In the Indiana School Fight Song, Indiana, Our Indiana, the words “Never Daunted” show up. After Monday night, the Indiana Hoosiers Football Team finally caught up with its fans. Fans that I know by name. Fans I know by geography. Give me an Indiana map, the one that is shaped just like that wonderful outline with a big “I” on it hanging in Assembly Hall. The one that used to be at center court of that hallowed hall. I will show you places on that map where Indiana fans, Never Daunted, are located. Fans that have been Never Daunted for decades.
Did you see the crowd at The Big Ten Championship Game? I did. Count me as being there. Beating Ohio State used to be the end all be all. This time, more work was to be done.
Did you see the crowd at The Rose Bowl? I did. Count me as being there too. My senses were on such overload that day, all I could think was, and I told our son, Jarrett, “I don’t want this to end.” The most emotion I felt all day was when Indiana’s Marching Hundred played Indiana, Our Indiana. Those words “Never Daunted” were sung loudly and proudly. For me, the best moment of that song was when the last note of the song ended and the Indiana faithful sounded like thunder through the Canyon at Arroyo Seco when the faithful yelled, at the end of the song, “IU!” Those two syllables rolled like thunder. That hit me hard, in a good way. In earnest, I was shocked that I did not shed a single tear all day. Sensory overload was both bane and glory.
Never Daunted. That explains the Indiana fans. Look, Indiana fans have always been there. Some, like me, got mad when a coach was fired and we had to take a little time. Some have been so exhausted by the endless losing that they had to take a break from climbing the ramps and the stairs of Memorial Stadium. For years it felt more like a death march than a celebration. Never Daunted, so many marched on. And on and on. I never stopped rooting Indiana on, except for one game a long time ago; we won’t talk about that. The son of a football coach, I take coaches more seriously than I probably should.
The photo above was taken before Coach Curt Cignetti’s Indiana University Head coaching debut, as The Marching Hundred played Indiana, Our Indiana. The Florida International Panthers were defeated by the Indiana Hoosiers 31-7. We were all relieved and a bit surprised with such a positive outcome. The Never Daunted crowd at Memorial Stadium that day walked away with a little more pep in their step. That pep has not been lost on them. Under Coach Cig, the Hoosiers are 15-0 at home. In their Crimson jerseys, the Hoosiers are 18-0, having played their three CFP games as the designated home team. We all know what happened. The Hoosiers are the 2025 National Champions and I will never tire of saying that. Coach Cig used my word for it all when he said “surreal”. Exactly.
As much I enjoy listening to The Indiana University Marching Hundred play Indiana, Our Indiana, the song the band plays a little later in pregame is my favorite. The song has been my wish for each and every Indiana University Football Team that took the field. INDIANA FIGHT is the name of that song. The message is as realistic as the name of the song suggests. After climbing these ramps, after climbing these stairs, after paying more money for one ticket than a season ticket cost when Anthony Thompson was hauling the mail, after watching so much despair, INDIANA FIGHT! Even on the gloomiest of nights, INDIANA FIGHT!
So don’t wonder why more people than can fit in Memorial Stadium showed up in Pasadena and Atlanta. Don’t wonder why there were more Hoosier fans in Hard Rock Stadium than that of the real home team playing that game. These folks are Never Daunted. Watching the Hoosiers play football has not always been easy. That’s why INDIANA FIGHT resonates the way it does. It’s a punchy tune by nature and has helped so many fans stay strong. And this year, finally, a 16-0 Indiana University Football Team has lived up to so many fans, through thick and thin, who are Never Daunted.
Look for “The Rock” to be packed, rocking and rolling when toe meets leather on September 5th, 2026, when The Mean Green from North Texas visit Memorial Stadium in week one of the season. I for one, will hear Indiana, Our Indiana and INDIANA FIGHT collide like we have never heard them before. That may be the moment I shed a tear.