The Indiana Hoosiers’ head coach, Curt Cignetti, has always been college football’s most famous stone face. Despite the program’s win (27-21) over the Miami Hurricanes in the National Championship last year, he still managed to keep his face still regardless of the scoreboard. But back home, his 83-year-old mother is not letting him off the hook for his intense resting face.
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Cignetti brought a non-stop work ethic from his time under Nick Saban. Yet away from the cameras, his family sees a completely different man. His mother, who lives in Pittsburgh, texts him regularly after games. Her message, to stop looking so serious and remember to enjoy the moment, never changes.
“Oh, they [his family] know I’m happy,” Cignetti said during an interview with SI’s senior writer Pat Forde on August 21. “Because they see me smiling after the game, on the bus and… back at the hotel, what have you, back at home. I get that more from my mother. She’s 83 years old… living in Pittsburgh, and I will always get the message from her to smile: ‘Remember to smile.'”
That stern habit came from decades of climbing the coaching ladder. Before winning it all at Indiana, Cignetti spent 27 years in tough assistant roles across schools like Rice, Temple, and NC State. Those long grind years built his famous no-nonsense style.
His approach still carries Nick Saban’s “The Process,” particularly in his attention to detail and a never-satisfied mindset that constantly pushes him to improve. That controlled personality, where he never allowed himself to get “too high or too low,” has led Indiana to its first national championship since 1967.
Cignetti’s time at Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania after coming from Division I Alabama further reinforced Cignetti’s “roll up your sleeves and go to work” mentality. He managed to work with limited resources, but still worked with utmost perfection in paying attention to detail, according to Jordan Mendoza of USA TODAY.
After a historic 16-0 national championship run in 2025, the Hoosiers now enter 2026 focused on reloading after losing key contributors. The additions of Josh Hoovers, Nick Marsh, Turbo Richard, Tobi Osunsanmi, and A.J. Harris headline a revamped roster tasked with maintaining the championship standard.
“I think every year you got to start over, regardless of your record the year before,” Cignetti said during an appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter on August 21. “We’re process-driven, and the key to the drills is consistency to a high standard. I think we’ve done a pretty good job of that up to this point.”
“I told myself. I said, ‘We’re not defending a national championship.’ Everybody’s 0-0 right now, and we’re just trying to form the right habits, play at a level of high consistency, and play our brand of ball.”
With Cignetti focused on starting from scratch in 2026, his mother’s simple reminder to “remember to smile” offers a glimpse of the person behind Indiana’s winning season. Despite his relentless focus on discipline and high standards, her message is a reminder for him to enjoy the journey too.