Is Curt Cignetti on the greatest 22 1/2-month rocket ride in college football history? You decide.
One day in fall 2023, Cignetti is the semi-anonymous but very successful coach at James Madison. His salary is approximately $677,000, a fantastic wage by average American standards, but far below what the top earners in his profession are making. He’s 62 years old, and this seems like it’s as good as it will get.
Then Cig gets hired at Indiana, a power-conference bottom-feeder but still a step up the ladder. His new salary is $4.25 million—jackpot!—but there’s no telling how long it will last at a coach’s graveyard. Undeterred by history, Cig shoots off his mouth like nobody in the history of Indiana football, declaring that his team intends to play in the 2024 Big Ten championship game and taking direct shots at Goliaths Ohio State and Michigan. Highly entertaining. Highly delusional—or so it seemed.
Things go remarkably well. Stunningly well. So well that Indiana goes 11–2 and earns a College Football Playoff bid. Cig gets a second stratospheric pay raise in a year’s time, up to $8.5 million.
While many in gridworld suspect it was a one-year wonder, Cignetti and the Hoosiers unveil a better product in Year 2. They roll through a light nonconference schedule, then beat the living daylights out of a top 10 Illinois team—a warning shot to the rest of the sport. That’s followed by a hang-tough road win over Iowa, then a trip to Oregon. Surely, the cognoscenti figured, the balloon would burst in Eugene.
Ha. Indiana endures some ups and downs against the No. 3 team in the nation, outplays the Ducks and wins by 10. The last time Oregon lost by double digits at home? Eight years ago.
Indiana fans trickle out of the stands at Autzen Stadium after the game, a giddy (peaceful) takeover of the Ducks’ pond. Athletic director Scott Dolson is exultant. School president Pamela Whitten is euphoric. The losingest football program in FBS history (715 defeats all time) has catapulted to the top of the world.
“It’s a new day, my friend,” Whitten told Sports Illustrated, standing on the field as IU fans frolicked around her. “It’s a new day. I’m not kidding. We strive to be the best in everything we do academically and athletically. So this is who Indiana is now.”
Yet while this flag-planting road victory is happening, Penn State is losing a third straight game, triggering the sudden firing of James Franklin. Florida also loses its fourth game of the season, virtually sealing the fate of Billy Napier.
Both schools have interest in Cignetti. But Indiana moves fast—everything seems to happen fast with Cig these days—and on Thursday afternoon we have loud, percussive news. A third massive raise.
Cignetti has agreed to terms on a new, eight-year, $93 million contract with Indiana. He’s now the third highest-paid coach in the sport, trailing only two-time national champion Kirby Smart of Georgia and 2024 national champion Ryan Day of Ohio State.
From less than $700,000 to $11.6 million in less than two years. And the new contract is fully guaranteed—Indiana would be on the hook for all $93 million, while Cignetti would owe the school $15 million if he leaves.
This is the rocket ride. This is essentially striking oil.
Cignetti is less lucky than good—his record before arriving at Indiana was 139–35, for crying out loud—but the circumstances are incredible. The saying is that luck is preparation meeting opportunity, and this has all the elements. A high-stakes coaching carousel met a blistering-hot coach to produce a staggering payday.
It seems likely that Indiana officials were having discussions about re-raising Cignetti as soon as the Illinois beatdown happened Sept. 20. Two Big Ten road wins later, when the market heated up for a coach of national championship caliber, the Hoosiers swooped into action.
“This week,” a source tells SI about when the agreement came together. While this might be another indication of the wanton spending that is a feature—not a bug—in college sports, consider the context.
Indiana has never had a coach like this. It’s not like the Hoosiers found a few savants over the decades who put in some good work and jetted off to a championship contender. There was no upward mobility from Bloomington over the last 40 years.
Here was a coach with a chance. With options. And in the greatest signal yet of the new era in the sport, the coach at Indiana has quickly chosen to stay there instead of bailing for programs with national championship heritage.
In the NIL/transfer portal world, access to cash matters most. Indiana has the largest living alumni base in the country, as Cignetti is fond of saying. And those alums, stoked by previously incomprehensible football success, figure to provide a wellspring of financial backing for roster building. Combine that with a brilliant coach, and the magic can happen.
(A reminder that Indiana is 17–2 with a core of guys who followed Cignetti from James Madison, plus a few holdovers from the Tom Allen Era and some select other transfers.)
If the stars align and the checks clear, anyone in the power conferences can compete for national championships. The hierarchy is flattening. All things seem possible within the Power 4 conference club.
Admittedly, the word “seem” is doing a lot of work there. The national champions since NIL became a thing in 2021 are Georgia, Michigan and Ohio State—not exactly up-from-the-bootstraps strivers. But the presence of the Hoosiers and SMU in last season’s inaugural 12-team playoff is a harbinger, as is the current top 10 rankings of undefeated Texas Tech and Georgia Tech.
The key is not just finding the right coach, it’s keeping the right coach. Indiana ponied up to an extraordinary degree—especially for a forever basketball school—but plenty of coaches would be looking right over the shoulder of that embrace to see who’s coming up next.
Cignetti had to wait a long time—way too long—to get this kind of opportunity. There is undoubtedly an appreciation for Indiana being the first power-conference school to give him a shot, but then following through with support across all areas. (That includes fighting off some bigger brands to keep his coaching staff intact.)
Indiana believed in Cignetti. Now Cignetti believes in Indiana. A two-year whirlwind isn’t stopping now.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Curt Cignetti’s Indiana Whirlwind Isn’t Over Yet—And Now Was the Perfect Time to Cash In.