, the talk of historic runs and national relevance, Fisher hears it all. He just doesn’t care about any of it right now. Not with one game left. Not with the Miami Hurricanes standing across the field.
“It won’t mean really anything unless we walk away with a win in this game,” Fisher said. Simple. Flat. No drama. “All that historical stuff doesn’t really mean anything to us right now.”
That mindset didn’t magically appear during a postseason run. He carried it to Bloomington when he followed Curt Cignetti from James Madison. And over time, it’s seeped into everything, even conversations with his mom.
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“I caught myself using the word ‘complacent,’” Fisher said, laughing. “I was like, wow, I’ve been with Cig way too long. Everything he talks about is true in football and in life. Complacency kills.”
Even with a national championship on deck, Fisher insists the approach doesn’t change. Same field. Same pads. Same four quarters. “It’s just football,” he said.
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Still, he knows what this is. He’s made sure younger players understand it too. Opportunities like this don’t come back around. One week. Total focus. No shortcuts.
“Prepare like it’s your last game,” Fisher said. “So you can walk off with no regrets.”
Indiana has already changed how it’s viewed nationally.
Fisher isn’t interested in how the story sounds unless it ends the right way.
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