I(O)U: Cignetti’s Revised Indiana Deal to Pay Over $100M Guaranteed

The market has spoken for Curt Cignetti.

The University of Indiana has committed to pay its national championship-winning head football coach $105.6 million over the next eight seasons, according to a letter signed by athletic director Scott Dolson and released Monday.

Cignetti’s existing employment agreement called for a “good-faith market review” if IU reached the College Football Playoff semifinal—which it did in January on the way to winning its first national title in school history.

Under the revised deal, Cignetti will earn $13.025 million in guaranteed compensation this coming season, with annual raises of $50,000 through Nov. 30, 2033. Before incentives, that would make him the second-highest-paid coach in college football this year, behind Georgia’s Kirby Smart and just ahead of LSU’s Lane Kiffin.

Cignetti’s raise represents a roughly 54% increase from the $8.5 million guaranteed salary the coach was set to earn this year under the contract he signed back in November 2024. All other terms remain in effect.

As such, if Cignetti is fired without cause, Indiana must pay the full remaining guaranteed tab, based on a provision triggered once his team appeared in the Big Ten championship or College Football Playoff.

Should the Hoosiers replicate last season’s success, Cignetti would easily clear $15 million.

And if that’s not enough to get him through the week, the contract also includes a $25,000 annual courtesy car allowance, free meals at the athletic dining facility and unlimited family use of the Pfau Golf Course and driving range in Bloomingdale, Ind., “including green fees, cart fees and range balls.”