Before becoming a national champion-winning head coach with the Indiana Hoosiers, Curt Cignetti worked as an assistant under Nick Saban with the Alabama Crimson Tide. He’s stated before how valuable it was to learn from Saban, but Cignetti is now opening up about the decision he made to chase after his own head coaching desires.
During a guest visit on “The Rich Eisen Show,” Cignetti, who is 65 years old, admitted that by the time he chose to pursue head coaching, he was simply done with being an assistant. He felt he had learned everything he could, and it was time to “bet” on himself and become the head coach he had always wanted to be.
“I was done being an assistant coach,” said Cignetti bluntly. “I learned a lot from coach [Nick] Saban… It [was] time to bet on myself and take a chance.”
"I was done being an assistant coach. … I learned a lot from coach [Nick] Saban. … It [was] time to bet on myself and take a chance."
Curt Cignetti reflects on leaving Alabama and taking his first head coaching job at IUP
(via @RichEisenShow) pic.twitter.com/sxdAsd01vq
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) June 17, 2026
That decision is the best Curt Cignetti has made in his entire career. He worked as an assistant for 27 years with varying programs, including Alabama, where he served as an assistant under Saben from 2007 to 2010. Cignetti accepted his first head coaching gig in 2011 with the IUP Crimson Hawks.
Everywhere Cignetti went, he would quickly build the program and maintain success. He finally did it at the Division 1 level with Indiana, leading the program to its first-ever college football championship in just two seasons with the team. The next step is for the Hoosiers to remain on top of the college football rankings, playing as the defending champions.
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