BLOOMINGTON — Curt Cignetti received a six-year deal from Indiana University as its new head coach which is heavily incentive-based.
According to the memorandum of understanding obtained by The Daily Hoosier through a public record request, Cignetti will earn a $500,000 base salary every year through the end of his contract on November 30, 2029. Cignetti will also earn an average of $3.75 million in annual outside marketing and promotional income, as well as an annual $250,000 retention bonus beginning on November 30, 2024.
Cignetti’s contract value significantly increases with on-field success. For starters, every bowl game appearance during the contract term will trigger a one-year extension, “a $250,000 increase to the remaining outside marketing and promotional income payments, and a $500,000 increase to the budget for football staff personnel” — meaning for assistants and support staff, to be distributed at Cignetti’s discretion.
Cignetti’s contract also contains the following non-cumulative bonuses.
- $100,000 for winning five Big Ten games in a season, or $150,000 for six Big Ten wins.
- $250,000 for a top-six finish (out of the 18-team conference beginning next fall), $500,000 for a second-place finish, or $1 million for a Big Ten championship.
- $200,000 for a bowl appearance that isn’t part of the College Football Playoff, with an extra $50,000 if IU wins that bowl game.
- $500,000 for a College Football Playoff first-round appearance, $600,000 for reaching the quarterfinals, $700,000 for reaching the semifinals, $1 million for reaching the national title game, and $2 million for winning a national championship.
- $50,000 for winning Big Ten Coach of the Year, whether through the coaches vote or the media vote.
- $100,000 for winning any of the major National Coach of the Year honors (AP, the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award, Sporting News, Walter Camp, Maxwell Football Club, or ABC/ESPN).
Cignetti also receives a moving allowance of $25,000, and a $10,000 annual allowance “for the placement of personal orders for adidas product.” Additionally, he gets a total of 33 tickets for every football game — eight season tickets and 25 single-game tickets — along with three parking passes. Cignetti also gets four season tickets and two season parking passes for IU men’s basketball, and two season passes to all other home sporting events. He has full ownership of any youth camps he chooses to operate, and gets to keep all net proceeds from those camps.
The buyout on this contract quickly becomes smaller than the one IU had to negotiate down with Tom Allen.
- If Cignetti was fired before November 30, 2024, IU would owe him $20 million. If Cignetti resigned in this window, he would owe IU $8 million.
- If Cignetti was fired between December 1, 2024 and November 30, 2025, IU would owe him $17 million. If Cignetti resigned in this window, he’d owe IU $6 million.
- …between December 1, 2025 and November 30, 2026, IU would owe $14 million. If Cignetti resigned in this window, he’d owe IU $4 million.
- …between December 1, 2026 and November 30, 2027, IU would owe $9 million. If Cignetti resigned in this window, he’d owe IU $2 million.
- …between December 1, 2027 and November 30, 2028, IU would owe $6 million. If Cignetti resigned in this window, he’d owe IU $1 million.
- …between December 1, 2028 and November 30, 2029, IU would owe $3 million. If Cignetti resigned in this window, he’d owe IU $1 million.
The MOU is binding, and constitutes that both parties will “work together in good faith promptly to come to formalize these terms into a comprehensive employment agreement reflecting these and other relevant terms.”
