Joel Klatt declares there’s a new top head coach in college football

The College Football Playoff National Championship will be decided on January 19 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, where the No. 10-seed Miami Hurricanes will compete against the No. 1-seed Indiana Hoosiers. Notably, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) will not have a representative in the title game for the third year in a row, a shift attributed by some to the influence of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals and the transfer portal. These changes have enabled non-traditional programs like Indiana to become contenders, reducing the talent advantage historically held by SEC programs such as Georgia and Alabama.

Indiana's head coach, Curt Cignetti, has been highlighted as surpassing Georgia's Kirby Smart in coaching prowess, according to Fox's Joel Klatt. Klatt pointed out that Indiana's recent success under Cignetti, including their top seed in the playoffs and a Big Ten title, demonstrates a significant achievement given the program's previous status.

Cignet