Skip to content

Ad Disclosure

College Football

Curt Cignetti: 5 things to know about Indiana’s new head coach

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

Curt Cignetti’s move to the B1G is official with Indiana announcing the new head coach in a Thursday press release! Cignetti makes the move after 13 years as a head coach, but the job in Bloomington will be the first Power 5 head coaching stop.

The new head coach does have a strong background, and his time as an assistant coach dates all the way back to Nick Saban’s original coaching staff at Alabama. Cignetti also spent time in the ACC and developed one of the best QBs in conference history.

As Cignetti prepares to take the reins in Bloomington, here are 5 things to know about the new head coach of the Hoosiers:

The Nick Saban connection

Cignetti comes to IU as an official part of Saban’s illustrious coaching tree. He joined Saban as a part of the head coach’s inaugural staff in Tuscaloosa, and Cignetti spent 2007-10 on the Crimson Tide coaching staff.

His official role at Alabama was wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator, helping to lay the foundation for what would become the Tide dynasty under Saban. Cignetti produced a pair of 1,000-yard receivers at Alabama, helped develop Julio Jones in Tuscaloosa and was a part of the 2009 Alabama team that went 14-0 and won the BCS Championship.

Historic transition from FCS

From 2019-21, Cignetti led James Madison to a 33-5 overall record and three trips to the FCS postseason. Then, the Dukes made the jump to the FBS as a member of the Sun Belt Conference, but the transition did not deter the results.

JMU went 8-3 in its first season but was ineligible for bowl season due to the probationary period of the transition. The Dukes improved on that mark and went 11-1 in 2023 and will get a bowl game after a shortage of bowl-eligible teams to fill the necessary slots.

According to James Madison, that is the best record in history for a team transitioning to the FBS. Cignetti was even awarded the Sun Belt Coach of the Year for his 2023 performance.

National championship competitor in the FCS

Cignetti has experience playing for national championships as an assistant at Alabama, but he also led the Dukes into the FCS national championship in 2019. The Dukes would fall to FCS powerhouse North Dakota State 28-20 in the national final, but the experience is still worth revisiting.

That James Madison squad went 14-2 overall and held its own while facing West Virginia in Morgantown. The Dukes would lose that game 20-13 in the season opener but had the score knotted at 10-apiece entering the fourth quarter. Following the 2019 season, JMU QB Ben DiNucci was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the 7th round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

While the Dukes never made it back to the national championship game, JMU advanced to the FCS semifinals in 2020 and 2021.

Developed record-breaking QB in the ACC

Prior to joining Nick Saban’s staff, Cignetti served as the QB coach for Chuck Amato’s NC State staff from 2000-06. During his time with the Wolfpack, he would help develop 4-year starter Philip Rivers into a record-breaking QB.

Under Cignetti’s guidance, Rivers smashed multiple program and ACC records with 13,484 passing yards and 95 career touchdowns. Rivers still holds the ACC records for completions and passing yards while his passing touchdowns rank No. 3 overall in conference history.

No losing seasons

In what is a wild stat at face value, Cignetti has spent 13 years as a head coach, but he has not produced a losing season to his credit. The closest Cignetti has come is a pair of 6-5 seasons: one during the 2014 season at D-II IUP and again in 2018 while at FCS Elon.

Overall, Cignetti has 5 seasons with double-digit wins, including the 11-1 performance in 2023. As a result, his career record of 119-35 across 3 different levels is impressive, to say the least.

Indiana fans should understandably temper expectations for Cignetti as he inherits a program that went 9-27 across Tom Allen’s final 3 seasons. However, he looks like a proven program builder and should prove to be a solid hire in Bloomington.

Paul Harvey

Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.