President Donald Trump has spent a lot of time thinking about the current state of college sports. There have been two-hour-long roundtables and executive orders, all with the stated goal of fixing a system in which players can transfer freely every season and where there are few rules around name, image and likeness compensation and program spending.
While Trump might aim to change college sports, on Monday, he hosted the football program that has capitalized on this new era the most: Indiana, which visited the White House to celebrate its 2025 national championship (the first in program history) and 16-0 season. And he had some fun with it, too.
“Who is Curt? Curt Cignetti? Where is Curt Cignetti?” he joked, perhaps a reference to the Indiana coach’s now-famous line of “I win. Google me.”
And while Trump repeated his criticism of the system, he acknowledged Cignetti’s prowess within it.
“NIL, boy oh boy did the courts screw (that) up,” Trump said. “That’s alright. Whatever happened, it seems to be working for you.”
Trump didn’t need to Google Cignetti before Monday’s event. He attended Indiana’s 27-21 victory over Miami in the College Football Playoff Championship game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. The Hoosiers’ win completed one of the greatest turnaround stories in sports history. Until late in the season, Indiana had more losses than any other program in college football history.
“I watched that game. I watched these guys. They can play,” Trump said of the Hoosiers, “They were a little underestimated … but they’re not underestimated anymore.”
The Hoosiers have climbed out of that hole thanks to Cignetti. He has gone 27-2 in two seasons at Indiana, taking the Hoosiers to the Playoff twice. Cignetti has benefited from Indiana devoting more resources and spending on football than ever before, both from an infrastructure and roster perspective, and by using the transfer portal, where the Hoosiers were able to add several standouts.
With Cignetti standing to Trump’s left on Monday, the president said: “Curt Cignetti … I think he’s the coach of the last decade. Because he took a team — nobody knew him, nobody knew the team — and he ended up taking this team all the way. … He took over in 2023 following a really bleak 3-9 season and immediately set a tone that few people have seen, I think, in the history of college football.”
Quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who became Indiana’s first Heisman Trophy winner before the Las Vegas Raiders made him the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft, did not attend the ceremony, recently saying that it interfered with Raiders team activities.
Trump highlighted some other members of Indiana’s title team, like center Pat Coogan, who was Offensive MVP of the Rose Bowl, and cornerback D’Angelo Ponds.
“Where’s Pat?” Trump asked. “Oh, he’s at training camp. … 15 players in training camp. Wow.”
“Where’s D’Angelo?” Trump asked before Cignetti and his players told him Ponds was at training camp. “No wonder you won.”
Indiana beat Ohio State for the Big Ten championship and then beat Alabama, Oregon and Miami during its Playoff run. Those programs are all household names.
“You went through a lot of great teams … and real football powerhouses over the years,” Trump said. “ …. The coach I think he’s just incredible. I think it’s an incredible story.”
When Trump asked Cignetti how his team would be this year, Cignetti said: “Well, we’ve got a chance if we commit and if we have discipline and a great work ethic and if we can handle success and we can handle failure and we’re consistent day in, day out, we might have a chance.”
Indian opens the 2026 season on Sept. 5 against North Texas.
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