Cignetti Transforms Indiana Into Contender in Year One

Photo by Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

Curt Cignetti promised immediate success when he was hired as Indiana's head coach, but no one could have predicted just how successful he would be. Cignetti and the No. 8 Indiana Hoosiers finished the season 11-1 and earned a spot in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff. To help put Cignetti's success in context, in the three seasons before Cignetti took over, Indiana won 9 games, combined. Cignetti became the only coach in Hoosier history to have double-digit wins. His quick success earned him the Associated Press Coach of the Year and Big Ten Conference Coach of the Year awards.

Indiana (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten Conference) will face No.5 Notre Dame (11-1) at 8 p.m. at South Bend, Ind. at Notre Dame Stadium in the first round of the playoff.

Indiana Before Cignetti

Indiana has not been a good football team historically. In fact, the Hoosiers lead the Football Bowl Subdivision in losses. The Hoosiers have only been bowl-eligible five times since the turn of the century and lost all five games. Before Cignetti's arrival, Indiana's greatest football accomplishments were two top-5 finishes in the AP poll—one in 1945 and the other in 1967. After the 1967 season, they were awarded with an appearance in the 1968 Rose Bowl where they lost to USC 14-3.

Cignetti's History

Cignetti comes from a football family. His father Frank Cignetti Sr. was the head coach at West Virginia and Indiana University of Pennsylvania where he accumulated a record of 199-77-1. Frank Sr. was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013. Cignetti's brother Frank Jr. also coaches and was most recently the offensive coordinator for the Pitt Panthers.

Cignetti began his coaching career as a grad assistant at Pitt in 1983. He also coached at Davidson, Rice and Temple.

In 2000 Cignetti was hired by Chuck Amato, at North Carolina State. During his time there, the Wolfpack was successful, winning a school record 11 games in 2002. Cignetti was the quarterbacks coach to Phillip Rivers who won ACC Player of the Year in 2003. Cignetti was instrumental in the recruitment of Russel Wilson before leaving NC State in 2007.

Cignetti joined Nick Saban at Alabama in 2007 as the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. Cignetti coached the likes of Julio Jones and was part of a national championship team during his time at Alabama. Cignetti said his time with Saban was a "doctorate-level course" in program building.

Cignetti left Alabama following the 2010 season to become the head coach at his father's alma mater, Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In his six seasons at IUP, Cignetti compiled a record of 53-17 including three NCAA Playoff appearances and two conference championships.

Cignetti was hired as the head coach of Elon in 2017 and immediately turned that program around. He took a team that won 4 games the previous year to back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time in school history.

James Madison made Cignetti their head coach in December 2018. Cignetti led the Dukes to the FCS National Championship game in his first year where they unfortunately fell to North Dakota State. In 2022 he led the Dukes to an 8-3 record after transitioning to the FBS and joining the Sun Belt Conference. His success at JMU caught the eye of Indiana who hired him on Nov. 30, 2023.

Cignetti at Indiana

Cignetti inherited an Indiana team that won 3 games in 2023 and was picked by the media to finish 17th out of 18 teams in the Big Ten this season. Cignetti came in hot promising immediate improvement, and he delivered. Indiana won a school record 11 games, earned a playoff berth and was named AP Coach of the Year.

The Hoosiers have the highest points per game average among the playoff field at 43.3 while boasting the No. 6 scoring defense (14.67 points a game) and the No. 1 rushing defense ( 70.8 yards a game) in the country. Indiana's success is no fluke and all the credit goes to Cignetti. As Cignetti said himself in his introductory press conference, he wins.

This "Cinderella story" could come to an end when Indiana faces Notre Dame or the Hoosiers could keep making history with a victory. While the Fighting Irish are 7.5-point favorites, it would be unwise to count out Cignetti and Indiana. Regardless of the outcome, Cignetti has done a remarkable job in his first season at Indiana and has proven himself to be one of the great football minds in the game.