#1
Curt Cignetti — Indiana, December 2023
Indiana 2024–The most consequential first-year hire of the 2020s — Indiana 11-0 in the regular season, a CFP appearance, and the new market-rate for proven Group-of-Five coaches.
Year-1: 11-1 regular season · CFP appearance · won Big Ten East games
Cignetti's December 2023 hire from James Madison cost Indiana the smallest price tag of any 2024 CFP-team head coach (~$3.4M base) and produced the largest immediate return: 11 wins in 11 starts, a Big Ten East schedule navigated, a CFP appearance in year one. He brought the JMU defensive coordinator and a portal class so deliberate that the season's roster turnover became the new template for how a Group-of-Five-trained coach lifts a Power-5 program. The market response was immediate — every December 2024 search for a long-tenured Group-of-Five winner started with the Cignetti precedent. The 2025 season will be the credibility test; the 2024 evidence stands as the decade's signal hire.
Cohort divergence
Stat-folks rank
#17
Casual-fans rank
#17
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consensus
Year-over-year
Prior edition rank: — \u00b7 Movement: ↑ NEW