After Penn State fired James Franklin on Sunday, all sorts of names began flying around social media for who would take over the role in 2026. At the top of all of those lists was Indiana’s Curt Cignetti.

The Hoosiers’ head coach likely had a role in the firing of Franklin, at least in the fans’ eyes. Fans and media personalities are quick to point out the turnaround Indiana has had since Cignetti took over to verify Penn State’s decision. If the Hoosiers can do it, why not the Nittany Lions?

In less than two seasons in Bloomington, Cignetti led Indiana to its first 10-0 start and first college football playoff birth. In the new era of college football, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, utilized the transfer portal and NIL to its maximum potential.

This season, Cignetti has Indiana on track for its second year in a row with more than eight wins. Prior to him taking over in 2024, Indiana had just two eight-win seasons since 1989.

Cignetti has also proven his ability to win the big game. After taking flak for losses to Notre Dame and Ohio State in 2024, Indiana has now walked into Autzen Stadium and beat then-No. 3 Oregon and destroyed then-No. 9 Illinois at home.

History

Unironically, Cignetti spent his playing career at West Virginia as a quarterback from 1979–1982. During his time with the Mountaineers, the signal-caller played in just one game where he recorded a 1-yard rushing attempt.

The next season, the Indiana head coach went home to Pitt to be a grad assistant under Foge Fazio. Cignetti then spent time as the quarterbacks and receivers coach at Davidson and as a quarterbacks coach with Rice, Temple, and back at Pitt.

His first big step came in 2000 when he joined Chuck Amato’s staff at North Carolina State University. He was brought in as a recruiting coordinator (2000-06), tight ends coach (2000-02), and later took over as quarterbacks coach (2003-04).

While with the Wildcats, Cignetti helped them reach five bowl games in seven years and win four of them. He also helped recruit and coach future NFL legends Phillip Rivers and Russel Wilson.

After his time in Raleigh, North Carolina, Cignetti joined Nick Saban’s first staff at Alabama. He was the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator for the Crimson Tide from 2007-2010.

In 2008, Alabama had the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class, which it followed up with an undefeated national championship season in 2009.

Cignetti landed his first head coaching job with Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), a campus under two hours from Beaver Stadium. The Pittsburgh native was linked to bigger schools, but he believed in himself as a head coach. His father, Frank Cignetti Sr, also played and coached at IUP.

While with the Crimson Hawks, Cignetti went 53-17 with three NCAA Division II Playoff appearances and four Top 25 finishes in six seasons. The program was coming off a 4-10 conference record in the last two seasons before Cignetti arrived in 2011; they were ranked No. 12 in the country when he left for Elon.

Again, all Cignetti did with Elon was win. I googled it. The Phoenix were coming off six straight losing seasons when he took over in 2017. They finished that season 8-4, including a 6-0 win against Albany.

One of the only losses Cignetti had that season was to JMU, the team he would join in 2019. That is where he really joined the national conversation for a big-time coaching gig. In five seasons with the Dukes, they were 52-9.

Two of those seasons under Cignetti were JMU’s first in the FBS. The Dukes joined the Belt Conference before the 2022 season and hit the ground running. JMU went 19-4 in the first two seasons, including a No. 25 ranking during the first season and a share of the Sun Belt East Division title.

He joined Indiana in November 2023.

Is It Realistic?

Out of all the names that have been brought up in the past two days to be the next coach of Penn State, this is one of the most interesting.

Three years ago, this would have been a no-brainer. Penn State has been a better football job than Indiana at all points of college football history. Now in 2025, though, the two jobs are as close as they will likely ever be.

Cignetti will have a real debate with himself if restarting the process of building a winning culture and getting his players in the door is worth it for the Penn State job. After all, he is already making $8.3 million, not including bonuses, just $200,000 less than what Franklin was making.

Penn State will be forced to pay much more than that to pull Cignetti to Happy Valley, as the Hoosiers will not lose the coach without a fight. The Nittany Lions do want to be a premier college football program, though, so maybe it was time to pay their coach more than $10 million a year anyway.

Another aspect of this is Cignetti’s buyout. Penn State would likely have to pay this to get the Pittsburgh man. As of the end of the 2025 season, that would mean another $10 million expense. It is $13 million before December 1.