Steelers Now
Pittsburgh native Curt Cignetti has been one of the best stories in all of coaching over the last two seasons, as the veteran coach took over an Indiana program that was forever an afterthought and rocketed it to the top of the college football world. With his hometown Steelers currently seeking a new coach, many have speculated if the team will reach out to the 64-year-old.
Saturday, Cignetti said no thanks. Speaking in a press conference ahead of his Hoosiers’ College Football Playoff national championship game against Miami next week, Cignetti said that he’s not interested in coaching in the NFL.
“I’m not an NFL guy,” Cignetti said. “I made that decision a long time ago. I’ve always been a college football guy”
Cignetti has spent his entire career coaching in the college ranks, starting at Pitt as a graduate assistant in 1983 and continuing through stops a Davidson, Rice, Temple, NC State, Alabama, IUP, Elon, James Madison and then to Indiana, where he arrived with a bold proclamation in 2024 and has immediately backed it up.
Before Cignetti went to Bloomington, Indiana had suffered five losing seasons in six years under previous head coach Tom Allen. Before that, Kevin Wilson had six straight losing seasons. The last head coach to have a winning record at Indiana was Bo McMillin, who coached from 1934-47.
Despite that, in his first Big Ten media day, before having ever coached a game, Cignetti threw down a gauntlet. Asked about how he planned to recruit players to Indiana — with the school’s lengthy history of mediocrity unsaid but heavily implied — Cignetti gave a legendary response.
“It’s pretty simple,” he said. “I win. Google me.”
Last season, his Hoosiers lost twice, to eventual national champions Ohio State and then to Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff first round. This year, they went undefeated, beat Ohio State state for the second Big Ten championship in school history, and lambasted Alabama and Oregon in the College Football Playoff leading up to Monday’s championship game. In two seasons, Cignetti is 26-2.
It’s one of the most incredible coaching jobs in football history, and it certainly would have afforded Cignetti at least a look at the next level, despite his age and the fact that he’s never coached professional ball.
But Cignetti appears to be content to continue to dominate the college ranks.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Potential Steelers Head Coach Target Says No Thanks: ‘I’m Not an NFL Guy’
