Curt Cignetti continues to have a fantastic start to 2026. After his Indiana Hoosiers won the national championship in January — the first in program history — a market review clause in his contract extension signed earlier in the season was triggered, giving the school 120 days to give him a raise to make him one of the three highest paid coaches in the sport. If Indiana didn’t meet that requirement, Cignetti’s buyout to leave the program would be negated. 

Unsurprisingly, Indiana made sure to do what was necessary to keep Cignetti and a new deal was agreed to on Friday, per ESPN, with Cignetti getting a raise to $13.2 million on a contract running through 2033. That is an increase of $1.6 million per year from the extension signed in October and moves Cignetti from fourth in the country at $11.6 million to being tied with Georgia coach Kirby Smart as the highest paid coach in college football. 

If there are no changes to the buyout structure of the agreement with the new deal, Cignetti figures to remain in Bloomington for some time. His current deal’s buyout structure calls for him to owe $15 million if he left before the end of the 2026 season, $12 million in 2027-28, $9 million in 2028-29, $4 million from 2029-30, $2 million from 2030-31 and $1 million from 2031-32. If either athletic director Scott Dolson or president Pamela Whitten are no longer in their roles, the buyout will go down by half. 

The Hoosiers moved quickly to keep Cignetti in Bloomington after the Penn State job opened up, and were more than happy to include the market review clause in his contract that would guarantee an increase if Indiana reached the College Football Playoff semifinal because it meant they were contending for a national title. For Cignetti, it was good business to ensure he was compensated in line with the elite coaches in the sport and to make sure Indiana’s investment in the program didn’t taper off after reaching new heights. 

That commitment was evident in another stellar transfer portal class signed before the national championship game. Now Cignetti gets his raise to the top of the college football coaching list, which was well-earned after cementing his place as college football’s best coach during Indiana’s championship run.