| Biographical details | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1937-10-08)October 8, 1937 Apollo, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | September 10, 2022(2022-09-10) (aged 84) McCandless, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Playing career | |
| 1957–1959 | Indiana (PA) |
| Position | End |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1960–1961 | Leechburg HS (PA) (assistant) |
| 1962–1965 | Leechburg HS (PA) |
| 1966–1968 | Pittsburgh (assistant) |
| 1969 | Princeton (assistant) |
| 1970–1975 | West Virginia (assistant) |
| 1976–1979 | West Virginia |
| 1986–2005 | IUP |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 199–77–1 (college) 32–9 (high school) |
| Tournaments | 15–13 (NCAA D-II playoffs) |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| 2PSAC (1986–1987) 14PSAC Western Division (1986–1988, 1990–1994, 1996, 2000–2004) | |
| College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 2013 (profile) | |
Frank Cignetti Sr. (October 8, 1937 – September 10, 2022) was an Americanfootball player and coach. He served as the head football coach atWest Virginia University from 1976 to 1979 and atIndiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) from 1986 to 2005, compiling a careercollege football record of 199–77–1. Cignetti led theIUP Indians[a] to the title game of theNCAA Division II Football Championship in 1990 and 1993, but lost them both. He was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2013.
Cignetti was born on October 8, 1937.[2] He attended theIndiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) and playedcollege football andcollege basketball for theIUP Indians. As anend on the football team, Cignetti was aNational Association of Intercollegiate AthleticsAll-American.[3]
Cignetti graduated with abachelor's degree in 1960. He earned amaster's degree from IUP in 1965.[4]
Cignetti's first coaching position was as an assistant forLeechburg High School's football team. He became Leechburg's head coach and coached them to theWestern Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League Class 1A championship in 1965. From 1966 to 1968, he was an assistant with thePittsburgh Panthers, where he coached theirquarterbacks andwide receivers.[5] He served as an offensive assistant for thePrinceton Tigers in 1969[6] and joinedBobby Bowden's coaching staff for theWest Virginia Mountaineers, coaching theoffensive backfield.[7]
Cignetti succeeded Bowden as the Mountaineers' head coach in 1976 and coached them through the 1979 season.[5] Though the team had won the1975 Peach Bowl, 32 of its players were seniors, and Cignetti had to rebuild the program. He had a 17–27 (.386) record as West Virginia's head coach.[8] In 1979, Cignetti was diagnosed withlymphomatoid granulomatosis, a form of cancer.[9][10] He had asplenectomy and spent 35 days in the hospital.[11] Cignetti was fired after the 1979 season, but recovered from cancer.[12]
In 1982, Cignetti returned to IUP as the director of athletics. He became the head coach of IUP's football team in 1986.[4] He coached IUP to a 182–50–1 (.783) record from 1986 to 2005.[5] Under Cignetti, IUP won thePennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division 14 times and did not have a losing season. IUP appeared inNCAA Division II's semifinals five times and in the championship game twice.[3] In 1991, he was the Division II coach of the year.[5] His team won 10Lambert Cups, as the best Division II team in the eastern United States.[13]
Cignetti was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 2013.[14] Also in that year, IUP renamed its football field in honor of Cignetti.[15]
Cignetti and his wife, Marlene, had four children.[12]Frank Jr. played football for his father at IUP from 1985 to 1987. Cignetti Jr. is a formeroffensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for many NFL and college teams, most recently thePittsburgh Panthers. His son,Curt, was announced as the head coach for IUP on January 21, 2011, after serving four years as wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator at theUniversity of Alabama.[16] Curt served as the head coach atElon University from 2016 to 2018, and in December 2018 was named the eighth head coach ofJames Madison University.[17] In November 2023, Curt was named the head coach atIndiana University Bloomington.
Cignetti died on September 10, 2022.[18][2]
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Rank# | AFCA° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia Mountaineers(NCAA Division I / I-A independent)(1976–1979) | |||||||||
| 1976 | West Virginia | 5–6 | |||||||
| 1977 | West Virginia | 5–6 | |||||||
| 1978 | West Virginia | 2–9 | |||||||
| 1979 | West Virginia | 5–6 | |||||||
| West Virginia: | 17–27 | ||||||||
| IUP Indians(Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference)(1986–2005) | |||||||||
| 1986 | IUP | 9–2 | 6–0 | 1st(West) | 14 | ||||
| 1987 | IUP | 10–2 | 6–0 | 1st(West) | LNCAA Division II First Round | 6 | |||
| 1988 | IUP | 8–3 | 5–1 | T–1st(West) | LNCAA Division II First Round | 14 | |||
| 1989 | IUP | 11–2 | 5–1 | 2nd(West) | LNCAA Division II Semifinal | 9 | |||
| 1990 | IUP | 12–2 | 6–0 | 1st(West) | LNCAA Division II Championship | 4 | |||
| 1991 | IUP | 12–1 | 6–0 | 1st(West) | LNCAA Division II Semifinal | 1 | |||
| 1992 | IUP | 8–1–1 | 5–0–1 | 1st(West) | 12 | ||||
| 1993 | IUP | 13–1 | 6–0 | 1st(West) | LNCAA Division II Championship | 4 | |||
| 1994 | IUP | 10–3 | 6–0 | 1st(West) | LNCAA Division II Semifinal | 8 | |||
| 1995 | IUP | 8–3 | 5–1 | 2nd(West) | 19 | ||||
| 1996 | IUP | 8–3 | 5–1 | T–1st(West) | LNCAA Division II First Round | 10 | |||
| 1997 | IUP | 5–5 | 4–2 | T–2nd(West) | |||||
| 1998 | IUP | 10–2 | 5–1 | 2nd(West) | LNCAA Division II First Round | 8 | |||
| 1999 | IUP | 9–4 | 5–1 | 2nd(West) | LNCAA Division II Semifinal | ||||
| 2000 | IUP | 8–3 | 5–1 | T–1st(West) | LNCAA Division II First Round | 15 | 12 | ||
| 2001 | IUP | 8–2 | 6–0 | 1st(West) | LNCAA Division II First Round | 8 | 8 | ||
| 2002 | IUP | 11–2 | 6–0 | 1st(West) | LNCAA Division II Quarterfinal | 6 | 8 | ||
| 2003 | IUP | 10–1 | 5–1 | T–1st(West) | 6 | 9 | |||
| 2004 | IUP | 7–3 | 5–1 | T–1st(West) | |||||
| 2005 | IUP | 5–5 | 4–2 | T–3rd(West) | |||||
| IUP: | 182–50–1 | 106–13–1 | |||||||
| Total: | 199–77–1 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth | |||||||||
| |||||||||