The Indiana Hoosiers have put pen to paper on a new head football coach.
Curt Cignetti of James Madison University will be stepping into the role of head coach for IU next season. Cignetti has been coaching the JMU Dukes for the past five years with an overall record of 52 – 9, leading the team to three conference titles. This year, he led the team to an 11 – 1 record, which was the best in the Sun Belt Conference.
That includes a 19-4 run over 2022 and 2023, which were JMU’s first two years as a Football Bowl Subdivision program.
In his five seasons as the head football coach for JMU, Cignetti’s teams led the nation in rushing defense and ranked in the top-20 for scoring offense and scoring defense.
Cignetti’s most recent accomplishment is winning the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year on Thursday. Cignetti is Indiana’s third head football coach in the last 13 years.
His overall record is 119-35 (.773) in 13 seasons as a head coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (2011-16), Elon (2017-18), and James Madison (2019-23). His teams reached the postseason on nine occasions and finished in the Top 25 nine times.
“I am very excited to welcome Curt Cignetti as the head football coach at Indiana University. We had a very talented and deep pool of candidates, and Curt stood out thanks to an incredible track record of success over more than four decades in college football. As a head coach he’s succeeded everywhere he’s been, and as an assistant he has been a part of championship cultures while working alongside some of the game’s best coaches. I appreciate the tremendous support throughout this process of Chair Quinn Buckner and the IU Board of Trustees and President Pam Whitten, all of whom were critical in making this day a reality,” said Indiana University Athletic Director Scott Dolson.
“I am excited to lead this program forward and change the culture, mindset, and expectation level of Hoosier football,” Cignetti said. “I want to thank Director of Athletics Scott Dolson and President Pam Whitten, and I look forward to working with both in building something special at IU. Both share my vision and belief that big things are ahead for the IU program.”
Last Sunday, IU fired Tom Allen as the football coach. His record was 33-49 during his time at Indiana.
