Five days. 

That’s how long Curt Cignetti allowed Indiana’s returning players to bask in the program’s fairy-tale perfect season. 

Five days to celebrate. Five days to savor becoming the first team in the modern era of college football to go 16-0. 

Then, it was back to work. 

“Coach was probably ready for next year by Wednesday or Thursday [after the national championship game], but he gave us a little bit of extra time,” starting linebacker Isaiah Jones recalled in a phone interview with The Post. “We had a week or five days and he was whipping us into shape.” 

During the celebration at Memorial Stadium, five days after the Hoosiers’ national championship victory over Miami, he told the roaring crowd: “Chapter 3 begins tomorrow.” 

It was eerily reminiscent of Nick Saban, the legendary seven-time national championship-winning coach who was always looking ahead to the following season.

He famously operated under a 24-hour rule. Once, Saban called a staff meeting the morning after winning it all and told everyone they were behind. The rest of the country had been recruiting during Alabama’s playoff run. 

It should come as no surprise that Saban is one of Cignetti’s coaching mentors, having spent four seasons under him as an assistant at Alabama from 2007-10. He has that same relentless, intense and competitive drive. 

During the first team meeting, Jones shared, Cignetti told the Hoosiers the previous year was special, but had no impact on them. This was a new group. 

“Last year’s team can’t win you any games this year,” he advised them. “Anything you did last year means nothing.” 

During Big Ten media days, Cignetti said he was “stalking complacency.” When Michigan State transfer receiver Nick Marsh showed up the first day of spring practice wearing gold shoes, Cignetti ripped him for the fancy footwear. 

“If I was going to say he changed in any way, he’s getting on us even more. He’s gotten even more meticulous,” said Jones, who had a team-high seven sacks a year ago. “He doesn’t want to see an ounce of complacency. If anything, he’s turned it up. 

“He’s looking for someone to take a rep off. He’s looking for a guy who played last year to come into practice and think they don’t have to bring it. He’s the same guy he’s been since he showed up on Day 1 in 2024. He probably hates it more when people bring up last year.” 

The faces are different — Indiana had a program-record eight players selected in the NFL draft last April, most notably Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza — but very little else has changed in Bloomington. 

Cignetti reloaded with a 17-player transfer class that was ranked eighth in the nation according to 247Sports.com. That group is highlighted by TCU quarterback Josh Hoover, Boston College running back Turbo Richard, Wisconsin offensive lineman Joe Brunner, the aforementioned Marsh and Penn State cornerback A.J. Harris. There are key returners, like left tackle Carter Smith, receiver Charlie Becker, leading tackler Rolijah Hardy and All-Big Ten preseason selection Tyrique Tucker, a defensive lineman. 

It is similar to the previous year, when the Hoosiers brought a few key players back but added several integral pieces through the portal. The question is: Can they do it again? Was last season an aberration or the start of sustained success? 

The schedule is much more daunting, including four teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25: No. 1 Ohio State, No. 14 USC, No. 16 Michigan and No. 17 Washington. A year ago, the Hoosiers didn’t have to deal with the Buckeyes until the Big Ten championship game and, other than Oregon, avoided the league’s best. 

Indiana welcomes the challenge. They were doubted all last winter, questioned until the very end. Real or manufactured — Indiana is highly ranked in the preseason, sixth in the country — that us-against-the-world mentality remains. 

“None of the returners are satisfied, recruits that came in. Nobody wants to be part of a one-hit wonder,” Jones said. “Guys already feel disrespected, because people think that, and we don’t care what other people think. 

“We have a lot of chips on our shoulders, and we have a lot of hungry bellies we’re looking to feed. We are a hungry team. We’re going to show up every week and every day with that same mentality that got us where we got last year.” 

It all starts with the 65-year-old Cignetti, the man who responded to a question about how he would successfully recruit by telling a reporter: “It’s pretty simple. I win. Google me.” 

The man who spent 27 years as a Division I assistant coach and 12 more at low-level Division I programs before Indiana finally gave him a chance on the power-conference stage. 

The man who took over a Hoosiers program that had gone 9-27 in the previous three years and owns a sparkling 27-2 record. 

But stardom doesn’t appear to have done anything but motivate him. 

“I get questions: How are you going to sustain it?” Cignetti said. “We’re not looking to sustain it. We’re looking to improve it.”