BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Curt Cignetti’s new deal shows Indiana isn’t content with being known as just a basketball school.
Indiana announced a new eight-year contract with its football coach worth at least $92.8 million on Thursday, rewarding him for pushing the Hoosiers into national championship contention in just two seasons.
The school said the average annual compensation for Cignetti will be approximately $11.6 million — a massive amount in a world of programs navigating financial challenges in the world of name, image and likeness. The deal runs through Nov. 30, 2033
“At Indiana University, we are committed to performing at the highest levels in everything we do, and no one has exemplified that more than Coach Cignetti,” Indiana University President Pamela Whitten said. “Put simply, Cig is a winner.”
The Hoosiers might have been trying to get ahead of possible suitors. Penn State, UCLA, Arkansas and Oklahoma State are among the schools that have already fired their coaches this season.
Cignetti talked big when he arrived, and he has backed it up. He is 17-2 since arriving from James Madison, with his only losses coming last year against Ohio State and Notre Dame teams that ended up in the College Football Playoff championship game. He led the Hoosiers to the College Football Playoff for the first time and was rewarded by being named AP Coach of the Year last season.
Indiana showed it meant business this season by rolling past then-No. 9 Illinois 63-10 on Sept. 20.
Cignetti’s biggest win yet came last week, when the seventh-ranked Hoosiers won 30-20 at No. 3 Oregon on Saturday. It ended the FBS’ longest regular-season win streak at 23 games and Oregon’s 18-game home winning streak. It was Indiana’s first victory against a top-five team since 1967.
Now, the Hoosiers (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) have a No. 3 national ranking — the highest in program history. Cignetti chose not to make too big a deal about the victory.
“Well, it depends on what we do with it from here,” he said after the win at Oregon. “You know, it’s a great win … and it puts us in position, if we can continue to be successful, which means we have to show up to work on Monday as a team, humble and hungry.”
While Cignetti plays it safe, others around the program are thinking big.
“We are committed to investing in IU Football in such a way that we can compete at a championship level, and the No. 1 priority in doing that is ensuring that Coach Cignetti is the leader of our program,” Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson said. “His accomplishments during the last season and a half have been nothing short of remarkable. As much as anyone, he believed in what was possible with our program, and he’s turned that belief into reality.”
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