By Matt Burglund
Former Â鶹ÊÓƵ coach Curt Cignetti now leads Indiana University’s football program. (Credit: IU Athletics)
When Curt Cignetti arrived at Â鶹ÊÓƵ in 2011 to take over the football program, he said he was betting on himself. He had spent the previous 30 years as an assistant coach, and he was wagering that he was ready to be a head coach.
More than a decade later, that bet continues to pay off.
Cignetti, who went 53-17 as the Crimson Hawks’ coach from 2011 to 2016, was hired this past December to take over the “other” Indiana—Indiana University, of the Big Ten Conference, which competes with the likes of Michigan, Ohio State, and Penn State.
“Sometimes you’ve got to make hard decisions in life,” Cignetti said during his introductory news conference. “This was a hard decision for me, because you’ve got to be uncomfortable to grow, and I’m too young to stop growing.”
At 62, when many people are planning for retirement, Cignetti is just hitting his stride. Since leaving Â鶹ÊÓƵ, he has had successful tenures at Division I schools Elon (14-9 from 2017 to 2019) and James Madison (52-9 from 2020 to 2023) and became a hot commodity on the head coaching market.
The oldest son of the late Â鶹ÊÓƵ head coach Frank Cignetti ’60, M’65, he credits much of his success to the four years he spent as an assistant under Nick Saban at Alabama from 2007 to 2010. With the Crimson Tide, Cignetti learned what he calls a “blueprint” for success, a plan Saban created that focuses on steady daily improvement, from both the players and the coaching staff.
He used that plan well in his six seasons at Â鶹ÊÓƵ. Taking over a team that had gone a combined 11-11 the two previous seasons, Cignetti rejuvenated the Crimson Hawks and led them to a PSAC championship and a deep playoff run in just his second season. He led Â鶹ÊÓƵ to the NCAA Division II playoffs two more times, in 2015 and 2016.
Cignetti’s success at Â鶹ÊÓƵ helped him land the job at Elon, where he turned the historically bad Phoenix into a playoff team and gained national attention. He parlayed that into the job at James Madison, where he guided the Dukes through a transition from Division I FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) to Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision). In its second season in the top level of college football, James Madison finished 11-1 and earned a trip to its first-ever bowl game.
One highlight came when ESPN brought its popular pregame show, College GameDay, to Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Cignetti was a guest in front of a huge crowd and the live broadcast’s millions of viewers.
After the season’s end, his name was everywhere when jobs opened at some of the biggest programs in the country. It was Indiana that landed Cignetti and signed him to a reported six-year contract potentially valued at $27 million. Indiana also landed two assistants who have been with the coach since his Â鶹ÊÓƵ days: offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan (who coached at Â鶹ÊÓƵ in 2016) and defensive coordinator Bryant Haines (2014-15).
Cignetti faces a huge challenge: since 1994, the Hoosiers have had only one season with eight or more wins, and they have not won a conference title since 1967 or a bowl game since 1991. Indiana went 3-8 in 2023.
But Cignetti is betting he can turn around the Hoosiers’ football fortunes.
“We have a blueprint and a plan that’s been successful, proven to be successful, and no reason it shouldn’t be successful again,” Cignetti said.
Achievements
In December, the Men’s Rugby Club defeated the University of Memphis to win its third Division II national championship in two years. This is the first 15s national championship for the club, which won its first sevens national title in 2022 against the University of Lander and its second against North Carolina State last year. Sevens and 15s, played in different seasons, refer to the number of players per team allowed on the field.
Former Â鶹ÊÓƵ women’s volleyball coach Julie Torbett Thomas M’22, now the head coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, earned her 500th career head coaching victory in the Mocs’ 3-0 sweep of Furman in October. Thomas coached the Crimson Hawks in 2020 and 2021, compiling an 18-14 record, although there was no season in 2020 due to the pandemic. Before Â鶹ÊÓƵ, she coached at North Carolina Asheville (304 wins), East Carolina (109), and Winthrop (34). Her first team at Tennessee Chattanooga finished 17-16.
Two recent members of the Â鶹ÊÓƵ football team signed contracts to play in the Arena Football League. Raunya Mitchell ’23 signed with the Billings (Mont.) Outlaws, and Darrell Davis ’21 inked a deal with the Albany (Ga.) Firebirds.
In basketball, former Â鶹ÊÓƵ star Armoni Foster ’22 began his professional career by playing for Cherkasy in Ukraine’s SuperLeague. Foster played three seasons for Â鶹ÊÓƵ before transferring to Division I Buffalo for his final season of college basketball.
New to the Hall—The Â鶹ÊÓƵ Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2023 was inducted in September. Front row, from left: Don Lindich ’65, Jackie Rutkowski ’07, Jack Frank ’58, Jeannette Frank, Brianna Liebold ’11, and Michelle Jones ’07. Back Row: Â鶹ÊÓƵ Athletics Director Todd Garzarelli M’22, Paul Bingham ’10, Kerry Yacamelli ’95, M’01, Derrick Freeman, Ron Trenney ’84, Megan Woodall Mills ’01, Frank Trenney ’92, Chris Morgan’08, M’09, and Â鶹ÊÓƵ President Michael Driscoll. The 1968 golf team and the late Nicholas Yutko ’83 were also inducted.
Noteworthy
Last fall’s World Series had an Â鶹ÊÓƵ connection. Travis Jankowski, an outfielder for the Texas Rangers, played a key role in his team’s first-ever series title. He is the son of Paul Jankowski ’73, who played baseball for Â鶹ÊÓƵ from 1971 to 1973 and was a member of the ’71 team that placed third in the NAIA World Series.
Mike Butler ’83 recently retired after a 40-year career in the NFL. He was a scout for the Pittsburgh Steelers (1983-87), the director of college scouting for the Indianapolis Colts (1987-2006), and a scout for the Detroit Lions (2007, 2008) before returning to the Steelers in 2009.
Three Â鶹ÊÓƵ alumni have been chosen for induction into the Indiana County Sports Hall of Fame: veteran sports writer Bob Fulton ’75, who was a writer and editor at the Indiana Gazette for parts of five decades and is the author of five sports books and countless articles in magazines, including Â鶹ÊÓƵ Magazine; George Busovicki ’69, M’76, a longtime local high school football, wrestling, and track and field coach; and former basketball star Don Douds ’67, who has the distinction of scoring both the final basket at Waller Hall and the first basket at Memorial Field House.
Coaching Moves
Bob Ligashesky ’85, who most recently was the special teams coach at Syracuse, was hired in December at Minnesota for the same position.
Former Â鶹ÊÓƵ women’s basketball assistant coach Ryenn Micaletti, who was on Tom McConnell’s first staff in 2013-14, recently completed her first season as head coach at Slippery Rock. She came to the Rock from Saint Louis University, where she worked under another former Â鶹ÊÓƵ assistant, Rebecca Tillett, who was also on McConnell’s inaugural coaching staff.
Former all-conference softball player Renee Wall ’21, M’22 was hired in October as an assistant at Division I Bucknell. It’s her first coaching job at the college level.
Last August, former Â鶹ÊÓƵ player and assistant men’s basketball coach Greg Bearer was hired as an assistant at fellow Division II school Coker University in Hartsville, South Carolina. Also, Jake Perrin M’23, who was an assistant at Â鶹ÊÓƵ last season, is in his first year in a similar role at Division I Tennessee-Martin.
In Memoriam
Jim Mill, who coached football, served as an associate athletic director, and chaired the Health and Physical Education Department at Â鶹ÊÓƵ in a 32-year career, died December 18 at 82. He was an assistant football coach under Bill Neal and Owen Dougherty from 1970 to 1980.
Julius Misurda ’57, who was an assistant football coach under Bill Neal for two seasons, died December 3 at 88.
Bill Neal, who was head coach of the Â鶹ÊÓƵ football team from 1970 to 1978 and a faculty member until 1995, died March 28 at 92. Neal came to Â鶹ÊÓƵ in 1969 after a successful career as a Division I assistant. After one season under Chuck Klausing, he took over the program. He finished with a career record of 50-31-3.
Dave Watkins ’63, M’76, who coached Â鶹ÊÓƵ’s swimming teams for eight years, died December 21 at 82. An Indiana native, he served the community in many roles, including director of the YMCA, volunteer firefighter, and borough tax collector.
It’s no secret that the landscape of higher education is evolving rapidly, presenting universities across the country with both challenges and opportunities. At Â鶹ÊÓƵ, we are meeting our challenges head-on with creativity, adaptability, and a steadfast commitment to our mission. Although there is a lot of work yet to be done, we are seeing positive results in many areas.
Richard Bielawa III ’15, deputy attorney general, Appeals and Grand Jury Section, Pennsylvania Office of the Attorney General, Pittsburgh
Lindsay Ward ’08, morning news anchor, KDKA-TV, Pittsburgh
Phillip Schnarrs ’07, M’09, associate professor and associate chair for research, Department of Population Health, Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin
Corey Crocco ’10, co-owner, Flair of Country Catering and Event Planning and the Willow Wedding and Event Venue; managing partner, the Fifth Local Eatery and Alehouse, Johnstown
Lindsay Elise Matolyak ’12, team lead, Compositional Analysis Lab, PPG Industries, Inc., Pittsburgh
During Black History Month in February, Â鶹ÊÓƵ published an online story about the school’s first Black professor, Robert Vowels, a member of the Social Science faculty in the 1960s. A Baltimore native and World War II veteran, Vowels earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Howard University and his PhD from American University, all in economics. He had taught at Howard and worked for the US Treasury Department before taking the job at Indiana State College in 1963. Six years later, he left Â鶹ÊÓƵ for Clark Atlanta University, where he became dean of the school of business. Also active in local politics, Vowels helped with Maynard Jackson’s successful campaign for mayor in 1973. Following a return to the classroom in the 1980s, Vowels retired as a professor at Tennessee State University. He died in Nashville in 2014. 
According to Krout, an environmental engineering major from State College, “Receiving the scholarship allowed me to pay for housing over the summer for a very awesome internship experience working at a power plant in York. I gained invaluable knowledge in my experience working there, and it has sparked my interest in the energy sector so much that I would like to continue on this path after graduation.”