ATLANTA, Ga. — Following the process to the letter is an absolute in Curt Cignetti's world. It's all about having a great day every day, and stacking them up. That's the difference between winning and losing football games for the second-year Indiana coach.

He's 64 years old now, and finally on top of the world. The son of a coach, he toiled in relative anonymity in the coaching world until he was hired by Indiana before the 2024 season. All he's done — at the worst program in college football history, no less — is go 25-2 over two seasons and now has the Hoosiers two wins away from a national championship.

That's trusting the process.

Cignetti has always been that way. It's how he was raised in the coaching world. And even when his father, Frank Cignetti, was being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta in 2013, the entire family was there except for one person.

Curt Cignetti.

He missed his father's Hall of Fame induction because he had practice. He was the head coach at Indiana University Pennsylvania at the time, and could not miss even one practice for his father's big day.

Cignetti finally made it the Hall of Fame on Thursday. His Hoosiers are playing Oregon in the College Football Playoff semifinals here in Atlanta, and the pregame press conference with him and Ducks coach Dan Lanning was held at the Hall of Fame. 

It's the first time Cignetti had ever been here. And his father's virtual plaque was two floors up. 

"I found out last night when we got to the plane that I didn't realize the press conference was here,'' Cignetti said. "My dad was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame in '13, as you said, and I was the only family member that couldn't make the ceremony. My wife told me this morning that actually her and the kids had gone, but I couldn't go. We were in fall camp at IUP, and I wasn't going to miss practice.

"My brothers and sisters all went. Frankie (Cignetti's brother) was probably coaching in the NFL or coordinating somewhere in college, I can't remember. So this is the first time I've ever been in this building, and I did get to kind of see, and it was nice to be able to do that.''

It's often mentioned that Cignetti is part of the Nick Saban coaching tree, because he worked the legend at Alabama from 2007 to 2010. But as far as Cignetti is concerned, he was part of the Frank Cignetti coaching tree first.

"I learned so much from my dad, you know. I don't even know where to start,'' Cignetti said of his father, who passed away in 2022 at age 84. "He was a great leader, and he led by example. He was a role model, and he was a strong man. He had a little John Wayne and Clint Eastwood in him.

"And, you know, I get letters and I read things on social media about all the people he helped at West Virginia and at IUP, helped them in their lives. And I was the oldest, so the oldest always has it the roughest. And when I was growing up, we were at West Virginia, and the pressure was a little different than when the other ones were growing up when they were at IUP. But I had a great upbringing. I knew in third grade I wanted to coach, and he had a lot of pearls of wisdom. ''

As much as being here in Atlanta means a lot to Cignetti, it also means a lot of Hoosier Nation as well. They've been starving for football success for generations, and these last two years have been off-the-charts exciting.

Fans over-ran the Rose Bowl last week, filling at least three-quarters of the seats for the game with Alabama in Pasadena, Calif. It turned into a 38-3 rout over the Crimson Tide, and IU linebacker Aiden Fisher said ''it felt like a home game.''

Quarterback Fernando Mendoza concurred. 

"The Hoosier Nation, they were a huge reason on why we beat Alabama. And the way we beat them, it was a home game for us, 80 percent Indiana fans and 20 percent Alabama fans,'' Mendoza said. "Having that home field advantage means so much to us as players. It's essentially having that 12th player on the field. To have them show up not only meant so much off the field by disrupting the opponent, but it meant so much on the field with us in elevating our play.

"To be able to have another opportunity to play in front of Hoosier Nation, it's such an honor and I can't thank them enough for all their support.'' 

Cignetti appreciates all the support, too. 

"I don't think there's any doubt that when you have the fans behind you, they're in the stadium and they're loud after a big play, it just increases the energy level on your side,'' Cignetti said. "So we'll see what (Friday) night looks like. We are closer obviously to Bloomington than Eugene, Oregon, but we'll find out.''

In the past two years, Cignetti is the only one of eight coaches to win a quarterfinal game after a first-round bye. The Hoosiers were so well prepared for their game against Alabama that they blew the doors off of them, the worst Alabama loss in their long and distinguished bowl history.

That's all about the process, too.

The process also shows up in press conferences, and even though he's trying to be completely serious all the time, he gives us a good laugh now and then, too. That happened Thursday.

A reporter asked both coaches "if you could give two keys for your team to win this game.'' Lanning gave a quick answer, focusing on protecting the ball and making special teams plays. 

Those were his two.

Cignetti went to his stock answer. It's the same thing he always says about what has to go right. It was far more than two.

"We talk about the same thing every single game,'' he said.

(1.) Line of scrimmage,
(2.) run the ball,
(3.) stop the run,
(4.) affect the quarterback,
(5.) protect the quarterback,
(6.) turnover ratio, we're No. 1 in the country
(7.) explosive plays, runs plus-12, passes plus-15 on both sides,
(8.) critical situations,
(9.) third down,
(10.) fourth down,
(11.) red area,
(12.) two-minute before the half,
(13.) end of the game,
(14.) and (special) teams has to be a win.

"Every game, same stuff,'' Cignetti said.

Lanning couldn't help but laugh. "I should have named more. I thought we were just doing two,'' the Oregon coach said.

Cignetti even smiled. "That was two,'' he said.

"Gosh dang, coach,'' Lanning said.    

Indiana and Oregon are both just 60 minutes away from playing in the Jan. 19 national championship game. Neither has won a football title before

Coaches and players from both teams have raved about each other all week. They played earlier this season, with Indiana winning 30-20 in Eugune. Cignetti has talked about how hard it is to beat a great team twice in the same season, but that just might be another motivational tool intended for his own players to hear.

And Lanning talks about what got them beat the first time, and how they need to be better. Both sides have reviewed that first game, and new game plans have been gleaned. 

"He's looked at things that they did well in all three phases and things they didn't do well. I've done the same thing,'' Cignetti said of Lanning. "We've looked at things we did well and didn't do well. And then, you know, teams evolve afterward. I think that was Game 5 or 6 at the time. There's been 14 games, and teams improve.

"And why do they improve? Because of repetition. Repetition is the mother of learning, and then there's some schematic tweaks, but basically when you're successful and through repetition, guys are in the right place, it becomes secondhand. They react quicker and then it's a matter of kind of managing the health of your team and a few other variables.

You can prepare all you want, but the new wrinkles will be there, too

"So I don't have any idea what they're going to do. They don't know what we're going to do,'' Cignetti said. "And quite honestly, as I sit here right now, I know everything we've practiced, but I have no idea what that tape is going to look like the day after.

"And that's every game, you know. What's actually going to get called, what'll work, what won't work, and what are they going to do different. And that's football. There are a lot of variables.''

The game is at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday night. The winner gets the Ole Miss-Miami winner in the other semifinal on Thursday. The title game is Monday, Jan, 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. 

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