Cignetti retiring after 20 years at IUP
INDIANA, (Pa.) -- On Saturday afternoon, in the final college football game of the season for Indiana (Pa.), coach Frank Cignetti will attempt to win his 200th career game.
It also will be the final game of a distinguished career for Cignetti, who has announced he offically will retire afterward. The 68-year-old coach has compiled a record of 199-76-1 in 20 seasons at IUP and four at West Virginia.
"He's not going to get any sympathy from me, but he's got my respect," said California (Pa.) coach John Luckhardt, whose 7-2 Vulcans will provide the opposition at 1 p.m. at IUP's Miller Stadium. "What he's done over the years and to have the record he has is just remarkable."
Astonishingly, IUP (5-4), while out of the NCAA Division II playoff picture, is in the hunt for a share of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division title, despite the losses of numerous key players to offseason troubles.
IUP and California enter Saturday's game tied with Edinboro for first place, at 4-1, in the PSAC-West.
"It's remarkable, considering the year he's had," PSAC commissioner Steve Murray said. "I sent him a note (Wednesday) and said I certainly considered it a loss for the conference. He's set the bar high."
Cignetti, a native of Washington Township, Westmoreland County, has guided IUP to a Division II-record 28 postseason games, including five appearances in the national semifinals and two in the championship game.
His 1993 team suffered a last-second, 41-34 loss to North Alabama in the Division II title game.
"I would like to thank everyone who has supported the IUP football program, its players and coaches," said Cignetti, who has guided IUP to 14 PSAC-West titles. "Without the support of the presidents, administration, faculty, staff, community, alumni and friends, we couldn't have built this program into the success it has been over the years."
His 199 victories are third-most among current Division II coaches and his postseason record of 15-13 ranks second in victories all-time in D-II.
"He's always had exceptionally talented teams, which is a credit to what he's done," said Shippensburg coach Rocky Rees, a three-time PSAC-West coach of the year. "Frank was the right man at the right place for what they wanted to do there."
Cignetti, an IUP graduate who was an NAIA All-America end in football and played basketball as a member of the 1957-58 NAIA District 30 championship team, began his coaching career at Leechburg High School, where he led the team to a WPIAL Class A championship, coincidentally, with a victory over California in 1965.
He made his college coaching debut as running backs coach under coach Dave Hart at Pitt, where he spent three season from 1966 to 1968.
After a year as an assistant at Princeton, Cignetti moved on to West Virginia, where he served under coach Bobby Bowden for six seasons as offensive coordinator before becoming head coach when Bowden took over his current position as coach at Florida State.
But Cignetti managed only a 17-27 record in four seasons with the Mountaineers and was fired. While at West Virginia, he was diagnosed with cancer and miraculously beat the disease. Subsequently, he returned to IUP in 1982 as athletic director, a job he held until 1998. He took over the dual role of football coach of the Indians in 1986 and has compiled a record of 182-49-1, which does not include a losing season.
"Frank is a true champion, in every sense of the word," IUP President Tony Atwater said. "He has developed a program for which IUP can be most proud and has served our university with dedication and passion."
Don Olshansky, of Leechburg, remembers Cignetti as an innovator in a time when "everybody did the same thing." Olshansky first served as an assistant to Cignetti at Leechburg High School, where he later became head coach and also led the school to a WPIAL Class B championship.
"Frank was way ahead of everyone else in the Valley on the X's and O's," Olshansky said. "Before Frank came along, everybody played a "52" defense. You didn't even need to look at the film. Frank changed-up everything. He was a great coach. Everybody loved playing for him."
Olshansky paused at the thought, then did some changing-up of his own.
"People call it coaching. I call it teaching," Olshansky said. "Frank was a great teacher in the football classroom. A lot of things I did that was successful, I learned from Frank."
FRANK'S FACTS
Indiana (Pa.) football coach Frank Cignetti officially will retire following Saturday's season finale against California (Pa.). Cignetti's career highlights include:
