What are the Hoosiers Getting in New Head Football Coach Curt Cignetti

Written by T.J. Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

What is Indiana getting in Curt Cignett?

In one word: winner.

Curt Cignetti, most recently the head coach for James Madison University in the Sun Belt Conference, has won at every single place he’s coached. He went 53-17 at Indiana University Pennsylvania in Division II. He arrived at Elon in 2017, a program that had gone 12-45 in the previous five seasons, and immediately churned out an 8-4 season with wins over four ranked FCS teams. They went 6-5 in 2018 and Cignetti led them to the FCS Playoffs in both seasons. He moved to James Madison in 2019 and improved the Dukes from 8-4 to 14-2 with a trip to the FCS National Championship Game. They went 7-1 in 2020, again losing in the title game and then 12-2 in 2021. James Madison transitioned to the FBS in 2022 and Cignetti led them to an impressive 8-3 in 2022 and 11-1 in 2023. Cignetti has won at each of the programs he has been a head coach at and he now has a current record of 119-35. Winning as a head coach are not the only positive attributes.

Curt Cignetti was born in Pittsburgh and was brought up around football as his father was the longtime head coach at IU-Pennsylvania. His first coaching job came as a Graduate Assistant at Pittsburgh before he was named the Quarterback and Wide Receivers Coach at Davidson. Cignetti coached quarterbacks at Rice and Temple before returning to Pittsburgh for six seasons. He moved to North Carolina State to work as the quarterbacks coach, tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator for head coach Chuck Amato and recruited and coached Phillip Rivers. He also recruited Russell Wilson to the Wolfpack before making a huge move. Cignetti was the recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach for Nick Saban as from 2007 to 2010 at the University of Alabama. The Crimson Tide brought in one of the best recruiting classes of all time with six first-round NFL Draft choices brought in. He coached Julio Jones and recruited guys like Mark Ingram and Dont’a Hightower. Cignetti wanted a chance to run his own program and his father’s old program came calling. Cignetti went to IUP as the head coach in 2012. They were 19-14 in conference play in the seasons prior to his arrival and Cignetti went 33-11 in conference play during his tenure and 53-17 overall. FCS program Elon were only 12-45 in the five seasons prior to 2017. They hired Curt Cignetti and he immediately elevated the program. They went 8-4 in his first season and made the FCS Playoffs for only the second time in school history. That season included wins over four ranked teams including #6 Richmond. In 2018, Cignetti’s Phoenix took a step backwards and went 6-5 but they beat #2 James Madison and reached the FCS Playoffs again. JMU called him to take over their program and Elon went 5-6 in 2019 and 1-5 the next season without Cignetti. 

James Madison has a rich history of success but they weren’t playing at quite the same level they had been at. He took the Dukes from 8-4 in 2018 to 14-2 in 2019 with a trip to the FCS title game as one of their two losses. The other came against West Virginia in the season opener but JMU outgained the Mountaineers and had a real shot to win. The Dukes went 7-1 in 2020 with the only loss coming in a 38-35 thriller against Sam Houston in the FCS Semifinals. Their last year in the FCS was 12-2 with a one-point loss to #11 Villanova and another semifinal loss, this time to North Dakota State (20-14). They transitioned to the FBS in 2022, playing 11 games and going 8-3. They beat Middle Tennessee 44-7, Appalachian State 32-28 and blew out a ranked Coastal Carolina team 47-7. JMU averaged 37 points per game and surrendered only 20.9. That included only 2.48 yards per rush being given up and nearly 100 first downs more than their opponent. Quarterback Todd Centeio had 25 touchdowns to only five interceptions and he added seven rushing touchdowns. After losing their starting quarterback, best running back and best wide receiver, a step back was expected but JMU went 11-1 this season. Quarterback Jordan McCloud has thrown for 3,413 yards with 32 touchdowns to only nine interceptions and he has eight touchdowns on the ground. The team has two 1,000 yard receivers in sophomore Elijah Sarratt and senior Reggie Brown and two running backs that split carries with both averaging more than 4.5 yards per carry. The defense gets after the quarterback with 45 sacks including two guys with double-digit sacks on the season. Opponents are averaging only 2.09 yards per carry. The season includes a 36-35 win at Virginia, a 16-14 win at Troy and a 56-14 drubbing of Coastal Carolina. The only blemish is a 26-23 overtime defeat to Appalachian State.

In total, Curt Cignetti is 119-35 as a head coach. With the proper resources provided to him by Indiana University, something the Hoosiers appear to be ready to provide, this is an outstanding hire that has a chance to change the course of Indiana University football. 

Hoosier Huddle will have more on the hiring of Curt Cignetti, the formation of his staff and all other related news.