Former IUP head coach Frank Cignetti can now add “Hall of Famer” to his list of career achievements.
Cignetti is ranked as the winningest coach in IUP history. He led his team to back-to-back PSAC titles in just his first two seasons as the head coach and then enjoyed a twenty-year career with IUP. He also took the team to two National Title games in 1990 and 1993. His list of achievements including taking IUP to the Division II playoffs 13 times, going to the National Semifinals six times, and IUP held or shared the PSAC title 14 times in twenty years. His team won the Lambert Cup, given to the best DII team in the East, 10 different times and Cignetti was named PSAC West Coach of the Year five times. When he retired, he was third on the active list of wins in all of Division II.
Cignetti used his time as offensive coordinator at West Virginia to become the head coach at WVU before coming back to IUP. Cignetti played for IUP in the fifties and later served as athletic director before taking over as head coach of the football team in 1986. He was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 1996 and continued to coach until 2005.
Cignetti joins Jim Haslett and former coach Chuck Klausing as representatives in the College Football Hall of Fame from IUP.
His son, Curt, is the current head coach at IUP and his other son, Frank Jr., is the quarterbacks coach for the St. Louis Rams.
Photo Credit: Indiana Gazette
