It was the one thing that had evaded them both.
Despite one legendary coaching career that already put Frank Cignetti, Sr. in the College Football Hall of Fame, and another that has his son on his way — neither Frank or Curt Cignetti had one a national championship at any level.
13 times Frank took Indiana University of Pennsylvania to the Division II Playoffs. He won 199 games and reached the national final twice.
But he never won a championship.
For a while Curt appeared to be on the same path. He followed in his father’s footsteps at IUP, then Elon, and then James Madison before coming to Indiana.
In the aggregate Curt made eight NCAA Tournaments at the first three schools and reached a championship game himself.
But like his father, despite incredible success year after year, Curt hadn’t won it all.
That all changed on Monday night in Miami, as Curt won his first national title at the game’s highest level, and delivered the first crown for Indiana at the same time.
After IU quarterback Fernando Mendoza kneeled for the final time to seal IU’s 27-21 win over Miami, Curt gestured to his father, who passed away in 2022.
“I thought about him after the game when I stuck my two fingers in the air,” Cignetti said following the game.
Some of Frank’s happiest moments late in life came watching his son follow in his footsteps as one of college football’s greatest coaches.
“When we went from FCS to FBS (at James Madison) in the Sun Belt, our first game he was in a coma, and we beat that FBS team 48-10 in the opener. My family told him in the hospital that we had won 48-10, and they said he smiled,” Cignetti said. “And then we had a great win against Appalachian State the week after he died down there after they beat A&M. We were down 28-3 in the second quarter, and came back and won.”
The family legacy was already set. The Cignettis are winners.
But on Monday in Miami, Curt added champion to the family name.
He hopes he brought his father joy one more time.
“Hopefully he was watching today,” Curt said. “He was a great role model. I was very blessed to have a father like that.”
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