The great Curt Cignetti beer investigation: How college football's breakout coach toasts a win

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- The pursuit starts with a roadblock. 

After Indiana coach Curt Cignetti's viral post-Peach Bowl moment of, "I'm really not thinking about the next game, I'm thinking about cracking open a beer," it demanded further investigation. 

Fortunately, CBS Sports was willing and able to do the hard investigative work to answer a critical question: What kind of beer does Curt Cignetti drink? 

And at the College Football Playoff media day on Saturday, we were intent on figuring out the answer. 

The quest began in an unlikely place -- Miami running backs coach Matt Merritt. He spent two seasons on Cignetti's Elon staff and another year with him at James Madison. Merritt still keeps in touch with members of the Indiana staff, including offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan. 

No luck. 

"Couldn't tell you," Merritt told CBS Sports. "Does he relax? Sure, he's a human being. I don't know what kind of beer he drinks."

If the old running backs coach doesn't know the answer, perhaps the current one does. John Miller has been with Cignetti for six seasons, going back to his days as a graduate assistant for him at James Madison. He's on the offensive staff, too, so he's around Cignetti plenty. 

Miller confirmed Cignetti did have a beer after the Peach Bowl, but couldn't remember the specifics. 

"I don't know what his favorite type of beer is," Miller told CBS Sports, "but he'll celebrate for a little bit and then it's on to the next opponent." 

The investigation feels like it's hit a standstill. For a man who gets the same Chipotle order each day -- rice, beans and chicken with a side of guacamole, according to The Wall Street Journal -- there should be an obvious answer here. Cignetti is rigidly committed to a routine; this isn't the kind of guy who is ordering whatever local IPA is on tap. The fastidious Cignetti is the type to say "No thanks" when he orders a Coke but gets asked if Pepsi is OK instead. 

Yet, we're 0-for-2 with people who know him well. 

And then a breakthrough with Chandler Whitmer.

Whitmer, Indiana's quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator, has only been with Cignetti for this season and admits there's only been one focus during their time together. 

"He's all ball pretty much all the time," Whitmer told CBS Sports. "There's been very few moments where we've been outside the building."

Still, Whitmer thinks he knows the answer. 

"Probably a cold one," he said. "That's really all it is. He's had a Hoosier brand beer. Just a cold one and then we're moving on to the next one. It's almost him closing the chapter to that game."

Finally, a lead. 

Upland Brewing, a Bloomington-based brewery, produces a Hoosier Gameday Lager, billed as "the first ever Indiana University athletics branded beer." Its yeast is of bohemian lager ilk. Its hops are cluster and saaz. We really don't know what any of those things mean, per se, but the low ABV of 4.7% is in line with the image we have in our heads of a coach enjoying himself, ever so slightly, but not getting grounded for the next morning's film study. This feels right. 

We reached out to James Ferguson, Cignetti's director of football operations (DFO) at James Madison. Ferguson was with Cig at IUP, Elon and then JMU. He was Cignetti's right-hand man and had plenty of experiences with Cignetti away from the building, from playing golf to dinners to, yes, drinking beers. His career forever changed, in part, because of beer. He hadn't initially followed Cignetti to Elon when he bumped into his former boss and his wife, Manette, at a bar around IUP's campus. 

"I bought him and his wife a beer," Ferguson told CBS Sports. "Someone had told me down the road when his DFO left that was a moment in time he realized I was loyal to him, and he awarded that loyalty by offering me the job." 

Ferguson joined Cignetti that spring as his DFO at Elon before following him to JMU. If anyone should know this answer, it'd be Ferguson. He had to know all his boss' preferences. "Used to be Mich Ultra," he texted. "Can't imagine he changed."

Cignetti, a confirmed light beer man? Miller, the Indiana running backs coach, doesn't know the definitive answer, but Michelob Ultra rings true to him. 

"He might be," he said. "I can see that. He likes what he likes."

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There's one final assistant to talk to. Indiana special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Grant Cain has been with Cignetti for seven seasons, dating back to the James Madison days. Most of their time together has been doing Cignetti's favorite thing, which is watching and breaking down film. 

"Coach's perfect day is just watching tape," Cain told CBS Sports. "Get him in a dark room and watch some film."

He has witnessed Cignetti drink a beer, and believes he knows what he likes. 

"I think if he had his choice," Cain said, "it'd be a double IPA of sorts."

If you're not a beer person, a double IPA is about as different as possible than a Michelob Ultra. A Mich Ultra has 95 calories and is 4.2% alcohol. A double IPA is more like 300 calories and an 8 percent alcohol rate. They pack a punch if you're not careful. 

With conflicting information, there's only one person left to ask. 

"It was Hoosier beer," Cignetti said about his post-Peach Bowl beverage. "You ever hear of Hoosier beer?"

Whitmer nailed it. 

"Just one," Cignetti said. "At my age when you drink two, you fall asleep."

On Monday night if Indiana can finish its dream season undefeated and as college football's new national champion, Cignetti will be excited for the players, for the coaches, for the university administrators and everyone else who has sacrificed to get to this moment. 

And yes, the 64-year-old will be excited to celebrate with a cold beer.