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Curt Cignetti is an American football coach who is currently the head coach for the IUP Crimson Hawks of NCAA Division II, a position previously held by his father Frank Cignetti, Sr.

Playing career

Cignetti was a two-year letterman at West Virginia University. He won the Lewis D. Meisel Award for academic excellence and the A.C. Whitey Gwynn Award for spirit and character that especially contributed to team success.

Coaching career

After graduating from West Virginia, Cignetti also coached at the University of Pittsburgh for Hall of Fame coach Johnny Majors. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Pitt in 1983 under Foge Fazio. He has also coached at Davidson College, Rice University, and Temple University.

After his second stint at Pittsburgh, Cignetti spent seven years at NC State. In 2003, Cignetti coached ACC Player of the Year Phillip Rivers. Rivers went on to be the 4th player picked in the NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers. While there, the Wolfpack set a school record for wins in 2002 with 11 single-season victories, and also participated in five bowl games in seven years.

Cignetti was an original staff member of Coach Nick Saban's coaching staff at Alabama. The Crimson Tide won the National Championship in 2009 and was back-to-back SEC West Champions in 2008 and 2009. During this span, Alabama won 29 regular season games in a row.

Cignetti coached the two leading wide receivers in school history at Alabama, DJ Hall and Julio Jones. Hall broke school records for catches and yards with 67 receptions for 1,005 yards. In 2010, Jones broke Halls regular season record and finished out the season with 78 catches for 1,133 yards and as first-team All-SEC in 2010. On January 21, 2011, Cignetti was named to replace Lou Tepper as IUP's 11th head football coach.

Head coaching record

Personal life

Cignetti's father, Frank Cignetti, won 199 games as a head coach at West Virginia University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. At IUP, the elder Cignetti had thirteen ten-win seasons. Curt Cignetti’s brother, Frank Cignetti, Jr., also coaches football, and currently serves as the offensive coordinator at Rutgers.

References

1. ^ Deas, Tommy (January 21, 2011). "Cignetti to be named IUP coach". The Tuscaloosa News. Retrieved January 21, 2011.
2. ^ IUP Athletics. "Staff Directory: Curt Cignetti". IUPAthletics.com. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
3. "Philip Rivers finally makes it to NY". giantsfootballblog.com. November 5, 2009. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
4. Dave Mackall (January 22, 2011). "IUP names Curt Cignetti football coach". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved January 30, 2011.
5. Bob Fulton. "Geography Lesson". IUP Magazine. Retrieved January 30, 2011.

External links

• IUP profile

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• Living people
• American football quarterbacks
• Alabama Crimson Tide football coaches
• Davidson Wildcats football coaches
• IUP Crimson Hawks football coaches
• NC State Wolfpack football coaches
• Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches
• Rice Owls football coaches
• Temple Owls football coaches
• West Virginia Mountaineers football players