Indiana football’s Curt Cignetti gets real on potentially coaching in NFL

The Indiana football team is preparing to play in the national championship game on Monday, of the College Football Playoff. Indiana is the no. 1 seed and plays Miami (FL), who has had an amazing run in the CFP.

Despite that upcoming game, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti was asked about something else by reporters. Cignetti was asked if he has any interest in coaching in the NFL. His name has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Mike Tomlin with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Cignetti shut down that notion.

“I’m not an NFL guy. I made that decision a long time ago. I’ve always been a college football guy,” Cignetti said, per On3.

Cignetti is in his second season at Indiana. He has led the Hoosiers to the CFP in both seasons.

Indiana has a chance to do something very special in the College Football Playoff

The Indiana football team can finish the season with a 16-0 record if they win the title game. Indiana already won the Big Ten championship this season, in a heavyweight fight with Ohio State.

“I think that’s what drives him,” Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson said about Cignetti’s chance to go 16-0, per The Herald-Times. “And it’s an everyday thing.”

Cignetti has immediately built a winning culture at Indiana. He took over a Hoosiers football team that had little to cheer about for many years. Before arriving at Indiana, Cignetti coached at James Madison, Elon and Division II school Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

The Indiana coach also has the respect of his peers.

“Curt knows exactly who he is,” one Big Ten general manager said, per CBS Sports. “He knows how he wants to build his roster. It gets harder and harder every year to stick to your guns in the transfer portal in a win-now world. That’s where you obviously commend them for what they’re doing. They know the type of guys they want to bring in that locker room, and they’ve found a way to identify that — and they’re still rolling.”

Indiana and Miami play Monday night at 7:30. The Hoosiers defeated Alabama and Oregon to reach the title game.

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