Curt Cignetti probably doesn’t have time to catch the guy who brought him in on the ground floor of college football’s greatest modern dynasty 19 years ago.But at this point, it would be foolish to rule anything out for Cignetti, Indiana’s third-year coach, reigning national champ and most interesting person in the sport in 2026. He’s 65. He needs six titles to match record holder Nick Saban, who won six of those at Alabama — the first with Cignetti on his staff, as he was from 2007-10. Cignetti may not sniff another one and might not even coach enough years to make the record possible.Also, he might coach into his 100s, grabbing a title every third year to get into double digits, while concurrently serving two terms as the American president, solving college athletics’ issues to the satisfaction of all involved, bringing both parties together in harmony and turning the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner into a roast of SEC football.He might be Santa Claus. He might be the actual identity of world-traveling German soccer fan Freddy, which would be impressive considering the five-star recruits he had time to haul in this summer. He might turn out to be an AI coach sent from the future. Those long, squinty stares from the sideline? Reading opponents’ minds. Eat your heart out, Connor Stalions.Is Indiana and Curt Cignetti the best story in college sports?Scott DochtermanThere is no reason entering the 2026 season to dismiss any Cignetti mythology the imagination can manufacture. Because what he’s already done can’t be real.Indiana, known two years ago as the sport’s biggest loser, now having claim to perhaps the most legitimate championship ever? Doing so largely on the strength of a transplant of coaches and key players from James Madison to IU? Encountering arguable disrespect at this moment with its preseason No. 6 ranking? The wonder of this story remains difficult to overstate.So now we find out in 2026 if Cignetti keeps it rolling with TCU transfer Josh Hoover at quarterback, having spent a year with Fernando Mendoza and helping him earn a championship ring, Heisman Trophy and call from the Las Vegas Raiders at the top of the NFL Draft.The preseason pollsters like Big Ten foes Ohio State and Oregon better. The growing legion of haters like the idea of a humbled Cignetti. The wise mind stays open to anything.As for the other 24 most interesting people in college football, listed below in alphabetical order, we’re sticking to coaches and players this year. Commissioners, politicians, administrators, agents, judges and lawyers have occupied enough oxygen already. We don’t need any media types, either. Though I’d be willing to reconsider if a bold soul at ESPN would stand up and admit that Pat McAfee’s album made them question the value of music in society.Bill Belichick, head coach, North CarolinaLook, catastrophes are interesting, whether you want to admit it or not. Most observers of the sport are fast-forwarding to when — bypassing “if” — it ends badly for Belichick in Chapel Hill. He’s on this list for the second straight year, and a lot of people would bet he won’t be on it next year because he won’t be coaching North Carolina anymore. But here’s a thought: What if human albatross Michael Lombardi’s absence lightens the mood in the building? What if Jordon Hudson stops trying to read every UNC staffer’s every email? What if Belichick can coach this team up and reach a bowl game, which at this point would have to be seen as a win? The thing about dysfunction and disappointment this dramatic is that the bar for acceptable achievement plummets.Faizon Brandon, quarterback, TennesseeThe true freshman is in a battle with redshirt freshman George MacIntyre for the starting job, and though Brandon may have a higher ceiling, it is a true competition. If Brandon — the No. 10 prospect in the Class of 2026 in the 247Sports Composite — wins it as widely assumed, he will be Josh Heupel’s first freshman quarterback in Knoxville, in a critical sixth season for the coach. If the Vols again miss the College Football Playoff but appear to have a brighter future ahead as Brandon matures, that will keep the heat off Heupel. And if MacIntyre pulls the surprise and keeps the job, Brandon instantly becomes a discussion point in many other programs around the country, as a potential 2027 portal prize. Either way, it’s interesting.CJ Carr, quarterback, Notre DameThe grandson of former Michigan coach Lloyd Carr showed a ton of promise last season. He’s a preseason Heisman Trophy favorite for a loaded Notre Dame team that has a good chance of finishing the regular season 12-0. He’s an early mock-draft darling. If you’re still not convinced, he went No. 1 in The Athletic’s Heisman snake draft. It is fair to wonder how much it meant to have Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price in the backfield with him a year ago, and how much he’ll miss that pair of first-rounders this season. But he might be ND’s best quarterback since … Brady Quinn 20 years ago?Trinidad Chambliss, quarterback, Ole MissThe college football world already is gearing up in anticipation of Sept. 19, when Lane Kiffin brings LSU to Ole Miss for a primetime showdown against his former team and quarterback. But Chambliss is going to have to be sharp for the No. 9 Rebels right away, because No. 24 Louisville and its new quarterback — athletic Ohio State transfer Lincoln Kienholz — await for a Week 1 game in Nashville. One of the few names on this list that was on no one’s radar a year ago, Chambliss showed in last year’s Playoff that when he’s at his best, he’s as good as anyone.Ryan Coleman-Williams, receiver, AlabamaA year ago, we were wondering if Coleman-Williams — then known as Ryan Williams — or Jeremiah Smith deserved to be called the No. 1 receiver in college football. That was before a disappointing sophomore season in which Coleman-Williams dropped a nation-high 14 passes and finished with a single 100-yard game despite playing with a first-round quarterback. He got to work in the offseason. He added the “Coleman” to honor his mother’s family. He changed to jersey No. 1. He is said to look tremendous in camp. And that should be no big surprise, because 2024 wasn’t a mirage.Jared Curtis, quarterback, VanderbiltNo, this is not going to be a rehash of our Quarterback Tiers — there are players at other positions who are very interesting as well. But the five-star true freshman makes it four out of five, in part because he went back on his commitment to blue-blood Georgia to stay home and play for Clark Lea and the Commodores. That just doesn’t happen. Or didn’t happen. It’s a new world, Diego Pavia chipped in on the recruitment and Curtis is fighting to start right away. Can he handle SEC defenses as a frosh? There’s one in Athens, Ga., that would like to see him on Oct. 3.