If boyhood Curt Cignetti dressed up as his favorite football coach for Halloween, he probably would have been trying to imitate his father — Hall of Fame coach Frank Cignetti.
Fast forward 50-plus years, and now Curt is likely to be a popular choice for costumes this Friday across the Hoosier State.
One such Cignetti imitator has particularly stood out this fall, with the national television cameras discovering him on multiple occasions. That individual appears to be named Cory Miles, who met Cignetti at an alumni event in May. He has this photo posted on his Facebook page.
Miles has been at multiple Indiana games this fall with Cignetti’s full gameday look on — headset, red Adidas pullover, black pants and black shoes.
During FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff pregame show this past Saturday, Miles was welcomed beyond the fan barriers, shown on the camera, and described as “Not Curt Cignetti.”
We’ve got ‘Not Curt Cignetti’ in the house in Bloomington 🤣 pic.twitter.com/uJReWAhxaw
— Big Noon Kickoff (@BNKonFOX) October 25, 2025
On Monday the real Cignetti was asked about his impersonator.
A clearly tickled Cignetti broke from his 15 minute monologue about how this weekend’s opponent — Maryland — reminds him of the 70s Steelers.
He broke into a smile, and then laughter.
“Yeah, he’s pretty good,” Cignetti said of Miles.
So what did Cignetti dress up as for Halloween when he was a boy?
“I can remember, as a young kid, my mother making me a homemade Superman or Batman costume because back then we didn’t have a lot of money,” Cignetti said on Monday. “It was Superman, Batman.”
Much like his recruiting philosophy of production over potential, Cignetti said he wasn’t as concerned about his Halloween costume as he was his Halloween haul.
“I was a Snickers bar/Reese’s cup guy,” he said. “The costume wasn’t as important to as getting all the candy.”
For complete coverage of IU football, GO HERE.
The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”
- You can follow us on X: @daily_hoosier and find us on Facebook and Instagram
- Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.
