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Dec 30, 2023; Nashville, TN, USA; Maryland Terrapins head coach Mike Locksley waits to take the field before the game against the Auburn Tigers at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

How Curt Cignetti's success at Indiana turned the heat up on Mike Locksley and Maryland

Originally posted on Maryland Terrapins on SI
By Chris Breiler | Last updated Jun 21, 2025 2:14 PM ET

There's no question that bold moves and instant results define today's college football landscape. In the current climate of the transfer portal and NIL, schools can build championship rosters in a single offseason... assuming they have the financial resources to do so.

One of the most glaring examples of that process occurred in Bloomington last year, as Curt Cignetti transformed the Indiana Hoosiers from a Big Ten bottom-feeder into a College Football Playoff contender.

After a successful stint as head coach at James Madison, Cignetti took the head coaching opportunity with Indiana - a program that had a long history of losing. When he arrived in Bloomington, he inherited a team that had become the first FBS program to reach 700 all-time losses in 2022. Since its founding in 1877, Indiana endured mostly losing seasons and had never achieved a double-digit win season. Cignetti was stepping into one of the toughest rebuild jobs in all of college football.

In an effort to reshape the program, Cignetti brought in 31 transfers heading into his first season with the Hoosiers. Of those 31 transfers, 13 were players who followed Cignetti from JMU to Indiana. He also landed four-star transfer QB Kurtis Rourke from Ohio University. None of the incoming transfer prospects were considered to be "big splash" guys, but the collective overhaul of the roster set the stage for a historic season.

With history not on his side, Cignetti proceeded to lead the Hoosiers to an 11-2 record and a spot in the College Football Playoff. Indiana's regular season record of 11-1 was the best in program history, its 8-1 record in Big Ten play also set a school record, and that success led to the program's first-ever appearance in the CFP.

That success in Bloomington should serve as a wake-up call to the folks in College Park.

Head coach Mike Locksley, who's now entering his seventh season at Maryland, has shown flashes of promise but has also fallen far short of anything resembling a "breakthrough" season. While the Terps have reached bowl games, they've yet to prove they can compete with the best the Big Ten has to offer, and consistent success remains an issue.

With Indiana - a long-time Big Ten basement dweller - achieving national relevance in just one offseason, the question becomes: why not Maryland?

The Terps have every reason (and resource) to compete. They sit in the heart of the DMV area, one of the richest recruiting grounds in the country. The connection to Under Armour offers a unique advantage that the vast majority of programs don't have, and Maryland recently hired a new athletic director with a clear understanding of what it takes to win. The infrastructure is there, the talent is there, and now the expectations need to match the resources.

Cignetti's success should serve as an eye-opener for those in College Park. If he can lift Indiana into national relevance in just one offseason, Maryland fans should expect the same of whoever is leading the way for the Terps. In today's college football, coaching matters more than ever. And if Indiana can do it, Maryland can - and should - too.

This article first appeared on Maryland Terrapins on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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