The Case for Curt Cignetti to Stay at Indiana and Avoid Penn State Head Coaching Job

Five years ago, the thought of the head football coach of Indiana willingly turning down the Penn State job, one of the premier jobs in all of college football, would have been outrageous.

Now? It seems like the wise, obvious thing to do.

No, really.

In fact, for Curt Cignetti, arguably the most coveted coach in all of college football, staying the course is the only move to make. Sure, Penn State has plenty to offer. But Indiana—yes, Indiana—has everything he needs.

To understand how we arrived at this conclusion, one doesn't have to look hard. Things are different these days. Much different. The business of college football has changed the way major jobs are perceived and the way rosters built. It's also changed the way many non-bluebloods can compete and operate.  

As Penn State moves on from the James Franklin era, it does so at a fascinating time. To be clear, this is still an exceptional job. From the facilities to the resources to the ability to recruit to the environment, which might be the best in college football, openings like this don't come around often.  

Penn State has everything a coach would want or need, a reality this program showcased before this past season began.

The Nittany Lions brought in defensive coordinator Jim Knowles at a salary of more than $3 million per season. In terms of NIL, Franklin was able to retain many of his key players and load up in the transfer portal, thanks in large part to millions of dollars.

It didn't work out. After all, here we are. But the support was on full display, and it will continue on for the new head coach.

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For Penn State, it would be incredibly wise to hire Cignetti, a Pittsburgh native who has spent a good chunk of his coaching career operating inside the state.

In his past six-and-a-half seasons, Cignetti is 69-11 across stops at James Madison and Indiana. With the Hoosiers, a program unaccustomed to football success, he's 17-2. He's made the College Football Playoff once, and he's positioned to do it again after upsetting Oregon on Saturday.

He's also 2-0 against Big Ten teams ranked inside the top 10. Under Franklin, Penn State was 1-18 in those same games.

Cignetti makes sense on pretty much every level. The Nittany Lions would be foolish to focus their search on anyone else, but Cignetti would be wise to pass.

In the year 2025, Indiana football can become a destination job. It will never be Penn State in terms of history and prestige, nor would anyone say otherwise. Given where the sport is heading, however, Indiana is built to compete over a prolonged period of time.

The Big Ten's lucrative media rights deal has given the Hoosiers—along with all of its members—new financial freedom. Couple that with a renewed focus on football for the university, not to mention an infusion of donor support, and Cignetti will have plenty to work with when it comes to resources. The transfer portal has been kind to the Hoosiers, and it will be moving forward.

Perhaps Indiana won't be able to offer what Penn State can, although this part comes with plenty of fine print.

In Bloomington, Cignetti will operate with the utmost leash and leeway. He will not be expected to make the College Football Playoff each and every year, no matter how successful these first two seasons have been.

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Expectations will be sane. While the profession will always come with immense expectations—and he's certainly setting the bar extraordinarily high in Indiana— Cignetti will be paid a small fortune every year and not expected to deliver perfection.

Oh, a new massive contract from Indiana is coming. The Hoosiers stepped up big last year, giving its first-year head coach a salary of $8.3 million. Another massive bump is coming.  It's a matter of when and how much.

At Penn State, perfection, or something close to it, will be the bar. Franklin's tenure, which featured far more wins than losses, was tarnished by the games he couldn't win.

What Franklin did, however, was restore order. While he failed to win big enough in games of substance, he made the job for his incumbent, with the deck seemingly stacked, that much more difficult.

Could Penn State give Cignetti more money? Could they give him more resources to pay assistants and players? Could they give him more yearly cracks at a national title?

Maybe.

The Reality, however, is that the gap between the super elite and everyone else is closing quickly. The pressure for coaches to job hop for more money and better situations has cooled. NIL and the transfer portal have completely flipped the conversation.

Cignetti could return to his home state and attempt another football miracle. He could attempt to do what Franklin couldn't, knowing just how much venom and additional pressure each loss would bring.

Or he could build upon an already remarkable foundation, in a place he is clearly comfortable at, likely making somewhere in the neighborhood of $9 to $10 million per year to do so.

In a different decade, this used to be a complicated. Now, in the era of money and possibility, that is longer the case.

Take the money and stay.