BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Curt Cignetti needed 10 games to make good on his promise to change the direction of Indiana football.
Now he’ll have eight more years to continue working his magic.
The Hoosiers’ 60-year-old coach was rewarded on Saturday for the first 10-0 mark in school history with an eight-year contract that will run through 2032 and pays him an annual average salary of $8 million plus a $1 million annual retention bonus, putting the total value of the deal at $72 million.
“I love Bloomington and am grateful for how the IU community has embraced us,” Cignetti said in the athletic department’s statement announcing the contract. “I look forward to leading this outstanding program and doing my part to continue the momentum for Hoosier football.”
Cignetti has done what many thought impossible — leading the Hoosiers, who are No. 5 in the College Football Playoff rankings, into the top five and putting them on the precipice of a playoff spot in his first season.
Indiana hired Cignetti from James Madison in December, and the former Alabama recruiting coordinator under coach Nick Saban immediately started making waves.
First, at his introductory news conference he proclaimed: “I win. Google me.” Then at a basketball game, he riled up crowd by shouting “Purdue sucks,” referencing Indiana’s longtime in-state rival, before adding “so does Michigan and Ohio State.”
All Cignetti has done since then is win at a historic rate, just like his late Hall of Fame coaching father.
Indiana is 10-0 for the first time in school history and has its first double-digit winning season too. It has produced the most lopsided victory in school history, 77-3 against Western Illinois; matched the largest margin of victory in a Big Ten game, 56-7 against Nebraska; and didn’t trail this season until falling behind 10-0 at Michigan State in its ninth game.
Last week, the Hoosiers beat Michigan for just the second time since 1988, and next Saturday they will put their 7-0 conference mark on the line at No. 2 Ohio State. If they win in Columbus for the first time since 1987, Indiana likely would play in its first Big Ten championship game. Indiana’s only conference crowns came in 1945 and 1967.
But Indiana is playing for something bigger — a spot in the expanded 12-team playoff. Its No. 5 ranking on Tuesday by the selection committee puts it in position to host a postseason game for the first time in school history.
“After first meeting Coach Cignetti, we were very confident that he was the perfect fit for what we were trying to build with our football program,” athletic director Scott Dolson said. “We were confident IU could become a winning program, and we love what he’s building here. We love the student-athletes that he’s bringing here. We love how our fan base has rallied around this team and made Memorial Stadium the place to be on Saturday afternoons.”
Indiana has sold out each of its last three home games in yet another indication of just how much has changed since Cignetti’s arrival.
In 14 seasons as a coach, Cignetti has never posted a losing record. And he wasn’t about to let it happen when Indiana hired him.
He has won more games this season than Indiana won in the previous three combined (nine), and now he’s going to have a chance to keep winning in Bloomington for the foreseeable future.
“Coach Cignetti has been the architect of one of college football’s greatest turnarounds and has shown the world that IU is also a football school,” Indiana President Pamela Whitten said. “The success he has brought to Indiana football is shining a light on all that is amazing about Indiana University.”
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