Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Curt Cignetti probably doesn’t worry about having to pay for a beer in the state of Indiana again after the Hoosiers secured the national championship that had eluded them for close to 140 years. That will also be the case when it comes to his personal stash, as the brewery that made the cold one he cracked open to celebrate the win has offered to hook him up for the rest of his life.
It’s been a little more than three years since Curt Cignetti arrived at Indiana University and dropped what would become a legendary four-word response when a reporter asked him about the sales pitch he planned to use to recruit players to a college football team that had historically been a major afterthought in the national conversation: “I win. Google me.”
If you weren’t familiar with Cignetti at that point, that has likely changed now that he’s lived up to that boast and capped off one of the most impressive turnarounds in the history of organized athletics by leading Indiana to a 16-0 record and a national championship during his second season at the helm in Bloomington.
Many college football fans were treated to a crash course in Cignetti lore over the course of the season while gaining a deeper understanding of a ruthlessly efficient football mastermind who eats the same Chipotle order for lunch every day and orders beers by referring to their ABV as opposed to their actual name.
However, he did name-drop the one he treated himself to after beating Miami to win a title, and there are many more coming his way as a result.
Upland Brewing pledged to give Curt Cignetti free beer for life after getting a shoutout following Indiana’s win over Miami
Cignetti said the only thing he was thinking about after Indiana beat Oregon in the Peach Bowl was “cracking a beer,” and a number of people who’ve worked with him say that’s a bit of a postgame tradition for the 64-year-old who said he limits himself to a single one to avoid falling asleep.
He certainly earned the one he helped himself to after winning a national championship, and he credited Bloomington’s Upland Brewing Company for providing him with what he said was “the best beer I’ve ever had in my life.”
Upland has been brewing Hoosier Gameday Lager, the 4.7% concoction that is co-signed by the university, since 2023, and it was obviously thrilled to get some recognition from Cignetti on such a giant stage.
Just how thrilled? Well, according to TMZ, it has promised to help fuel the team’s championship celebration and ensure Cignetti will be supplied for the rest of his days, saying, “We are announcing a lifetime supply of Upland beer for Coach Cig as a thank you for the postgame comments. That was pretty unreal to watch in real time.”
Must be nice.