The details of Curt Cignetti’s new contract with IU have revealed some notable figures.
The Daily Hoosier obtained a copy of the memorandum of understanding between Cignetti and IU outlining the new deal via a public records request. Indiana’s head football coach is set to make an average of $8 million per year of the eight-year contract, with his income increasing by $200,000 each year.
This MOU doesn’t mention any specifics about facility upgrade commitments, though reports of future improvements surfaced in the days after Cignetti’s contract was announced.
Assistants
The new contract contains significant financial increases for Indiana’s assistant coaches and staff.
The Hoosiers have committed $11 million per year for the football program’s on-field staff and support staff, to be allocated at Cignetti’s discretion. Per USA Today, Ohio State ($11.43 million) is the only known school whose assistant salary pool is higher than IU’s new figure.
When Cignetti hired his staff last offseason, he made defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Bryant Haines the highest-paid coordinator in IU history, giving him $1.1 million in total. Offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Mike Shanahan is making $800,000 this year, and Indiana’s other position coaches salaries average just under $500,000.
The increased $11 million pool gives Cignetti the ability to give his assistants raises, and plenty of financial might to fill any positions vacated after the season.
Buyouts
If IU fires Cignetti without cause, the university will owe him 85 percent of remaining money owed for the remainder of the contract. But that figure increases to 100 percent if the Hoosiers make the Big Ten Championship Game or the College Football Playoff during any season under this contract, including the current 2024 campaign.
Cignetti’s buyout to the university if he resigns before the contract’s expiration decreases nearly every year. If Cignetti resigns between Dec. 1, 2024 and Nov. 30, 2025, he’d owe IU $13 million. The figure in ensuing years is as follows.
- Dec. 1, 2025 through Nov. 30, 2026: $10 million
- Dec. 1, 2026 through Nov. 30, 2027: $9 million
- Dec. 1, 2027 through Nov. 30, 2028: $8 million
- Dec. 1, 2028 through Nov. 30, 2029: $6 million
- Dec. 1, 2029 through Nov. 30, 2030: $3 million
- Dec. 1, 2030 through Nov. 30, 2031: $3 million
- Dec. 1, 2031 through Nov. 30, 2032: $1 million
Bonuses
On top of his base salary and annual outside, marketing, and promotional income, Cignetti will make an an additional $1 million annual retention bonus.
Unlike Cignetti’s original contract, a bowl appearance no longer triggers an automatic contract extension nor salary increases.
The non-cumulative performance-related bonuses under this new contract remain unchanged from Cignetti’s original contract.
- $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, $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).
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