They did it. They did the impossible. They wrote the most authentic worst-to-first story in North American sports history. But for Desmond Howard, the real hard work for the 2025 National Champion Indiana Hoosiers football program is just about to begin.
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After going a century with no relevance in the sport of football, head coach Curt Cignetti took a band of misfits from 3-9 in 2023 to national champions in 2025. Let’s not forget that Indiana has long been a basketball state and school, through and through. It’s no wonder they were 100-to-1 to win the Natty this year, likely the longest odds in major North American sports history.
However, as any champion will tell you, the hardest part of being a champion is repeating that feat. Now that teams are expecting you to be good, you get their best game every time. Desmond Howard, the 1991 Heisman Trophy winner-turned-ESPN analyst, believes it will be tougher for Cignetti and company as they go from “the hunter” to “the hunted.”
“Now the hard work starts for Cignetti,” Howard said during a segment on First Take.
“Because he was the hunter. Now they’re about to be hunted. And not only that, coaches are going to start to poach some of his coaches. And today is the day that you pick up your phone and you start seeing messages from Indiana players saying, ‘Well, first of all, I’d like to thank everybody at Indiana University for their love and support.’ (Laughs) This is that day for Indiana!” Howard added.
What Howard meant there was that there would be a lot of top Indiana players sending out messages of thanks to Indiana because they plan on leaving the program. Whether that’s declaring for the NFL Draft or transferring to another school that will pay them more NIL money. Either way, Howard believes the tough work for Indiana will now be retaining their talent.
“Because of last night’s game and because of their run, their draft stock has gone up for some players,” explained Howard, adding,
“And they’re going to make the decision to leave the program. So they’re gonna celebrate … but now the hard work is really gonna start for Coach Cignetti … and that program. Because people are gonna try to poach players and coaches, and some players just gonna leave for the Draft.”
"Now the hard work starts for Cignetti, because he was the hunter, now they're about to be hunted." ✍️@DesmondHoward on what an Indiana title means for college football going forward 🏈 pic.twitter.com/GKlgKDwaEK
— First Take (@FirstTake) January 20, 2026
It’s exceedingly rare to repeat as champions in any sport. But especially so in college football, where you can lose players not only to other schools, but to the NFL as well. There have only been four back-to-back champs since 1975. Can Curt Cignetti make it five in 2026 despite the high probability of massive roster turnover? Only time will tell.
