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Com TW NOw News 2024

Curt Cignetti bonuses with millions eligible for Indiana Bowl
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Curt Cignetti bonuses with millions eligible for Indiana Bowl

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Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti’s first season with the Hoosiers is off to a multi-million dollar start.

The Hoosiers’ 41-24 win Saturday at Northwestern improved their record to 6-0, continuing their best season opening since 1967 and making them the first college football team to qualify for a bowl game this season.

Assuming they appear like this, Cignetti’s contract with Indiana requires a series of incentives to take effect:

▶An automatic one-year contract extension and a $250,000 pay increase, effective at the start of his next contract year, December 1, 2024.

The increase means the additional contract year is now expected to be worth $5.1 million and will add at least $3.3 million in guaranteed value to the deal, which would run through November 30, 2030.

▶A $200,000 bonus payable after this season.

▶A $500,000 increase over the current budget for assistant coaches, strength coaches and operations staff in Indiana, beginning January 1, 2025. (This season, the assistants will now each receive a bonus in an amount equal to 10% of their respective basic salaries.)

This amounts to a decent return for Cignetti, who made just over $555,000 as James Madison’s head coach last season, not including a $120,000 retention payment he didn’t get because he signed with Indiana in December 2022.

Cignetti’s deal with Indiana was originally scheduled to last six seasons, with a projected value of $27 million.

The deal includes a number of other possible bonuses that, in a best-case scenario, would total $3.3 million. For example, if the Hoosiers are now 3-0 in Big Ten play, if they get two more conference wins, Cignetti would take home another $100,000. If they finish in the top six of the conference standings, he will get another $250,000.