BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football’s Big Ten title win and latest College Football Playoff berth has triggered a series of bonuses for coach Curt Cignetti in the contract extension he signed back in October.
The bonus structure was identical to his previous contract that outlined bonuses for his team reaching certain conference milestones and playing in the CFP along with Cignetti winning notable coaching awards.
Cignetti’s maximum bonus payout is $3.3 million in one season, and he’s already in line to receive $1.9 million.
Here’s a look at what bonuses IU will have to pay out:
Cignetti earned $150,000 for IU winning six games in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers set a program record with nine conference wins this season. He will also receive a $1,000,000 bonus for winning the Big Ten championship, the program’s first league title since 1967. Cignetti earned a $50,000 bonus for winning Big Ten Coach of the Year. He swept the award for a second straight season by winning the Hayes-Schembechler Coach of the Year (voted on by coaches) and Dave McClain Coach of the Year (voted on by media). Indiana‘s coach earned $100,000 for winning the Walter Camp Coach of the Year award. He’s the first coach in history to win the award in back-to-back seasons. He completed a near-sweep of national coaching awards last year and could pull off the same feat this season, but the bonus just pays out for winning one of the major national coach of the year awards. He could earn up to a $2,000,000 bonus depending on where IU finishes in the College Football Playoff, at a minimum he will earn $600,000 for reaching the quarterfinals. The bonus is structured to pay out $700,000 for reaching the semifinals and $1,000,000 for finishing as the CFP runner-up.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.