Curt Cignetti has been around football his entire life. His father is Frank Cignetti Sr., who, when Curt was born, was an assistant coach at Leechburg High School in Pennsylvania.
The elder Cignetti continued coaching while Curt was growing up. He became an assistant at Pittsburgh and Princeton before landing at West Virginia in 1970.
Frank was with the Mountaineers for five years before becoming the head coach in 1976. Curt had taken to football and played quarterback. The younger Cignetti joined his father at West Virginia and technically played for him for one year before Frank was fired amidst a battle with cancer.
Here is more on Cignetti’s college football playing career.
MORE: Where did Curt Cignetti coach before Indiana?
Did Curt Cignetti play football?
Yes, along with becoming one of the best coaches in college football, Cignetti himself did play college football. He played four seasons from 1979 to 1982.
Where did Curt Cignetti go to college?
Cignetti was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Despite the University of Pittsburgh being his hometown school, he went and played college football for West Virginia University. The two schools have had a rivalry since 1895 because they are so close to each other (about 75 miles apart).
MORE: Where is Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza from?
What position did Curt Cignetti play?
Cignetti played quarterback. Well, he was on the West Virginia roster as the quarterback. Due to the presence of Oliver Luck and Kevin White, Cignetti only played in one game over his four-year Mountaineer career.
Curt Cignetti college stats
Cignetti has had much more success as a coach than he did as a player. He didn't go to the NFL, and instead, immediately started coaching after college. This was likely in part due to the fact that he only played in one game. Cignetti registered only two stats, but tallied no total yardage for the Mountaineers.
| Year | Games | Completions | Attempts | Passing Yards | Pass TDs | INTs | Carries | Rush Yards | Rush TDs |
| 1981 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
MORE: Meet Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza's family
West Virginia QB depth chart in 1981
| Position | Player |
| 1 | Oliver Luck |
| 2 | Kevin White |
| 3 | Curt Cignetti |
| 4 | Bruce Gillard |
If you think you recognize the name Oliver Luck, you probably do. He is the father of former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck. The former quarterback was at West Virginia from 1978 to 1981, serving as the Mountaineers’ starter the entire time. Luck was a second-round pick in the 1982 NFL Draft by the Houston Oilers.
Ironically, the Mountaineers have two Kevin Whites in their history. The more well-known to younger generations is the Kevin White who was a wide receiver from 2013 to 2014 and a first-round pick of the Chicago Bears in 2015. The Kevin White that Cignetti played with at WVU was a freshman in 1981. He saw action in three games and threw for 58 yards with a touchdown on eight pass attempts. Overall, White played in 31 career games and threw for 2,093 yards with nine touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Gillard played in just one game in 1981 as a freshman. He kneeled the ball once and finished his sophomore season with one rush for negative-1 yards. Gillard played in 20 total games between 1983 and 1984 and finished his Mountaineer career with 493 yards, one touchdown and seven interceptions. He added 180 yards and a touchdown on the ground during that span.