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Curt Cignetti press conference

Football

Elon Introduces Curt Cignetti as Head Football Coach

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Reaction to Introduction | News Conference Transcript

ELON, N.C. – Inside a packed Walker Room in Alumni Field House on Monday, Jan. 2, Elon University Director of Athletics Dave Blank introduced Curt Cignetti as the 22nd head coach in the history of the Elon football program.

Cignetti comes to Elon following a six-year stint as the head coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania where he led the Crimson Hawks to a 53-17 (.757) record, including a 33-11 (.750) mark in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. In 2011, Cignetti inherited a team that finished 4-10 against conference foes two years prior to his arrival. IUP made three NCAA Division II Playoff appearances in 2012, 2015 and 2016 and finished this past season ranked No. 12 in the nation. Cignetti helped the Crimson Hawks to a 4-3 record in postseason play, as well. It marked the first time IUP made back-to-back NCAA Playoff appearances since 2002-03.
 
IUP finished the 2016 season ranked first in the nation in passing efficiency (183.44), third in scoring offense (46.3 points per game), fourth in rushing offense (279.8 rushing yards per game), and 12th in total offense (489.6 yards per game). The Crimson Hawks also ended the year first in the country in turnover margin (+2.08) and third in third down conversion percentage (.566). IUP racked up 50 or more points in a game four times in 2016, including a 62-point outburst in the first round of the NCAA Playoffs.

He has also spent time on the staffs at the University of Alabama (2007-10), North Carolina State University (2000-06), University of Pittsburgh (1993-99 and 1983-84), Temple University (1989-92), Rice University (1986-88) and Davidson College (1985).



 
Reaction to Coach Cignetti's Introductory News Conference:
 

Below is a full transcript from the news conference:

Director of Athletics, Dave Blank
 
Good afternoon. Thank you all for being here despite the rain. You know, our campus looks good in the rain too, you know. And I've got to tell you something else. When Curt came down to visit with us, it was early in the morning, it was dark. So our campus looks good in the dark, too.
 
When this search started, it was about the obvious things. We're looking for integrity, we're looking for all kinds of the characteristics that you want in someone that's going to work with our people here at Elon. We wanted strong leadership, we wanted someone who had demonstrated a commitment to the experience of the student-athletes. But we also wanted to find somebody that had demonstrated that they know how to be a head coach – hopefully they're a current head coach and hopefully they're being successful as a head coach. It didn't take long to lead us straight to Curt Cignetti. It was somebody that we were interested from the beginning of our process and we couldn't be more thrilled to have Curt here on the end of our process.
 
In the situation as the research was being done, if you can imagine somebody that you're looking to secure for Elon University, who has grown up from day one doing what he wanted to do here, that's Curt Cignetti. Began at the breakfast table, talking with his dad and his brother and family members. Football every day of his life. Someone that has lived through this not only as a youngster, but also as a player and now as a coach, and through a great coaching career. But honestly, I like the part spending time with my dad. And I know how much I learned from my dad, and to know that's been the topic every day of his life, obviously gives him an edge. From his background, he obviously knows how to win a few football games. Exciting things. I won't read the entire bio, because I know it's already available, but I do want to hit the highlights.
 
He had several stints along the way early in his career – Pittsburgh, Davidson, Rice, Temple – but finally got into a longer stint as he returned to Pitt in 1993. Worked for a legendary coach in Johnny Majors, and you'll see that pedigree as we go through. In 2000, he moved to NC State and worked with Chuck Amato. Five bowl games out of seven seasons. He was the recruiting coordinator and the tight ends and quarterbacks coach there. Some of the players that he's recruited and developed, you all will recognize, particularly NC State names with All-ACC Player of the Year Philip Rivers and also bringing in two time All-Pro Bowler and quarterback of the champion Seattle Seahawks in Russell Wilson while he was at NC State. Curt's recruiting background has been unbelievable. Two of his classes at NC State during his time there in six years were ranked in the top 10 in the nation, with him as the recruiting coordinator. In 2007, he went to work as one of the original members for Nick Saban down at Alabama. You've heard of that place. He was a member of his staff there as the recruiting coordinator and also coaching the wide receivers. He brought in Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram and also a guy you saw on TV over the weekend in Julio Jones with Atlanta. Somebody that Curt brought in – he was the AP and SEC Freshman of the Year under Curt's tutelage. The 2009 team you may remember at Alabama won the National Championship in undefeated fashion. So you're getting the gist of a theme here of being around an awful lot of success. So in 2011, Curt arrives at IUP and I guess I should say returns to IUP, where he grew up and was around football an awful lot with his father.
 
In the two previous seasons, IUP was 11-11 and in conference play they were 4-10. In Curt's first season, they were 7-3, but across the six years that he's been the head coach at Indiana Pennsylvania, he's 53-17 and his teams were 33-11 in conference play. Six winning records in each of the seasons. They've been to the NCAA playoffs three times and each of the last two years have been involved in postseason play. This year's team finished 12th in the nation, so he's obviously done a great job there as the head coach.
 
Curt, we look forward to the leadership from you and the commitment from you to our student-athletes. We know that you'll provide the great leadership that they need and they desire. You'll find our student-athletes want to be successful as well, and we're looking forward to your leadership. We want to welcome your wife Manette, who's sitting right here in front. Curtis could not be with us today, their oldest child, but Carly and Natalie are both here. They're both on their way to doing great things. Student-athlete right now at IUP on the volleyball team and an aspiring physician, so we've got some talent around the family as well. So at this time, I'll turn it over to who you really came to hear, Curt Cignetti, our new football coach here at Elon University.
 
Head Football Coach Curt Cignetti
 
Thank you. Do I really need to say anything after that? Or is the press conference over?

Well this happened really fast and I'd like to thank President Lambert, Provost Steven House and Dave Blank. I've got to tell you, when I got the call to come down, I promised somebody I'd come down and talk, but I was very happy where I was. We'd had success. I had two great football teams coming back. I really thought the next two years, we'd win 20-28 games, and I really wasn't looking to make a move. But when I came down and saw the growth and development that has taken place at Elon since I was at NC State, and then met the people – President Lambert, Steven House, David Blank and Wes – and listened to their vision and looked with my eyes at what they had done over the last 10-12 years, it was very apparent to me that this was a dynamic, growing university led by someone that was a leader, had a plan and executed his plan. I looked around and I said to myself, 'Why can't you not get it done in football here? Why is football lagging behind the rest of the university in terms of that progress?' And I could not find an answer. So when I left the interview, my mindset had totally changed in terms of what I wanted to do.
 
I am humble, grateful and honored for this opportunity. I'm excited to get back to work or get to work. I've been working two jobs, really, for the last three days. And let me say something too about Dave. The athletic facilities under his leadership in the last 10-12 years – it's improvements – it's just incredible to me, so I feel great reporting to a person like Dave that accomplishes the things that he does.
 
What are we going to do with football? Well, we're going to build a championship program. We're going to create a great student-athlete experience and we're going to get people on the campus and in the community excited and on board. And that is what we're going to do. Now how are we going to do it, OK? Well, it's a process. It's a process. I'm the leader. It starts and ends with me. I'm fortunate to have been around a lot of great football people in my lifetime. I can't mention all of them. My dad, who I never actually worked for and is in the College Football Hall of Fame, and had so much wisdom in so many different things besides football. I'm so grateful to him and my mother.
 
The opportunity to work for Nick Saban, who I think accelerated my growth as a football coach exponentially. What I learned from him in one year was just incredible. I learned the blueprint. I understood the blueprint – it fit me and that's what we do. And Johnny Majors, who was a great influence on me as a young coach. And Chuck Amato, who provided great opportunity for me at North Carolina State.
 
OK, Elon football, the brand, what's it going to look like? Look, we're going to be an up-tempo, exciting team that plays fast and physical and relentless. We're going to change the culture around here. We're going to become relentless competitors. And there's going to be very high expectations and standards. Accountability and responsibility. High standards in everything that we do. Building a program is about two things: Recruiting and development. There's a lot of good student-athletes out there that fit Elon. It's our job to find the right ones and develop them. How do we develop them? We do that in our offseason, our weight program, how we coach, how we strategize. The way I'm going to go about doing my job is I'm all about the process. All we're doing is working daily to become the best we can be. Work smart, find an edge, be innovate, prepare. I'm a big believer in the process. I'm a big believer in finding the edge, and I'm a big believer in working smart.
 
I totally believe we will win here. We will win a championship here. There will be no self-imposed limitations and we will work daily to become the best we can be. Now, there was a day when people said Wake Forest could not win a championship. When I was at NC State, they did. There was a day people said Duke could not win a championship, and three or four years ago, they did. And the same thing was said about Northwestern, and six, seven, eight years ago, they did. My goal is not only to win a championship, but to build a sustainable program so the day I retire or leave – in 10 or 12 years, whenever that day is – that we have a sustainable championship program.  
 
Champions on the field and off the field, with the mission statement being we want to help our student-athletes develop the right thoughts, habits and priorities so they can create maximum value for themselves and society upon completion of earning their degree. We're going to work, we're going to find the edge and we're going to get it done. Thank you very much.
 
Questions from the media…
 
On what led to him pursuing the job…
 
The phone was ringing. The phone was ringing. We set the school record for points. We were third in the country in offense. We were first in the country in passing efficiency. We had done a lot of great things this year and the phone was ringing, and I was turning down opportunities – conference opportunities, other FCS opportunities. So I promised somebody, OK, I will go talk to the next one. And I just felt like I'll go talk for my professional development, just to kind of stay sharp, you know what I mean? But when I saw what was here, and the potential? Here we are.
 
On what he means by "finding the edge"…
 
Well, anybody that's played athletics knows about finding the edge. To me, it's all about finding the edge. Find the edge on your competition, working smart. I get up early in the morning. My wife will attest to that. Some crazy hours, sometimes. I like to work early, because that's when I get the most done. There's a lot of aspects in your program, the words that I've mentioned before – recruiting and development. Part of development is in-season game planning and strategizing. In recruiting, it's evaluation and sales. Finding the edge is just that little bit that might get you over the hump, and that's what we're trying to do every day.
 
On the process of building a coaching staff…
 
It's all about people. It's all about people at the university. It's all about people in leadership positions. It's all about the people in our program – our coaches, our players and our support staff. I'm sure there are some great people here. I'm sure there are. I've been doing this a long time and I know a lot of people that I think would fit and do very well here. So I'm going to work slow and methodically to put the best staff together that I think can make us the most successful, and we'll see what it looks like when it shakes out.
 
On if he will bring people with him from IUP…
 
I'm sure there's maybe a few that would like to come and I haven't made any decisions on any one. When this press conference gets over, I'm going to go visit with the current staff and get a feel for them. And then I've got to go back to Pennsylvania and tie up a couple things and come back down later in the week. 100 percent of my time is going to be devoted to starting to put the staff together.
 
On if he thought he could win a national championship at IUP…
 
Well when you play 11, I think you've got to win 16. We have a dynamic quarterback that has two years of eligibility that blew his ACL in the next to last game of the year. The only two games we lost, he had gotten injured. And we happen to have the best backup quarterback in the country that came in and led us to some huge victories and our first playoff win 62-13. We've got a lot of guys returning and there were two great years coming up.
 
On what makes Elon look like a championship program…
 
You've got to build a championship program. We're not a championship program right now or I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you – standing.
 
On when recruiting starts…
 
The current staff, we've got commitments. The current staff has been recruiting. I've been communicating with the recruiting coordinator to get a feel for where we're at and where we're going. We've got a recruiting weekend this week. We've got some needs. We've got a list. The process is ongoing right now and I'll start to jump in and get involved. 

– ELON –
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