Ad Disclosure
We Can Take Curt Cignetti Off the Penn State Shortlist
Published:
New contract for Curt Cignetti should take him off the Penn State shortlist, assuming he was on it. We all put him there, but who knows if Pat Kraft did:
It’s the buyout that matters obviously, but the guy is not leaving IU four months after signing a long-term deal that takes him to age 72.
Great story, though. Incredible rise for the Pennsylvania native, who was coaching Elon just seven years ago. Not Elon Musk, but the Elon Phoenix football team. Before that, he was coaching at IUP, so unless I’m wrong, Cignetti is the first man to be born in Pennsylvania and coach both Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Indiana University. There’s your useless trivia.
It was interesting, for at least a week, to think about which job is better – Indiana, or Penn State? Surely PSU is the legacy program with all of the history and consistent success, while Cignetti’s built a killer program in Bloomington. In a vacuum, you’d say PSU is the better job, of course, while Indiana is the better program FOR Cignetti, if that makes any sense.
For instance, if you asked random coach XYZ which program they’d like to coach, they’d likely say Penn State, but if you asked Cignetti what’s best for him, it’s Indiana, and the continuation of what he’s done so far. That’s the better situation. He’s got the Hoosiers sitting at #3 overall and has two marquee scalps now, after beating Oregon in Eugene and obliterating Illinois at home.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com