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To call the Indiana Hoosiers football program historically mediocre would be kind. Not only have the Hoosiers never won a national championship, but they’ve never really come all that close.
But second-year head coach Curt Cignetti has Indiana at an all-time high, just two wins away from a championship. Understandably, the Hoosiers didn’t hesitate to reward Cignetti with a new contract just 2.5 months ago amid links to prominent head-coaching openings, most notably at Penn State.
Indiana gave Cignetti an eight-year, $93 million contract extension that pays him an average annual salary of about $11.6 million. The deal made him the third-highest paid coach in college football at the time. However, when Lane Kiffin left Ole Miss for LSU, he signed a contract worth an estimated $13M per year for seven years.
Why does that matter?
Well, because it could result in Indiana having to Cignetti yet another new contract just a few months after handing one out to begin with.
Indiana’s Rose Bowl win has triggered a contract review for Curt Cignetti.
By making the CFP semifinal, Cignetti is owed a “good faith market review” of his $11.6M deal. If Indiana doesn’t offer a top-3 salary, he could leave without a buyout, per the term sheet reviewed by FOS.
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) January 2, 2026
Curt Cignetti Is In For Another Big Pay Day After Beating Alabama
Alex Schiffer of Front Office Sports reports that Indiana’s win over Alabama in the Rose Bowl triggered a ““good faith market review” clause in his contract. That clause states that if Indiana doesn’t offer him a top-three salary as part of that review, then he can leave the program without any buyout.
Currently, Ohio State coach Ryan Day is the third-highest-paid coach in the country behind Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Kiffin. Day makes that $12.5 million, so the Hooisers may well have to pony up an extra million per year to keep Cignetti around.
Additionally, Notre Dame just agreed to a contract extension with head coach Marcus Freeman. However, the terms of that deal were not made public.
As long as Cignetti keeps winning, Indiana probably won’t mind paying up. But it’s pretty rare to see a guy get two pay raises in a span of three months.