play
Indiana raises its first football national championship trophy (1:03)
The Indiana Hoosiers raise the program's first football national championship trophy. (1:03)
Adam RittenbergMar 26, 2026, 01:53 PM ET
- College football reporter; joined ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.
Indiana's first national championship hasn't glamorized the way coach Curt Cignetti runs his program, as decorated incoming transfer Nick Marsh found out Thursday when the team kicked off spring practice.
Cignetti, who guided Indiana to a 16-0 record last fall, was asked about Marsh, a starting wide receiver the past two seasons at Michigan State and among the notable transfers Indiana added in January. The coach noted Marsh's production at MSU before pivoting to the junior's choice of footwear.
"I didn't love those gold shoes he came out in today," Cignetti told reporters. "He learned what getting your ass ripped is all about. I don't know if that happened to him very often at Michigan State. That was before practice started."
Marsh, a native of Detroit, had 100 receptions for 1,311 yards and nine touchdowns at Michigan State. He joined TCU quarterback Josh Hoover and others in Indiana's transfer class, which ESPN ranked No. 3 nationally.
Cignetti noted that the coaches have "more work to do with this group than the first two teams" because the staff hasn't known as many of the key contributors very long.
Indiana is 27-2 in two seasons under Cignetti.
"That was a wake-up call," Cignetti said of Marsh's pre-practice shoe check. "But he's really worked hard, done a great job for us."
