Indiana football head coach Curt Cignetti receives ringing endorsement from Nick Saban

After just four full days of its coaching search, the Indiana football program found its next head coach with Curt Cignetti.

After becoming the candidate with the most smoke behind his name on Wednesday, the official announcement was made on Thursday afternoon.

Cignetti comes to Bloomington from James Madison, where he was extremely successful in five seasons. In two seasons at the FBS level and three at the FCS level, he took the Dukes to a 52-9 record.

This season, Cignetti was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year after an 11-1 record.

But, his career goes beyond his James Madison years. In fact, he was on staff at what has now become the most dominant program in college football history.

Yes, Cignetti is part of the Nick Saban coaching tree — an extremely successful one at that.

On Thursday, Saban commented on Cignetti’s move to Bloomington.

“Having known Curt for what seems like most of his life, I am thrilled for he and Manette and the Indiana fanbase, and am excited for this opportunity for him,” Saban said in a statement. “I’ve really enjoyed getting to watch him grow since he was with us at Alabama. He’s been successful everywhere he’s been and I’m confident he’ll enjoy lots of success at Indiana. They’re not only getting a great coach, they’re also getting a coach who does things the right way. This is a great day for Curt and his family and I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

Cignetti spent four seasons as the wide receiver coach for Alabama from 2007-10, where he coached Julio Jones for three seasons and also was instrumental in the recruitments of running back and Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram and other key members of the 2008 recruiting class.

Alabama would win 29 regular season games in a row between 2008 and 2010.

Their relationship goes beyond just that, however. Saban was on Frank Cignetti’s staff, Curt’s father, at West Virginia in the 1970s.

“After year one, I had learned more from coach (Saban) about running a program: what to do, what not to do, how to do it, leadership, management, daily organization, how to recruit, how to practice, how to manage your team, how to manage your staff, the messaging component – really just learned an awful lot from him,” Cignetti said at Sun Belt’s Media Days last year. “I think (assistants under Saban who became head coaches) take quite a bit from what we learned, and then we tweak it to our personality, our situation or a specific time in football. So obviously, it was a real valuable experience.”

The newest Indiana football head coach is looking to turn around an IU program that has been at the bottom of the Big Ten in the last three years.

For Cignetti, losing is not part of his DNA. He has a career 119-35 record and has not had a losing season in his 13 years as a head coach.

“I am excited to lead this program forward and change the culture, mindset, and expectation level of Hoosier football,” Cignetti said in a statement in Indiana’s release. “I want to thank Director of Athletics Scott Dolson and President Pam Whitten, and I look forward to working with both in building something special at IU. Both share my vision and belief that big things are ahead for the IU program.”

SEE ALSO: ‘I’m too young to stop growing’: Curt Cignetti releases joint statement with JMU after accepting Indiana football head coaching position

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