Indiana is having a historic season, sitting at 10-0 and No. 5 overall in the College Football Playoff rankings heading into a Week 13 matchup with Ohio State.
The secret to the Hoosiers' success is head coach Curt Cignetti, 63, who was hired by Indiana in December 2023.
Cignetti and the No. 5 Hoosiers have a huge test in front of them Saturday, however, as Indiana travels to Ohio State to take on the No. 2 Buckeyes. A win would mark Indiana's first over OSU since 1988 and would give the Hoosiers a likely berth in the Big Ten title game.
Although Cignetti is thriving during his first head coaching job at the power conference level, he had a unique journey to get to where he is now. Prior to arriving at Indiana, the head coach spent decades as an assistant coach, including with Nick Saban at Alabama — and then took a pay cut and a demotion to become a head coach.
You may not know much about Cignetti's past, but let's go through how the longtime collegiate assistant went from being a Division II coach to bringing Indiana to the mountaintop.
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Where did Curt Cignetti coach before Indiana?
Cignetti has been in coaching since 1983, when he started his carer as an assistant at the University of Pittsburgh in 1983. He spent the '80s and '90s bouncing around various collegiate stops as an assistant, including Davidson, Rice, Temple, back to Pitt and NC State from 2000-06.
From 2007-10, he was on former Alabama head coach Nick Saban's staff in Tuscaloosa. He served as a wide receivers coach and run game coordinator under Saban.
In 2011, Cignetti took a head coaching job at Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he spent five seasons. He then spent 2017-18 as Elon University's head football coach before going to James Madison University in Virginia, where he coached the Dukes from 2019-2023. His 2024 season is his first at Indiana.
MORE: Where Curt Cignetti lands among highest-paid coaches
Curt Cignetti coaching timeline
Prior to joining Alabama's staff, he spent various stops at schools as an assistant. Here's a snapshot of his various stops before he linked up with Nick Saban:
- Pitt: 1983-84, graduate assistant
- Davidson: 1985, quarterbacks/wide receivers coach
- Rice: 1986-1988, quarterbacks coach
- Temple: 1989-1992, quarterbacks coach
- Pitt: 1993-99, quarterbacks/tight ends coach
- NC State: 2000-2006, recruiting coordinator/quarterbacks/tight ends coach
Alabama, 2007-2010
Cignetti was part of Nick Saban's first staff at Alabama during the 2007 season. He was the Tide's wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. Despite going 7-6 in 2007, in 2008 the Tide went 12-0 in the regular season, falling to Florida in the SEC Championship Game. In 2009 the Tide finished a perfect 14-0, and beat Texas in the BCS National title game.
During Cignetti's fourth and final season at Alabama, the Tide finished 10-3 with losses to South Carolina, LSU and Auburn.
During his time at Alabama, Cignetti coached the likes of Julio Jones, who played alongside quarterback Greg McIlroy and running back Mark Ingram.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 2011-2016
Cignetti's first head coaching job came at the Division II level. The Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Indiana, Penn. sits about 45 minutes northeast of Pittsburgh. There is also a massive family connection for the Cignetti at IUP—Cignetti's father, Frank, both played football and basketball there. He later was the Crimson Hawk's head football coach. From 1986-2005, Curt's father went 182-50-1, and is a legend at the program. He was inducted into the 2013 College Football Hall of Fame.
Prior to Curt Cignetti's arrival, the Crimson Hawks went a combined 4-10 in conference play over the previous two seasons. Over his six seasons at IUP, Cignetti went a combined 53-17.
- 2011: 7-3
- 2012: 12-2, PSAC conference champions, playoff berth
- 2013: 9-2
- 2014: 6-5
- 2015: 9-3, playoff berth
- 2016: 10-2, playoff berth
Elon University, 2017-2018
Cignetti took over an Elon program that was in rough shape. Prior to his arrival, the Phoenix went a combined 12-45 over five seasons. When Cignetti arrived, the turnaround was quick.
- 2017: 8-4, Lost to Furman in FCS playoffs
- 2018: 6-5, Lost to Wofford in FCS playoffs
Under Cignetti, Elon made it to the playoffs for just the second and third time in program history. During that 2018 season, Elon knocked off then-No. 2 James Madison in a Coastal Athletic Conference game. The win marked Elon's first-ever win over an FCS Top-Five team. What's interesting about that game is that less than a year later, James Madison hired Cignetti to lead the Dukes' football program. It was almost as if the win was an audition for his very next gig.
James Madison, 2019-2023
Yep, you guessed it — Cignetti started winning virtually as soon as he arrived at JMU. His time with the Dukes was arguably his most successful yet, including multiple conference championships and FCS playoff appearances. He also oversaw the Dukes' transition to the FBS from 2022-23.
- 2019: 14-2, CAA Champions, Lost to North Dakota State in FCS national championship
- 2020: 7-1, Lost to Sam Houston State in FCS Semifinals
- 2021: CAA Champion alongside Villanova, Lost to North Dakota State in FCS Semifinals
- 2022: 8-3, Ineligible for a bowl game due to NCAA transition rules
- 2023: 11-2, Loss to Air Force in Armed Forces Bowl
Curt Cignetti coaching record
| Years | School | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 2011-16 | Indiana University of Pennsylvania | 53-17 |
| 2017-18 | Elon University | 14-9 |
| 2019-23 | James Madison University | 52-9 |
As you can see, Cignetti knows how to win. His overall record, including Indiana's current 10-0 start, stands at 129-35. Per Indiana, Cignetti's teams have reached the postseason nine times and finished ranked in the Top 25 another nine times.
Why did Curt Cignetti leave Alabama?
Cignetti has spoken in the past about his decision to leave Alabama and Saban's staff, a dream job for any coach in college football. But having been an assistant for the last 20-plus years, Cignetti decided he didn't want to be an assistant head coach. forever. He wanted to be a head coach, and had to likely move down divisions to make that happen.
With a wife and two kids like Cignetti had at the time, that's not exactly an easy decision. Here's more from a recent ESPN profile on Cignetti:
"We had two kids that were in college, and it was a 60% [pay cut]," Manette Cignetti said. "It's not about the money with me, but it's: How do I make what [the kids] want to do happen?"
She told Curt: "You can't take that job.'"
Saban had a similar reaction. You can get lost down there, he warned. But Cignetti had absorbed enough from the great coaches -- Saban, Johnny Majors at Pitt, Frank Sr. -- to know he was ready to be one. The pull eventually brought him back to IUP.
"You don't see that move in this business," he said. "I took a chance on me, and I woke up many mornings wondering what I'd done. But I was going to make it work."
Cignetti's plan worked. His success at IUP led to his jobs at Elon, James Madison, and now Indiana. Talk about betting on yourself.
Curt Cignetti JMU salary compared to Indiana
During his last two seasons at James Madison when he finished 19-4, Cignetti was making just over $620,000 annually. Via USA Today he made $677,311in 2023 and $621,008 in 2022.
In 2020, Cignetti's salary was $437,750, and that number increased to $459,638 in 2021. His first salary with the Dukes in 2019 was reportedly $425,000 per year.
A week before Indiana's colossal matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes, Indiana announced that the school had signed Cignetti to a new contract. Here are some details:
- His new salary will pay him $8 million per year and includes a one-year retention bonus, up from his previous $4.5 million deal.
- The new contract also goes through the year 2029. His previous one only extended through 2032.
- According to the Indianapolis Star, the contract additionally includes support from the school for program infrastructure, like staffing and salary pools for assistants.
- The paper adds that the total guaranteed compensation is around $72 million, which makes him the highest-paid Indiana employee in history.
As you can see Cignetti has had quite the journey before arriving at Indiana. Hoosier fans are hopeful that Cignetti will be in Bloomington for quite a while.
