Curt Cignetti isn’t going anywhere.
Amid rumors the Indiana head football coach could be a replacement for the fired James Franklin at Penn State, Cignetti and the Hoosiers agreed to an eight-year contract extension that will pay him an average annual value of $11.6 million.
He said he plans on retiring as a Hoosier following this deal:
The deal runs through the 2033 campaign and makes him the third-highest-paid coach in the country.
According to USA Today, only Georgia’s Kirby Smart ($13.3 million) and Ohio State’s Ryan Day ($12.6 million) will be paid higher than Cignetti following this extension.
“At Indiana University, we are committed to performing at the highest levels in everything we do, and no one has exemplified that more than Coach Cignetti,” Indiana president Pamela Whitten said. “Put simply, Cig is a winner. From last year’s College Football Playoff appearance to this year’s top-3 national ranking, the IU football program’s success has been tremendous.
“Curt and Manette Cignetti are home in Indiana and we are delighted that the Cignetti family will be Hoosiers for many years to come.”
Indiana’s immediate turnaround under Cignetti has been nothing short of amazing.
While the Hoosiers are known for their basketball tradition, the football program has historically been among the worst power-conference teams in the country. Prior to hiring the head coach before the 2024 season, it had never reached double-digit wins in a single season.
The last time it even won nine games was in 1967.
Indiana went 3-9 under Tom Allen in 2023 and went a stunning 11-2 in Cignetti’s first season in 2024.
Those two losses came at Ohio State in the regular season and at Notre Dame in the CFP. The Buckeyes and Fighting Irish just so happened to be the two teams that faced each other in the national championship game, so there was no shame in losing those contests.
All the Hoosiers have done in Cignetti’s second season is prove his first one wasn’t a fluke.
They are No. 3 in the country behind a 6-0 start that includes a 63-10 blowout of Illinois and road wins over Iowa and Oregon. The road win over the Ducks was arguably the best one any team has at this point of the season and has the Hoosiers well positioned to reach the Big Ten championship game.
They are also in an ideal position to reach the CFP once again and could challenge for a national title.
Given Cignetti’s immediate success, it comes as no surprise Indiana was quick to sign him to an extension and cut off any Penn State rumors before they became more of a storyline.
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