Undefeated Indiana is the story of college football, and the guys try to explain how Curt Cignetti pulled it off while arguing about Fernando Mendoza’s upside and “aura.” They also break down the Bills moving on from Sean McDermott and the Titans bringing in Robert Saleh, and they have a completely normal conversation about button-down shirts and locker-room drip.

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Hosts: Danny Heifetz, Danny Kelly, and Craig Horlbeck
Producers: Kai Grady, Carlos Chiriboga, and Cameron Dinwiddie

MIAMI — Less than eight hours after winning the College Football Playoff National Championship, Indiana football lost an important piece to its staff.

Derek Owings, the Hoosiers’ director of athletic performance, is leaving the program for the University of Tennessee, according to multiple outlets. CBS Sports first reported the news.

The 32-year-old Owings is viewed as one of the nation’s best strength and conditioning coaches. He received a new contract in May of 2025 that paid over $900,000 and made him one of college football’s highest-paid strength coaches.

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti hired Owings to his staff in 2020 at James Madison University, and he completed his sixth season working under Cignetti in Monday night’s national championship victory.

Owings earned FootballScoop.com’s strength and conditioning coach of the year award in 2025.

Cignetti often credited Owings for the Hoosiers’ on-field success, and Owings earned specific praise for developing receiver Omar Cooper Jr.’s core strength after the redshirt junior’s acrobatic, physics-defying, game-winning catch against Penn State during the regular season.

Indiana’s players often touted Owings’ weight room process throughout the season. Strength and conditioning, Cignetti said in 2024, has become very scientific — and Owings is on the cutting edge. He delivered “great results,” said Cignetti, who added he didn’t mess with Owings.

“I know the players really like what we’re doing down there,” Cignetti said in February of 2024. “He changes their bodies. He’ll cut a lot of body fat, still add lean muscle mass, quicker, stronger, faster, more explosive. I’ve seen the results. You look at the GPS numbers sort of here last year, relative to maybe where we were the year before. He’ll make ’em faster.”

Cignetti called Owings a “winning edge,” long before the Hoosiers proved it on the field.

“I think he’s a big part of what we do,” Cignetti said. “That’s why I do everything I can to keep him on the roster, pay him as well as I can, because he makes a difference. Fast and physical. It starts down in that weight room with the development, the body development, of each and every guy.”

Indiana reached contract extensions with offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan and defensive coordinator Bryant Haines before starting the College Football Playoff, and Cignetti said he hoped to give extensions to the rest of the staff after the season.

Now, the Hoosiers will have to turn their attention elsewhere and find a replacement for Owings, who served Cignetti well for six seasons.

President Trump was cheered by sports fans Monday as he attended the College Football Playoff National Championship in Miami.

Trump waved to the crowd from a suite at Hard Rock Stadium during the singing of the national anthem ahead of the game between the Miami Hurricanes and Indiana Hoosiers.

The president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and at least three of his grandchildren were spotted in the suite with the commander-in-chief.

Kai Trump, the daughter of the president’s eldest son Don Jr. and an incoming University of Miami golfer, wore a cast on her arm and smiled as the camera focused on Trump’s booth.

“Melania and I congratulate the Indiana Hoosiers and the Miami Hurricanes on making it to the College Football Playoff National Championship,” the president said in a statement released by the White House.

“God bless the talented players and dedicated coaches, the families who love and support them, and the faithful fans who cheer them on,” Trump added. “May the best team win!”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Miami native and Hurricanes fan, was seen on the sidelines of Hard Rock Stadium with his Secret Service detail before the pre-game festivities.

At one point, Rubio was reportedly chatting with Heisman-trophy-winning ex-quarterback Tim Tebow.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.