Penn State coaching search: Curt Cignetti off the board after getting new deal at Indiana

One of the more interesting names on the list of possible candidates for the Penn State football head coaching job is now off the board. Indiana signed sitting head coach Curt Cignetti to a massive new deal on Thursday. The Hoosiers will now pay him an average annual compensation of approximately $11.6 million, the school announced. The contract extension is through Nov. 30, 2033.

“We are committed to investing in IU Football in such a way that we can compete at a championship level, and the No. 1 priority in doing that is ensuring that Coach Cignetti is the leader of our program,” IU Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Scott Dolson said in a news release. “His accomplishments during the last season and a half have been nothing short of remarkable.  As much as anyone, he believed in what was possible with our program, and he’s turned that belief into reality. This is a great day for IU Football and Indiana University. I look forward to working alongside Coach Cignetti for many years to come.”

Cignetti, a Pennsylvania native, was always going to be a long shot to be the Lions replacement for James Franklin. BWI’s Sean Fitz wrote as much in version two of his hot board breakdown on Wednesday.

“The hottest name is cycle after what he’s done at Indiana in the last two years, Cignetti is once again rolling with the Hoosiers,” Fitz writes. “It would be a surprise if he were not a part of the college football playoff for the second straight year, which would complicate things. That said, I still don’t see this one happening.”

Who are the other names to know for the Penn State head coaching job?

Blue-White Illustrated is tracking the names to know as Pat Kraft’s search unfolds. Subscribers can see all of Fitz’s takes on the names to know by clicking here.

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