Curt Cignetti

Cignetti is married to Manette, and they have three children: Curtis John, Carly Ann, and Natalie Elise. His daughter Natalie was an honorable mention All-American volleyball player at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Cignetti is of Italian descent.

His father, Frank Cignetti Sr., was a longtime college football coach who led West Virginia and Indiana University of Pennsylvania and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Cignetti's brother, Frank Cignetti Jr., is also a football coach. The family connection to IUP made Cignetti's six-season tenure there especially significant.

Cignetti became Indiana's head coach in 2024 and immediately produced the most successful opening seasons in program history. In his first season, the Hoosiers won 11 games, earned their first College Football Playoff berth, and finished No. 10 in the Associated Press poll. Cignetti was named Big Ten Coach of the Year.

Indiana went 16-0 in the following season, winning the program's first Big Ten championship since 1967 and its first national championship. The Hoosiers defeated Ohio State in the Big Ten Football Championship Game, then beat Alabama in the Rose Bowl, Oregon in the Peach Bowl, and Miami in the national championship game. The 16 victories tied the FBS single-season record set by Yale in 1894.

Cignetti's Indiana teams also produced the program's first Heisman Trophy winner, quarterback Fernando Mendoza. He won Big Ten Coach of the Year honors in consecutive seasons and received major national awards including the AP, AFCA, Home Depot, Sporting News, and Walter Camp Coach of the Year awards in both seasons.

Cignetti coached James Madison from 2019 through 2023, compiling a 52-9 record. In his first season, the Dukes went 14-2 and reached the FCS National Championship Game. They followed that appearance with semifinal trips in the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

James Madison moved from the FCS to the FBS in 2022. The Dukes went 8-3 in their first FBS season and tied for first in the Sun Belt East Division. In 2023, they started 10-0, finished the regular season 11-1, won a second consecutive division title, and received the program's first bowl bid. Cignetti was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year.

His consecutive 10-0 starts with James Madison in 2023 and Indiana in 2024 made him the first Division I head coach to achieve that feat at different institutions.

Cignetti began coaching as a graduate assistant at Pittsburgh in 1983 after playing quarterback at West Virginia from 1979 through 1982. He later coached quarterbacks and receivers at Davidson, quarterbacks at Rice and Temple, and quarterbacks and tight ends at Pittsburgh. He earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from West Virginia in 1982.

At NC State, where he worked from 2000 through 2006 as recruiting coordinator and a quarterbacks and tight ends coach, Cignetti coached Philip Rivers and recruited Russell Wilson. The Wolfpack reached five bowl games during his tenure, including the 2002 Gator Bowl team that set a school record with 11 victories.

Cignetti joined Nick Saban's first Alabama staff in 2007 as recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach. Alabama won the 2009 national championship and 29 consecutive regular-season games during Cignetti's time in Tuscaloosa. His work included recruiting or coaching players such as Mark Ingram and Julio Jones.

He received his first head-coaching opportunity at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2011. The Crimson Hawks went 53-17 over six seasons, made three Division II playoff appearances, won two conference championships, and finished in the national top 25 four times. At Elon from 2017 through 2018, he went 14-9 and led the Phoenix to FCS playoff appearances in both seasons.