Curt Cignetti Explains Decision To Sign New Contract at Indiana

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – With each win during its historic season, attention shifted toward the Indiana football team and coach Curt Cignetti.

It started locally, with meager crowds at Memorial Stadium turning into sellouts by Indiana’s fifth home game. And it grew nationally, with ESPN’s College GameDay and FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff pregame shows stationed in Bloomington for one of the sport’s best stories.

Other schools certainly took notice, too, especially ones contemplating hiring a new head coach, as Cignetti turned around a program that went 9-27 the last three seasons to one with a 10-0 record and No. 5 ranking in the latest College Football Playoff chase. That meant Indiana would have to reinforce its commitment to keep Cignetti in Bloomington.

Indiana announced Saturday it agreed to a new eight-year contract with Cignetti, including an average annual compensation of $8 million, plus an annual $1 million retention bonus, through the 2032 season. Cignetti appeared on Big Noon Kickoff later that day and mentioned that Indiana’s administration was proactive in approaching him about the new contract. 

“Some people say, well, why would you do that when this one may open, that one may open, and you’re gonna be a hot commodity and blah, blah, blah,” Cignetti said Saturday on Big Noon Kickoff. “And the fact of the matter is we’re the emerging superpower in college football. Why would I leave?’’

On Monday, Cignetti held his weekly press conference ahead of No. 5 Indiana’s game at No. 2 Ohio State Saturday at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. College GameDay and Big Noon Kickoff will feature the Hoosiers again, this time with Cignetti having inked a new contract. He’s appreciative of the university’s significant financial commitment to football and excited about the future. 

But Cignetti has also spoken throughout the year about the importance of blocking outside noise, because success can lead to a team becoming complacent and failing to reach its goals. That’s the focus again this week, and he’s glad contract negotiations are behind him now, so that he can turn all his attention to the Buckeyes. 

“This is where I wanted to be,” Cignetti said Monday. “I played the what-if game with my wife and my agent three weeks ago, four weeks ago, and it all pointed to where I’m at right now.”

Including the annual retention bonus, Cignetti could make $72 million by the end of his new contract at Indiana. Before bonuses, Cignetti was set to make $4 million in his first year at Indiana, meaning the new deal more than doubled his annual income. 

It also means that a bet Cignetti placed on himself several years ago has paid off. Cignetti appeared on the Dan Patrick Show last week and was asked why it took him so long to become a head coach at a “major” level. 

Cignetti said that as he was approaching his 50th birthday while on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama, he didn’t want to be a career-long assistant coach after being passed over a few times for coordinator positions. But in order to become a head coach, he had to take a step down to the Division II level at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. 

“I took a big pay cut, I had two girls in high school who wanted to be doctors. I mean, I bet on myself. It was a huge risk. I woke up many a morning wondering what I did,” Cignetti said. “… I didn’t take that job thinking, okay, this is where I’m wanting to go.”

Cignetti’s success at IUP, a 53-17 record, led to a Division I head coaching opportunity at Elon, where he went 14-9 across two seasons. He would have been fine retiring at James Madison, where we went 52-9 from 2019-23, but he couldn’t turn down a chance to become Indiana’s head coach. 

“Indiana called, and I felt the commitment level from Scott Dolson, the AD, president [Pam] Whitten. They wanted to change this thing, and it was important that football be successful in this day and age, because 90% of athletic revenue across the country comes from football now. And the Big Ten TV contract obviously caught my eye,” Cignetti said. 

“I figured I’d done this turnaround a couple times before, let’s do it on a bigger stage. So why did I – I don’t know why it took so long, but you know, I really wouldn’t change my journey for any other journey. It made me who I was and brought me where I belong.”

When Cignetti was introduced as Indiana’s head coach in December, he spoke of the program having no self-imposed limitations. That helped him put together a talented transfer portal class, retain key players from last year’s Indiana roster and build his coaching staff. All of those factors have ignited a rapid turnaround, as Indiana stands undefeated with a 96.8% chance to make the College Football Playoff. 

With winning comes increased fan excitement and donor support, a boost in the program’s reputation, and stronger recruiting opportunities. Indiana recently landed commitments from Byron Baldwin and Tyrone Burrus Jr., who are now the Hoosiers’ top-ranked recruits in the class of 2025. Cignetti said everything is on the “up and up” in that sense, with signing day and transfer portal recruiting approaching.

Cignetti came to Indiana planning to win. Now that he’s done so, he’s earned a contract that puts him in the top 20 nationally and sees no limitations to Indiana’s ceiling. 

“I think it’s all out there. I think any P4 school with the proper commitment is capable of being successful and being ultimately successful,” Cignetti said. “Because, really, the difference between victory and defeat in most of these games is very slight, slim. It’s all attainable. We’ve put ourselves in a position right now to be talked about quite a bit. That’s nice. It doesn’t help us prepare, doesn’t help us play any better.” 

“But we’ve got some great opportunities ahead of us. This is a team that’s capable, and the only limitations on this football team would be those we put on ourselves, between our ears. But this is a group of guys that do not think that way. We’re going to go into this next game confident, believing, and we’re going to go out there and we’re going to play well.”