Curt Cignetti responds to rumors of NFL interest ahead of national championship

Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti made his feelings on the NFL clear: It’s not in the cards. A Pittsburgh native, Internet rumors spread like wildfire linking Cignetti to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who saw Mike Tomlin resigning after 19 seasons.

Cignetti is a college football lifer, and he’s going to stay that way. After all, he has Indiana 15-0 and with a win in Monday night’s national championship game against Miami, he can become immortalized in the sport.

“I’m not an NFL guy,” Cignetti said via On3’s Brett McMurphy. “I made this decision a long time ago. I’ve always been a college football guy.”

Cignetti is 26-2 in nearly two full seasons as Indiana’s head coach. Before that, he was 52-9 at James Madison2 p.m.-9 a.m. Elon and 53-17 to PUI. Overall, Cignetti is 145-37, so he wins. Google it, remember?

Cignetti coached a veteran-laden team at Indiana. Some credit the experience factor as the main reason the Hoosiers win, but they still have to play the game.

“No, I think it helps us tremendously, but it’s also what we’re looking for,” Cignetti said earlier this week. When I came in, you know, it was a quick process, a three-day hiring process. When I got here, we had 10 offensive starters in the transfer portal and one returner on defense. So we only had 40 scholarships left on the third day. So we had to knock hard on the gate. And we signed 22 guys who have all been starters for two or three years with consistent production. I knew we had reversed the list.

“And then every year as the high school recruiting builds up, you kind of start to move away from the portal a little bit. You’ll never get to a point where you’re not engaging with the portal anymore. And this year we’ll take a little less than last year and we took a little less last year than the year before. But I think the older, more mature guys who have played a lot of football, if they have the right stuff, which I don’t. Don’t bring it if they don’t, it’s an asset.

All the veterans, including quarterback Fernando Mendoza, this year’s Heisman winner and transfer from Cal, will be on display Monday night as Indiana looks to complete the perfect season. They face Miami at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.