Curt Cignetti led the Indiana Hoosiers to the No. 1 ranking in the College Football Playoff, going unbeaten in the regular season and beating defending champions Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship game.
On Thursday, the Hoosiers will face the Alabama Crimson Tide in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal. But before that, let’s take a look at his coaching history.
Where Did Curt Cignetti Coach Before Indiana?
Curt Cignetti has worked with various teams since 1983 in various capacities before becoming Indiana’s coach last season.
He started his career as a graduate assistant for Pittsburgh (1983-84). The following year, he went to Davidson as quarterbacks and wide receivers coach. From 1986 to 2006, he worked as the quarterbacks coach at Rice (1986-88), Temple (1989-92), Pittsburgh (1993-99), and NC State (2000-06).
Cignetti became a member of Nick Saban’s inaugural coaching staff at Alabama in 2007. There, he served as wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator. He won the national championship with them in 2009. Several well-known players learned under him, including wide receiver Julio Jones, Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram II, and linebacker Dont’a Hightower.
After five years in Alabama, Cignetti received his first shot as head coach at IUP in 2011. He took over a program that had posted a 4-10 conference record over the past two seasons. The program made a quick rebound, posting a 7-3 record in his first year. In his second season, it won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) title and advanced to the NCAA Regional Finals, ending with a 12–2 record. He led the program to back-to-back NCAA playoff appearances in 2015 and 2016. Overall, in his six years at IUP, he finished with a 53-17 record.
In 2007, he took the job at another struggling program in Elon, which had posted a 4–20 conference record over the previous six seasons. Once again, he steadied the ship, leading a struggling program to an 8-4 season before losing in the first round of the playoff. Thanks to the incredible turnaround, Curt Cignetti was honored with the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Coach of the Year award. He was also the finalist for the Eddie Robinson National Coach of the Year award. In his second season, he posted a winning record (6-5) and led the team to the playoff for the second straight season.
In December 2018, he became the new head coach of the James Madison Dukes. In his very first season, he led the team to a 14-2 record, including an appearance in the FCS National Championship game, where they fell short to North Dakota State. Cignetti led the Dukes to a 7-1 season in the pandemic-affected 2020 season. After posting a 12-2 record in 2021, the Dukes moved to the Sun Belt Conference, marking Cignetti’s entry at the FBS level. In the first year, he led the team to an 8-3 record.
In November 2023, he arrived in Indiana to replace Tom Allen as the head coach. He led the Hoosiers to an 11-2 overall record before losing in the first round of the expanded College Football Playoff. In just his second season, he has led the program to an unbeaten season with hopes of winning the championship as the top seed.
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