RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 3 sourcesCHICAGO — Illinois football coach Bret Bielema isn’t one to hold back his opinion.
Within hours of kicking off Big Ten Media Days in Chicago on Tuesday, Bielema made headlines for poking fun at the SEC . He took a more serious tone when he offered his honest assessment of Indiana football winning the national title last season.
“That is single-handedly the most impressive story that I've witnessed in my college career,” Bielema said.
Bielema’s words carried added weight given his historical perspective.
He first attended Big Ten Media Days in 1991 as a defensive lineman for Iowa at the very same venue, Hilton Chicago, that’s hosting the conference this week. He’s now been on the sidelines in the college ranks for nearly three decades.
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When talking about the Hoosiers on Tuesday, Bielema referenced that lengthy coaching resume and his stint working for former Kansas State coach Bill Snyder.
Snyder took over a Wildcats program that had two winning seasons in 34 seasons before his arrival. He led Kansas State to the No. 1 ranking in 1998 amidst a streak of 11 consecutive bowl games from 1993 to 2003.
Bielema was his co-defensive coordinator in the final two years of that streak.
“Sports Illustrated wanted to come in and do an article about how bad it was there, and he said, 'I'll let you write the article, but when we turn this thing, you've got to come back and write a story about it,'” Bielema said. “And so, there's a framed Sports Illustrated article on Coach's office when I was working for him that said, 'The greatest turnaround in college football history,' and I think Indiana probably passed that one by.”
Bielema found Indiana’s dominance over Alabama and Oregon in the College Football Playoff particularly impressive. He got an early preview of what the Hoosiers had in store for their CFP opponents when the Illini traveled to Bloomington for a much-anticipated top-20 showdown between the teams.
Indiana put up 579 yards of total offense in a 63-10 win that set up Fernando Mendoza as the Heisman favorite.
“What Cig did, came in and took over a program that historically had been one of the losingest programs and to turn it into two years later and undefeated, and literally ran away with it, right? Like I know what they did to us, right?” Bielema said. “And then, you know, to see them do what they did in the playoffs, that's not happened in the CFP playoffs. The way they've dominated teams is just really impressive.”
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The Big Ten’s elder statesman also had high praise for Indiana football Tuesday. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, who is entering his 28th season with the Hawkeyes, first took notice of the Hoosiers' improved play in 2024 while scouting Northwestern.
“I saw them on a swapped film exchange,” Ferentz said. “My first exposure, they were playing in the Lakefront Stadium, that temporary stadium. And you can just tell they're a very well-coached team, and they were a talented team.”
That remained true when the Hoosiers pulled out a last-minute 20-15 victory over Iowa at Kinnick Stadium in 2025.
Ferentz traced IU’s success to Cignetti’s decision to retain much of his staff from James Madison — Cignetti leaned on assistants that Ferentz said, “knew what he believed in and they believed in the same things” — and picking the right players to bring over with him from James Madison.
“It's a really good reflection of football in this system, out of this era,” Ferentz said. “That made things a little bit different than maybe when I took over 27 years ago (at Iowa). That was a little bit different, but the bottom line is this: They're a really well-coached football team. I've never seen a film where they don't play hard and don't compete hard.”
Rutgers coach Greg Schiano echoed much of what Ferentz said about IU winning a national title but also pointed out how important it was for Cignetti to line up support from the university when he was hired. Cignetti himself has mentioned that alignment at every turn.
While the Scarlett Knights haven't played IU over the last two seasons, Schiano has known Cignetti's family for years and paid attention to his success in Bloomington.
“He made sure that the resources were going to be available to meet what the expectations were,” Schiano said, “and I think that gives everybody kind of a really good example to point to.
“You don't have to be the very, very top in the spending, but you need to be in the ballgame, and you need to really coach the heck out of them and develop your guys. And I'd say that's what they did in the end. Much respect for Coach Cignetti and his staff and the institution, for what they did.”
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here .
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Big Ten coach: Indiana’s national title run 'greatest turnaround in college football history'
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