Behind the Glory

On January 19th, 2026, at approximately 11:20 pm, Indiana University football secured its first national title in program history. While Hard Rock Stadium in Miami was undoubtedly rocking with ecstatic fans clad in cream and crimson, its hard to imagine a more electric crowd than the one that quickly filled the streets of Kirkwood. Fireworks exploded in the distance as students shared the joyous moment with friends and strangers alike. It didn't matter if you were a freshman or a senior, studying medicine or business, drunk or sober. All that mattered was that you found yourself in the heart of Bloomington, Indiana, basking in the triumph of a football team achieving something unimaginable.

In the following days, athletes and coaches alike would be welcomed back into town, celebrated as heroes. All around the country, the underdog story of Indiana football hit the front page of newspapers. Suddenly, all eyes were on the college town, prying for a glimpse of the magic that took place in Memorial Stadium this past season.

While it's easy to get caught up in the bravado of sports, its important to give kudos to those working behind the scenes to make their own contributions to magical moments like these. Last season, when you'd make your way into town, large wooden cutouts of the IU football team sat proudly on Bloomington native Derk Brewer's lawn, impossible to miss. As Indiana kept winning, Brewer would make new wooden cutout numbers to reflect the team's current record. Naturally, the cutouts started to attract attention, and Brewer decided to starting making and selling them to the public.

Throughout the season, two other artists made contributions in the form of rally towels. Carter Kincaid (34) and Zachary Satz (25) both currently work in the marketing department as designers for Indiana University athletics. According to Kincaid, the rally towels initially started as a student-only giveaway for the Homecoming game against Nebraska in 2024. After the success of the iconic Cignetti/Marlboro towels in the next game against Washington, the marketing department decided to start handing out the towels to every fan at every IU home game.

The popularity of the rally towels skyrocketed during the championship season, with fans lining up for hours in the cold to get their hands on them. Satz was initially shocked by this, but today reflects fondly on the overall community reaction to the towel designs.

In a similar fashion, graphic designer Jon Terzini (40) has taken Bloomington by storm with his cartoon-like graphics. During the 2024 season, Terzini started making drawings for the football team's weekly matchups. Fans loved them so much that he started having them printed into posters, distributing them throughout the town for people to pick up. It's hard to go into any establishment in Bloomington without seeing one of the posters, as they have now become a staple in a lot of die-hard fans' collections.

Homefield Apparel, founded in Indianapolis, Indiana in 2018, made their own wearable designs throughout the 2025-2026 football season. IU grad and Director of Apparel Design for Homefield, Kevin Spann (35), played a large role in the pieces that dropped throughout the season. Using inspiration from attending the games himself and utilizing history, Spann thoughtfully created some memorable designs to be enjoyed by fans all over the country.

Outside of the design world, others made significant impacts in their own ways. On the night of the Big Ten Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium, quarterback Fernando Mendoza was met by Father Ben Keller of St. Paul's in Bloomington. Mendoza, very open about his faith, engulfed Fr. Keller in a hug, the two sharing a special moment following the victory over Ohio State.

As Interim Director of Campus Ministry, Fr. Keller is heavily involved with the student body. Last year, one of the baseball coaches invited him to a practice, forming a bond between Fr. Keller and the team. He enjoys being around sports since he played them growing up, and also oversees a couple of the athlete bible study sessions on campus. Fr. Keller knows how much is expected of these young athletes and states that he, "tries really hard to be a place where they can come and be filled, rather than be used for marketing." Mendoza attended mass at St. Paul's throughout the season, hence the bond between the two. "It was really cool to watch their dreams come true, it sure has been a gift," Fr. Keller said when asked about witnessing the national championship season.

At Memorial, another team of individuals work tirelessly to ensure that the stadium is spotless for the team and fans. The custodian staff is doing the dirty work (quite literally), working both before and after games to keep IU's home field tidy. Matt Gerstman (51), a custodial supervisor that has been at IU for several years, says that the work is not easy. A team comprised of 20 or so workers operate in a lot of moving parts, making sure that bathrooms are kept clean, trash cans are emptied, and windows are made spotless in the press box of the stadium.

The commemorative projects celebrating the national champs didn't end with the season. Just this past week, a new mural popped up on the streets of Kirkwood, over in Peoples Park. Lead artist, Jonatan Espinoza, with the help of his wife, Aracely Sevilla, and fellow painter Travis Simpson, have been working on the piece for nine days in a row now. Espinoza anticipates that it'll take the team of creatives a full 24 days to complete. The piece will act as a beautiful reminder of what IU football accomplished this past season and will stand as an example of how talented Espinoza, Sevilla, and Simpson are.

It is without a doubt that the accomplishments of the IU football team this past season deserve all the praise and attention. The challenges that Curt Cignetti and his team had to overcome to emerge victorious were no small feat. Indiana's title will be remembered for what happened under the lights of Hard Rock Stadium- but it was built just as much by marketing professionals ensuring fans had something to wave come game day, by the custodian staff working early mornings and late nights to ensure Memorial was spotless. It was celebrated by artists and designers, taking special moments and incorporating them into wearable pieces or freezing them in history. The title wasn't just won by the athletes, but also by the unseen hands that made sure everything was ready when the moment finally came.