Cignetti has also reportedly received assurances about improvements to program infrastructure and monetary support.
Indiana Athletics and head football coach Curt Cignetti have agreed to terms on a new eight year contract to keep him in Bloomington, per an official program release.
Cignetti’s new annual compensation averages out to around $8 million with an additional annual retention bonus of $1 million. The new contract will run through Nov. 30, 2032.
While a year-by-year breakdown of the contract is not immediately available, a base salary in the realm of $8 million would put Cignetti on par with names like Penn State’s James Franklin, Oregon’s Dan Lanning, Oklahoma’s Brent Venables and Miami’s Mario Cristobal.
“I am beyond appreciative for the tremendous commitment, confidence, and support from President Pam Whitten and Athletic Director Scott Dolson. Manette and I love Bloomington and are grateful for how the IU community has embraced us,” Cignetti said in the release. “I look forward to leading this outstanding program and doing my part to continue the momentum for Hoosier football.”
It builds on the moves Dolson made during the offseason to land Cignetti in the first place. Indiana had to prove then that it was committed to upgrading the football program’s resources with facilities and a robust NIL operation.
“After first meeting Coach Cignetti, we were very confident that he was the perfect fit for what we were trying to build with our football program,” Dolson said. “We were confident IU could become a winning program and we love what he’s building here. We love the student-athletes that he’s bringing here. We love how our fanbase has rallied around this team and made Memorial Stadium the place to be on Saturday afternoons. And now, we love the fact that he’s going to be doing all those things right here in Bloomington for a long, long time.”
Upgrades and overall renovations have been planned for Memorial Stadium for quite some time now. Indiana is now moving onto the next stages of that plan, per Zach Osterman of the Indianapolis Star.