BLOOMINGTON — Curt Cignetti has agreed to a new contract to remain Indiana football’s coach amidst speculation that Penn State could target him for its head coaching job, a source confirmed with The Herald-Times.
The university put out a statement with details of Cignetti’s deal that raises his average annual compensation to $11.6 million that makes him the one of the top five paid coaches in the Big Ten and adds on another year to the extension he signed last year through 2033.
He previously agreed to a new contract with the school during the team’s historic 10-0 start last season that nearly doubled his salary to $8 million a year and gave him an annual retention bonus of $1 million.
Indiana football put out a video statement from Cignetti, who was fresh off putting pen to paper, explaining why he plans to retire as a Hoosier.
“The way that this state has embraced us and our success in football has meant more to me than anything else,” Cignetti said. “ I just wanted to get on camera and let you know that Curt Cignetti is gonna work daily to make Indiana the best it can be.”
The No. 3 Hoosiers (6-0; 3-0) have enjoyed unprecedented success under Cignetti, who led the program to its first ever College Football Playoff berth in his first season with the team.
Cignetti, who has never had a losing season as a head coach, has a 17-1 record in Bloomington. It’s already the most-ever victories in any two-year span in program history and the Hoosiers still have six regular season games left to play.
This is also the first time IU has opened back-to-back seasons at 6-0.
Indiana is coming off a 30-20 win over Oregon at Autzen Stadium that was only the program’s second win (No. 3 Purdue, 1967) in 73 tries over a top-5 opponent. They reached their highest ranking ever in both the coaches and AP Poll in the most recent set of rankings.
The Hoosiers have been ranked for a team-record 20 consecutive weeks in the national polls dating back to last season.
“We are committed to investing in IU Football in such a way that we can compete at a championship level, and the No. 1 priority in doing that is ensuring that Coach Cignetti is the leader of our program,” IU athletic director Scott Dolson said in a statement. “His accomplishments during the last season and a half have been nothing short of remarkable. As much as anyone, he believed in what was possible with our program, and he’s turned that belief into reality.”
Dolson talked about the transformation Indiana has gone through with Cignetti at the helm while watching the final seconds tick off the clock in Eugene. Cignetti has executed the vision he laid out for Dolson during their initial phone conversation on the day the job opened up.
“Cig is a little bit of a unicorn, he’s special obviously,” Dolson said. “Everything he said in his interview he has done, everything.”
Cignetti’s new deal allows him and the team to put speculation about his future to rest.
“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 University president Pamela Whitten said. “ “Put simply, Cig is a winner.”
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Curt Cignetti, Indiana football agree to new contract to keep coach in Bloomington
Reporting by Michael Niziolek, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
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