A Remarkable Turnaround

As we prepare for Monday night’s College Football National Championship Game between Miami and Indiana, it seems fitting to take a moment to appreciate the improbability of the Hoosiers participating in this game.

If you aren’t a college football enthusiast, you might be unaware of the fact that Indiana has been one of the worst programs in all of the sport for the better part of the last century.

For some context, before the 2025 season, the Hoosiers held the record for the most losses by any program in college football history. In fact, before the 2024 season, exactly none of Indiana’s 23 head coaches had departed the program with a winning record in conference contests. Amazingly, all of that came over a span of 125 seasons!

At the end of the 2023 campaign, it certainly appeared that Indiana remained stuck in the midst of its cycle of futility. During that season, the Hoosiers managed to win just three games (only one of which was a conference victory). At the time, it was Indiana’s third consecutive losing season under head coach Tom Allen, a fact that led to his departure before the end of the year.

But it was during that offseason that everything would change…and in a hurry.

When Indiana hired Curt Cignetti as its head coach in November of 2023, there was much of the usual enthusiasm and optimism associated with any new coaching hiring. At the end of the day, however, very few people expected the Hoosiers to have immediate success, even with Cignetti at the helm. 

By now, you likely know the rest of the story.

Following their confident new leader, the Hoosiers stormed out to a 10-0 start in Cignetti’s inaugural season. By the end of the year, Indiana had put together the program’s first-ever 11-win season and had generated the program’s first College Football Playoff appearance.

Incredibly, Indiana has wildly exceeded last season’s success in Cignetti’s second campaign.

After starting the season ranked 20th in the AP Poll, Indiana has rattled off 15 consecutive wins, heading into the Championship Game undefeated as the heavy favorite to bring home the hardware.

While it would be incorrect to say that Cignetti alone is responsible for Indiana’s remarkable turnaround, there’s no denying that the presence of one individual catapulted the program from a pattern of failure to newfound success.

As followers of Jesus, we all likely have areas of our lives where we have experienced patterns of failure. For some, it may be a lack of discipline and consistency in pursuing spiritual growth intentionally. For others, it could look like a particular sin we have struggled with for a long time.

The good news for us as believers is that when we place our trust in Christ for salvation, God gives us the Holy Spirit, who works powerfully in us to help us experience newfound success in our fight against sin. We can have confidence in our ability to experience a “turnaround” in our lives because He is on our side.

Certainly, we have a part to play in our fight against sin. We are not passive observers who make no intentional effort to put off the remaining sin in our lives. But as we passionately fight against that remaining sin, we are encouraged and strengthened by God to find success in that endeavor.

In Philippians 2:12-13 (ESV) Paul demonstrates this dynamic of God working in us as we intentionally seek to grow in Christlikeness: “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

We must indeed be disciplined and make choices to use the means God has given us to experience victory over remaining sin. Engaging in activities such as prayer and Scripture reading provides us with fuel in the sanctification process. 

But even as we engage in those activities, the Holy Spirit is active, aiding and helping us get the most out of those disciplines.

Romans 8:26-27 (NASB) shows us how the Holy Spirit helps us as we pray: “Now in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

John 14:26 (NIV) tells us that the Holy Spirit will help us to remember the truths that we have read in God’s Word: “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”

Because the Holy Spirit is helping us in our fight against sin, we can have tremendous confidence that a “turnaround” is possible. We don't have to remain stuck in the same “losing” patterns of unfruitfulness and sin. 

Today, let’s move forward in confidence, remembering that God Himself is helping us in our daily battles. With His help, we can overcome!

I’m Matt Osborne, and you can UNPACK that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you that You have given me the Holy Spirit to help me overcome the remaining sin in my life. Please help me to be disciplined in pursuing growth, and help me to walk by the Spirit in all that I do. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.