While Curt Cignetti and his staff deserve all the credit in the world for their unprecedented turnaround of the Hoosiers program into national champions, Indiana's administration also deserves equal amounts for 1) identifying and landing him as their leader, and 2) for doing the work necessary to retain him and his staff.
In just two years, Cignetti has inked three contracts the latest coming this month following a dominant undefeated 16-0 run completed with a national title for the Hoosiers.
Multiple reports share that Cignetti's new deal at Indiana will pay him an average of $13.2 million per season through 2033.
His previous deal was for the same length of time, and was set to pay him $11.6 million annually.
The reworked deal came as a result of the contract he signed back in October that required a fair market review within 120 days of any time the Hoosier's punched their ticket to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff. The review is aimed to make sure Cignetti is paid among the top three coaches in college football, and this new contract does exactly that.
Cementing himself as the highest paid coach in the Big Ten, only two other coaches in college football are set to make north of $13 million. Those two coaches both reside in the SEC in Lane Kiffin at LSU and Kirby Smart at Georgia.
Kiffin inked a 7-year deal worth $91 million back in December at LSU, and Kirby is the original member of the $13 million salary club after inking a deal with UGA. back in May of 2024 that is set to pay him $130 million over 10 years.
Not far behind those three is Ryan Day at Ohio State, whose most recent deal was a 7-year deal carrying an annual salary of $12.5 million.
The ability to retain Cignetti has been impressive, but the ability for Indiana to also bring back defensive coordinator and recent Broyles Award winner Bryant Haines as well as offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan cannot be overstated either as each of them has received interest elsewhere the past few seasons, including FBS head coaching opportunities.
Cignetti and the Hoosiers did lose co-offensive coordinator Chandler Whitmer to the NFL this off season, but ended up essentially reloading when Cignetti was able to bring back former Tino Sunseri, who was with them their first season in Bloomington as co-offensive coordinator (and will step back into that role) before a short stint as the offensive coordinator at UCLA this past fall. Cignetti also reportedly elevated corners coach Rod Ojong to pass game coordinator this off season as well in another major win as Indiana begins their quest to capture back-to-back national titles.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.