The Indiana Hoosiers' 2025 season ended at Hard Rock Stadium, where they completed a 16-0 run and captured the College Football Playoff national championship.
Two years earlier, the program had gone 3-9, had never won a championship, and was one of the teams with the most losses in college football history.
Head coach Curt Cignetti engineered the turnaround, leading the team to a Big Ten title and a 27-21 victory over Miami in the championship game. After the season, with the news emerging on Friday morning, Indiana seems to have moved quickly to secure its coach long term.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel was the first to report the agreement between Indiana and Cignetti on X.
“Per an ESPN source, Curt Cignetti has agreed to a new deal at Indiana that pushes his annual salary up to $13.2 million," Thamel reported. "The deal will go through 2033. Hoosiers have been the ultimate aggressors in keeping Cignetti.”
A source confirmed to IndyStar and the Herald-Times that Cignetti’s new contract will pay him an average of $13.2 million annually through 2033. His previous deal ran the same length but averaged $11.6 million per year.
According to the IndyStar, the new terms stem from a clause in Cignetti’s October contract requiring a good-faith market review within 120 days of Indiana reaching a College Football Playoff semifinal.
The review was designed to ensure Cignetti is compensated among the top three coaches in the sport, and that's what he will be going forward. The Hoosiers coach is joining Lane Kiffin (seven-year, $91 million) and Kirby Smart(ten-year, $130 million) as the only coaches with average annual salaries of $13 million or more.
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After the championship, Cignetti reflected on what the team accomplished during his two years at the helm, focusing on the undefeated 2025 college football season.
“We’re 16-0, national champions at Indiana University, which I know a lot of people thought was never possible,” Cignetti said. “It probably is one of the greatest sports stories of all time.”
Indiana is expected to contend for a playoff spot again in 2026 as the college continues to invest heavily in its football program with a top-10 transfer portal class.