Curt Cignetti, Stewart Mandel's piece in The Athletic, and How Indiana Football Maintains the Edge

Curt Cignetti, Stewart Mandel's piece in The Athletic, and How Indiana Football Maintains the Edge

From CrimsonCast by CrimsonCast

May 5, 2026 · 31 min

About this episode

Galen Clavio discusses Stewart Mandel's profile of Curt Cignetti and the rise of Indiana football, exploring themes of confidence and the challenges of maintaining success.

Galen Clavio reacts to Stewart Mandel ’s profile of Curt Cignetti and uses it as a jumping-off point for a bigger conversation about Indiana football’s stunning rise, the confidence driving the program, and the challenge of sustaining success after a national championship season. This episode looks at Cignetti’s process, the idea of “controlled arrogance,” the parallels to Bob Knight -era Indiana basketball, and why IU’s next challenge may be even harder than the climb itself. Galen also reflects on how far CrimsonCast — and Indiana football fans — have come from the low point of 2023 to the top of the sport.

People in this episode

Host: Galen Clavio

Topics covered

  • Indiana football
  • Curt Cignetti
  • Stewart Mandel
  • sustaining success
  • confidence in sports
  • controlled arrogance
  • parallels to basketball

Keywords

  • Curt Cignetti
  • Stewart Mandel
  • Indiana football
  • national championship
  • controlled arrogance
  • Bob Knight
  • sports success

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Athletic, Indiana football, Bob Knight

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