BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana coach Curt Cignetti has turned the Hoosiers into a national powerhouse. The Hoosiers are 9-0, ranked second in the nation and on their way to a second consecutive College Football Playoff berth.

Cignetti has performed an unprecedented two-year turnaround in Bloomington, but not without the help of his coordinators. On offense, it has been the playcalling of offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan that has led the charge.

When Cignetti took his first head coaching job at Indiana University Pennsylvania (IUP) in 2011, he called offensive plays. He had never been an offensive coordinator, but he fared well with a 53-17 record in six seasons at IUP. 

Shanahan joined Cignetti’s staff as a wide receivers coach ahead of Cignetti’s last season at IUP. Cignetti jumped from IUP, a Division II school, to Division I FCS Elon in 2017. Shanahan followed Cignetti in his same role, and Cignetti delegated his offensive playcalling responsibilities to offensive coordinator Drew Folmar, who stayed in that position at Elon until last season.

After two seasons at Elon, Cignetti, Shanahan and others were off to James Madison, where Shanahan was the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator (the same role Cignetti had under Nick Saban at Alabama from 2007-10). Shane Montgomery was the offensive coordinator for Cignetti’s first two seasons with the Dukes, but after he left for the same position at Buffalo, it was finally time for Shanahan to call plays.

Shanahan became offensive coordinator at James Madison in 2021, and the Dukes averaged 38.3 points per game en route to the FCS semifinal that year. In Shanahan’s five seasons as an offensive coordinator, Cignetti’s teams have 51 wins and just eight losses. Shanahan-led offenses have averaged at least 34 points per game.

“I think Mike does a really nice job of preparing and taking — collaborating, so to speak — everybody’s opinions,” Cignetti said after Indiana beat UCLA 56-6 on Oct. 25. “He’s got a really good connection during the game with (quarterbacks coach) Chandler Whitmer and (offensive line coach) Bob Bostad. 

“… Things are changing every series. So they’re making good adjustments during the game, and Mike’s got a great work ethic, he’s a smart guy, got great disposition.” 

Indiana averages 46.4 points, which is best in the country. This comes a year after it averaged 41.3 points, which was second in the country.

Indiana also leads the Big Ten in rushing offense (245.7 yards per game), third-down conversion rate (58.6%), and first downs (26.9 per game) thanks to Shanahan’s playcalling.

Indiana’s offensive coaches have a perfect symbiosis, which has led to incredible offensive outings.

“I sort of know what (Cignetti)’s thinking and know what he wants to do at times,” Shanahan said on Inside Indiana Football on Sept. 10. “And I’m sure he might say the same thing about me.” 

Cignetti runs Indiana’s weekly offensive staff meetings, and he’s used to interjecting offensive calls during games. But Cignetti said lately, those interjections haven’t been as frequent due to his trust in Shanahan and Whitmer.

Shanahan’s weekly preparation allows Indiana to score regularly. That preparation starts with “a lot of organizational stuff,” according to Shanahan.

“It starts with our staff and then obviously trickles down to the players, just making sure everybody is on the same page,” said Shanahan, who played wide receiver at Pittsburgh from 2008-12. “… I put a lot of time in a lot of the organizational stuff in that regard. But from there, everybody’s kind of got ownership within their own position.” 

Indiana’s offense is headlined by Heisman trophy candidate Fernando Mendoza at quarterback. Mendoza transferred to Indiana from Cal, where he threw 16 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2024. Indiana has maximized Mendoza’s potential, and he leads the Big Ten with 25 touchdown passes.

Mendoza is in the running to win the Heisman and be the first-overall pick in the NFL draft in part because of Whitmer, the team's quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator. Whitmer is in his first season in the role that Tino Sunseri held last season. Sunseri left to be UCLA’s offensive coordinator, and Whitmer was hired by Cignetti after he spent a season as the Atlanta Falcons’ pass game coordinator.

Whitmer hadn’t coached on a Cignetti staff before this season, but he’s fit in seamlessly. Whitmer said that he, Cignetti and Shanahan “pick each other’s ideas apart,” which has led to great offense.

“Working hand-in-hand together, there’s no egos in that room,” Whitmer said on Inside Indiana Football on Oct. 23. “And I think that’s what makes the best part, is that we can all come with our ideas, come together, and it doesn’t matter who gets the credit for it, as long as Indiana is successful on the field.”

Mendoza said after Indiana beat Michigan State 38-13 last month that it’s been “a perfect marriage” between himself and the offensive staff. The redshirt junior is having one of the best individual seasons in Indiana history, and his coaches are a big reason for that.

In an effort to be more equipped to beat the nation’s best teams, Indiana has made some changes to its offense. The Hoosiers are huddling more this year than they did last year (which helps in road environments like Oregon), and they use Mendoza — who is much more mobile than 2024 starting quarterback Kurtis Rourke — as a runner. Mendoza rushes for 24.4 yards per game, which is enough to impact the game and keep linebackers honest.

Shanahan runs a multiple offense, meaning the Hoosiers attack in different ways. Indiana has its options for which running back it uses, how many tight ends are in the game and where Mendoza can go with the football. There are plenty of built-in reads within the plays Shanahan calls, so Mendoza rarely audibles.

“We want to put defenses in stress a lot of different ways,” Shanahan said. “Whether that's personnel, formations, run, pass, RPO, right? (We) do a lot of different things there just to give ourselves a chance to go out there and execute.”

Indiana’s top four weapons — running backs Roman Hemby and Kaelon Black, plus wide receivers Elijah Sarratt and Omar Cooper Jr. — all average at least 76 yards from scrimmage per game. Shanahan’s versatile playcalling and personnel groupings have allowed everyone opportunities to thrive.

All of Indiana’s playcallers — Shanahan, defensive coordinator Bryant Haines and special teams coordinator Grant Cain — have been playcallers on Cignetti’s staff for at least four seasons, dating back to James Madison. All of them have been on Cignetti’s staff in some capacity since he took the James Madison job in 2019.

Given how long all those coordinators have been with Cignetti, it’s no mistake that Indiana has been a juggernaut. Cignetti’s assistants understand him, allowing them to be an extension of him, and allowing the players to be an extension of that. 

This trickle-down effect has Indiana in contention for its first Big Ten championship since 1967 and first national championship ever. If the Hoosiers reach the mountaintop, one key reason will be that Shanahan knows what buttons to push as the offensive playcaller.