The slight, albeit noteworthy correlation between Curt Cignetti and Cole Pearn

In different sports. From different countries. But just hear me out.

FULL DISCLOSURE FROM THE AUTHOR: My real name is David, and I graduated from Indiana University, who are the 2025 NCAA National Champions in football. Most of that previous sentence I never thought I’d ever write. As in the part about the Indiana Hoosiers football team. Although there was a while my parents were questioning the part about me graduating also.

No need to re-hash in great detail what happened in the National Championship game, regardless of how many times I’ve watched Fernando Mendoza pinball off two Miami Hurricanes and outstretch the ball over the goal line (288 so far). It was an improbable turnaround for a team that had been blighted for decades, with only small, fleeting glimmers of hope that broke through the dark cloud of sucking horribly. And out of nowhere, the rescuer appeared.

Curt Cignetti AKA Curt “Cig-NATTY” AKA “He Who At Times Makes Paul Menard Look Like An Emotional Powder Keg.” In just two seasons, he transformed a historically terrible program into a national champion.

And then a correlation struck me – “Hold on, is he like the American college football version of Cole Pearn, the former crew chief for Martin Truex Jr.?”

When most people would dismiss the thought and do something more useful, I, still running on adrenaline, school pride and happiness, cracked open the stats.

First, let’s consider the pre-Pearn and pre-Cignetti eras for both teams/drivers.

From Truex’s first full-time Cup Series season in 2006 through his final Pearn-less season of 2014, he had two wins, and there was a 218-race winless streak between them. He earned a spot in the Chase twice, and was eliminated. But what you may remember more about that period, and especially the Michael Waltrip Racing years and the first season with Furniture Row Racing, is how you’d watch the race wondering how many ladders this guy walked under on the way to his race car. Blown engines. Bad finishes. The Richmond incident. 2014, his first season at Furniture Row Racing and final year before Cole Pearn became his crew chief, was sort of Sarah-McLachlan-song depressing. He had one top-five finish, led one lap the entire season, and finished the season ranked 24th.

Now let’s look at the Indiana Hoosiers in the nine pre-Cignetti seasons. For the sake of making this post relevant, it’s pretty similar. Largely the signature futility from the Hoosiers. Two seasons with a winning record. Four bowl-game appearances, and they won none of them. 2023 – their final Cignetti-less year, they finished 3-9, and required four overtimes to even defeat the Akron Zips. Yes, real school and real name.

So comparable despair before their respective saviors arrived.

Now let’s look at the first season with Cole Pearn and Curt Cignetti.

In 2015, Cole swoops into Furniture Row and the performance shift is immediately apparent. Truex scores 14 top-ten finishes in the first 15 races, including a win at Pocono Raceway. He runs consistently enough to earn a spot in the Championship 4, although Kyle Busch would win the championship.

In 2024, Curt swoops into Indiana and the performance shift is immediately apparent. Indiana finishes the regular season 11-1. Their only regular season-loss came at the hands of the Ohio State Buckeyes (Who would go on to win the championship.) The holy-crap-we’re-good-now Hoosiers would earn a spot in the College Football Playoff. They would be eliminated by Notre Dame.

Now, let’s look at their second years at the helm. Here’s where their paths to greatness divert, but only by a single season. There’s still a correlation.

In 2016, Cole Pearn (and Toyota as a new manufacturer) led Martin Truex Jr. to the first multi-win season of his career, with four victories. One of them was an absolute stink-up-the-show thrashing, and that would be the Coca-Cola 600. Truex would lead 392 of 400 laps en route to the win. He would once again earn a spot in the playoffs, but be eliminated.

In 2025, Curt Cignetti (And Mendoza as a new quarterback) led the Indiana Hoosiers to an undefeated season, finishing 16-0. Some were absolute stink-up-the-show thrashings, including a 63-10 win over then-no.-9-ranked Illinois, 38-3 over Alabama in the Rose Bowl, and 56-22 over the Oregon Ducks in the Peach Bowl. They would earn a spot in the playoff. They’d win it all.

Now to 2017 – Cole Pearn’s third season as crew chief for Furniture Row Racing. Dominance. Truex would win eight races and the championship.

So in conclusion…

MARTIN TRUEX JR WITH COLE PEARN AS HIS CREW CHIEF: From 2014-2017, a complete and utter reversal of fortune, from beleaguered to a champion.

THE INDIANA HOOSIERS WITH CURT CIGNETTI AS HEAD COACH: From 2023-2025, a complete and utter reversal of fortune, from beleaguered to a champion.

I rest my case. Cole Pearn and Curt Cignetti are cut from the same cloth, it’s just that Cole is Canadian so his is probably flannel. The only difference may be in demeanor. It’s difficult to see Cole Pearn delivering a bravado-drenched line like “I win – Google me” as Cignetti did in his introductory press conference for the Hoosiers. Which is not to say our beloved friend to the north isn’t quotable. His Twitter account got GEMS, boy.

POSTNOTE: I have informed Cole Pearn of this post. He is delighted to be of assistance.