Report: Indiana finalizing deal with James Madison's Curt Cignetti as next head coach

Indiana reportedly has its next head coach in its sights. The Hoosiers are targeting James Madison head coach Curt Cignetti to replace Tom Allen, according to Pete Thamel.

Cignetti has played a key role in JMU’s rise in the Sun Belt over the last two seasons as the Dukes transitioned to FBS. This year, they became the talk of college football as they started out 10-0 before falling to Appalachian State. Per NCAA rules, the program could not be eligible for bowl games because it was transitioning. However, because not enough teams hit the six-win threshold, JMU can participate in a bowl game this year.

During his time in Harrisonburg, Cignetti has amassed a 52-9 record. Since James Madison moved to FBS and the Sun Belt, his record is 19-4 — including a 13-3 mark in conference play. JMU won the Sun Belt East both years, but because the Dukes couldn’t play in a bowl game, they couldn’t participate in the conference championship.

Cignetti, 62, played quarterback at West Virginia before immediately getting into coaching. He started out as a graduate assistant at Pitt from 1983-84 before stints at Davidson, Rice and Temple as a quarterbacks coach. In 1993, he returned to Pitt as quarterbacks and tight ends coach before heading to NC State in 2000.

Then, in 2007, Cignetti became part of Nick Saban’s first staff at Alabama as the Crimson Tide’s wide receivers coach. He remained in the role until 2011 when he landed his first head coach opportunity at Division-II Indiana University-Pennsylvania five years after his dad, Frank Cignetti, retired. He totaled a 53-17 record before departing for Elon in 2017.

Saban recently spoke about James Madison’s special season and his connection to the Cignetti family. He worked under Frank Cignetti at West Virginia from 1976-79, meaning he and Curt go back beyond their time at Alabama.

“I coached for Frank — Curt’s dad — so I’m very close to the family,” Saban said. “He did a great job for us here. I’m always excited to see guys that did a good job for us, when they get opportunities to have success and the opportunities and take advantage of those. He’s certainly done that well.”

Indiana moved to fire Allen last week after seven full years as head coach. The Hoosiers made it to back-to-back bowl games in 2019 and 2020, combining for a 14-7 record over that time, but struggled to a 9-27 record in the three years since.

The search to replace Allen took an interesting turn. According to The Indianapolis Star’s Zach Osterman, the university’s collectives and fundraising were preparing to provide a $3 million NIL boost to help support IU’s next football coach.