Cignetti Tells IU Students "There's Nothing That Could've Taken Me From Indiana" During Special Event

Written By: Nick Gonzales (@nrgonzales_)

It may still be the offseason, but that doesn’t deter Coach Cignetti from electrifying fans and students who are eagerly waiting to see how year two will fare for the award-winning coach. On Tuesday, Coach Cignetti was involved in an event held only for Indiana University Students called A Conversation with Coach Cignetti. The event was held at the IU Auditorium and was the first time an IU Athletics Coach did anything like this since the famous Bobby Knight.

The Indiana Hoosiers Football program had one of the best turnarounds in College Football history thanks to Cignetti’s squad of winners. So, he wanted to give back to the students who cheered the team on throughout the season as a thanks for helping make IU Football relevant again. “I’ve never heard a stadium that loud in my life,” said Coach Cignetti as he reflected on Shawn Asbury’s near pick 6 against Nebraska.

For a university with one of the largest living alumni networks in the country, Cignetti takes a lot of pride in his job with Indiana Football. Many people knew how seriously the Hoosiers Head Coach took his job, but they probably didn’t know the full extent of how much time he puts into his work. “I probably had two days off from July 15th to last week,” said Cignetti during the event. Day after day, night after night, Cignetti was putting in the hours to make Indiana Football a winning program. So last week, Cignetti got a much-needed vacation and traveled to the Caribbean. However, even there he wasn’t safe from the fans. During A Conversation with Coach Cignetti, Coach talked about how he was approached by multiple Hoosiers saying “fast, physical, relentless” and “smart, disciplined, poised” throughout his trip. His fame has reached a national level to the point where his relatives have been noticing fans wearing Cignetti t-shirts in restaurants in completely different states.

Cignetti took the Hoosiers to their first ever College Football Playoff appearance in 2024 and the fans could not be happier, but just like Coach Cig, they all want more, and know that they can achieve it. He has built something great here in Bloomington, but with how much success he had in his first year, some were afraid he’d go to another school, but they had nothing to worry about.

“There wasn’t any job in America that could open once we were 10-0 that I would’ve taken,” said the 2024 AP Coach of the Year, “There’s nothing that could’ve taken me from Indiana because I just felt a special bond. I felt like it was something that we had started and created, and it was ours and yours, and you can’t put a value on that.”

On November 16, 2024, Coach Cignetti agreed to terms on a new eight-year contract with the average annual salary of $8 million with an additional annual $1 million retention bonus. He’s made it very clear that he is not leaving Bloomington anytime soon, saying that he is striving to continue coaching into his 70s. He has fused with the culture in Bloomington over the course of the past year.

Near the end of the event, Cignetti was asked about his appearance at the 34th annual IU Dance Marathon and he stated “I think it’s important for me to give back locally here in Bloomington because people gave us so much by coming to the games and supporting us and being loud. It’s my way of showing the appreciation and investing my time in the community to make our community a better place in whatever way I can.”

As his conversation came to a close, Cignetti received a standing ovation from the crowd of students. He then ended the event by reprising his famous “Go IU” chant from the Northwestern road win and the students loved it. Curt Cignetti has made a tremendous impact in such a short timeframe, and like many of you, we simply cannot wait until the season opener against Old Dominion on August 30th. Until then, continue to check out Hoosier Huddle for more IU Football updates.