Frank Cignetti Sr. (October 8, 1937 – September 10, 2022) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and coach. He served as the head football coach at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

from 1976 to 1979 and at

Indiana University of Pennsylvania Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) is a public research university in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. As of fall 2021, the university enrolled 7,044 undergraduates and 1,865 postgraduates, for a total enrollment of 9,009 students. The univ ...

(IUP) from 1986 to 2005, compiling a career

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

record of 199–77–1. Cignetti led the IUP Indians to the title game of the

NCAA Division II Football Championship The NCAA Division II Football Championship is an American college football tournament played annually to determine a champion at the NCAA Division II level. It was first held in 1973, as a single-elimination tournament with eight teams. The tourna ...

in 1990 and 1993. He was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

as a coach in 2013.

Early life and education

Cignetti was born on October 8, 1937. He attended the

(IUP) and played

and

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the IUP Indians. As an

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: **End (category theory) **End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron football) ...

on the football team, Cignetti was a

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n. Cignetti graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in 1960. He earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from IUP in 1965.

Coaching career

Cignetti's first coaching position was as an assistant for Leechburg High School's football team. He became Leechburg's head coach and coached them to the

Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) is an interscholastic athletic association in Western Pennsylvania. It is District 7 of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association. History The Western Pennsylvania Inte ...

Class 1A championship in 1965. From 1966 to 1968, he was an assistant with the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...

, where he coached their

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

s and wide receivers. He served as an offensive assistant for the

Princeton Tigers The Princeton Tigers are the athletic teams of Princeton University. The school sponsors 35 varsity teams in 20 sports. The school has won several NCAA national championships, including one in men's fencing, three in women's lacrosse, six in m ...

in 1969 and joined Bobby Bowden's coaching staff for the

West Virginia Mountaineers The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams that represent West Virginia University, an American university located in Morgantown, West Virginia. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I. The Moun ...

, coaching the

offensive backfield The offensive backfield is the area of an American football field behind the line of scrimmage. The offensive backfield can also refer to members of offense who begin plays behind the line, typically including any backs on the field, such as the q ...

. Cignetti succeeded Bowden as the Mountaineers' head coach in 1976 and coached them through the 1979 season. Though the team had won the

1975 Peach Bowl The 1975 Peach Bowl matched the 1975 West Virginia Mountaineers football team, West Virginia Mountaineers and the 1975 NC State Wolfpack football team, NC State Wolfpack. Background The Mountaineers had been ranked for four weeks and were undefea ...

, 32 of its players were seniors, and Cignetti had to rebuild the program. He had a record as West Virginia's head coach. In 1979, Cignetti was diagnosed with

lymphomatoid granulomatosis Lymphomatoid granulomatosis (LYG or LG) is a very rare lymphoproliferative disorder first characterized in 1972. Lymphomatoid means lymphoma-like and granulomatosis denotes the microscopic characteristic of the presence of granulomas with polymor ...

, a form of cancer. He had a

splenectomy A splenectomy is the surgical procedure that partially or completely removes the spleen. The spleen is an important organ in regard to immunological function due to its ability to efficiently destroy encapsulated bacteria. Therefore, removal of ...

and spent 35 days in the hospital. Cignetti was fired after the 1979 season, but recovered from cancer. In 1982, Cignetti returned to IUP as the director of athletics. He became the head coach of IUP's football team in 1986. He coached IUP to a record from 1986 to 2005. Under Cignetti, IUP won the

Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. The conference was originally formed in 1951 as the State Teachers C ...

West Division 14 times and did not have a losing season. IUP appeared in

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

's semifinals five times and in the championship game twice. In 1991, he was the Division II coach of the year. His team won 10 Lambert Cups, as the best Division II team in the eastern United States. Cignetti was inducted into the

in 2013. Also in that year, IUP renamed its football field in honor of Cignetti.

Personal life

Cignetti and his wife, Marlene, had four children. Frank Jr. played football for his father at IUP from 1985 to 1987. Cignetti Jr. is a former

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

for the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arri ...

. His son

Curt Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor. In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and i ...

was announced as the head coach for IUP on January 21, 2011, after serving four years as

wide receivers coach In American football, a position coach is a team official in charge of coaching a specific position group. Position coaches have more specialized duties than the head coach, assistant coach, and the Offensive coordinator, offensive and Defensive c ...

and

recruiting coordinator Recruitment is the process of filling job vacancies with people. Recruitment or recruiting may also refer to: *Recruitment (biology), the process of developing the next generation of organisms *College recruiting, the process in college athletics ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. Curt served as the head coach at

Elon University Elon University is a private university in Elon, North Carolina. Founded in 1889 as Elon College, Elon is organized into six schools, most of which offer bachelor's degrees and several of which offer master's degrees or professional doctorate d ...

from 2016 to 2018, and in December 2018 was named the eighth head coach of

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the institution was renamed Madison Coll ...

. In November 2023, Curt was named the 30th head coach at Indiana University. Cignetti died on September 10, 2022.

Head coaching record

Explanatory notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cignetti Sr., Frank 1937 births 2022 deaths American football ends College Football Hall of Fame inductees High school football coaches in Pennsylvania IUP Crimson Hawks football coaches IUP Crimson Hawks football players Sportspeople from Armstrong County, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches Players of American football from Pennsylvania Princeton Tigers football coaches West Virginia Mountaineers football coaches