Frank Cignetti, Jr., Pitt’s new offensive coordinator sounded all the right notes on his introductory press conference — loyalty, local ties, family and returning home.
“Anybody that knows me, knows that Pitt is my dream job,” Cignetti Jr. said at a news conference yesterday in which he was introduced as the new offensive coordinator.
“This is home. This is like hitting the lottery, not only professionally but personally, for my family, my wife and our kids. It can’t get any better than this: to be a part of the University of Pittsburgh again, living in this great city and working for a great coach like Dave Wannstedt.”
Cignetti, who was a graduate assistant at Pitt in 1989, was the offensive coordinator at the University of California last season.
“It is great to be back at a place with such great tradition both academically and athletically,” Cignetti said. “Being familiar with the city sparked the initial interest, but the bottom line is, to leave a good job, which I had, you have to take a better job. And there is no doubt in my mind that there is a great future and tradition here.”
And to prove it, he confirmed that he took less money to do it.
Cignetti, who worked under coach Jeff Tedford at Cal, admitted he took a pay cut to come to Pitt. He said his compensation package is “competitive” but it is likely in the $250,000 range, which is about where the Panthers’ coordinators have been in recent years.
Cignetti’s base salary at Cal was $168,000, but his total compensation package was in the $350,000-$400,000 range with a $77,000 assistants bonus built into Tedford’s contract, an $80,000 talent fee, $10,000 from camps and the potential to earn $69,500 in merit bonuses.
“If you just look at the base salary, of course [I took a pay cut],” Cignetti said. “But when you look at the cost of living, that’s where you have to make a decision. And there are so many things that are more important than money. How important it is to live back at home, to have my kids grow up around their grandparents, my wife’s family, their cousins — to me, you can’t put a price tag on that, to me, that is priceless.”
And of course, he wanted to come to a good program.
Cignetti said he talked to Cavanaugh “at length” about the job.
Their philosophies are similarly rooted in the West Coast offense, with an emphasis on minimizing turnovers while employing a power-run game complemented by play-action passes.
“What we would like to do,” Cignetti said, “is be a great, physical, downhill run team.”
Cignetti, who will be the primary play-caller after working for offensive-minded Cal coach Jeff Tedford, said he believes the Panthers have all the ingredients to become a Big East and national championship contender.
“The bottom line is, to leave a good job, you’ve got to take a better job,” Cignetti said. “There’s no doubt that at Pittsburgh there’s a great future, a great tradition. Coach Wannstedt was the right man to work for and get this job done.”
Cal Coach Jeff Tedford released a statement on Cignetti.
“Frank did a good job for us in his one year here,” Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. “His family ties are very strong and this is a great opportunity for him to get back to his hometown and for his kids to grow up with both sets of grandparents.
“He has aimed to get back there for some time and we wish him well.”
As the West Coast paper pointed out, this is arguably a bigger opportunity for Cignetti (even if he denies it).
The Pittsburgh job may also be more of an opportunity for Cignetti to make an impact. Although he was the coordinator at Cal, Tedford was still heavily involved in offensive game planning. Pittsburgh coach Dave
Wannstedt is a defensive-minded coach, meaning Cignetti may be able to make more of an imprint on the program.
But Cignetti said that didn’t play a role in his decision.
“It was no factor,” he said. “Jeff Tedford has been awesome. Working for him the last year has been unbelievable. Just because Jeff was an offensive-minded guy and Dave is a defensive-minded guy — that had nothing to do with this decision. This was just a great opportunity to work at a great institution and do it while being close to my family.”
Given that Tedford is an offensive oriented coach, the concern from Cal fans is not vast nor are they expressing much in the way of relief at his departure. Obviously since he was only there for a year it would be hard to completely gague his impact, and thus reasonable fans to take it in stride. Especially since he made the move as much for family reasons.
I expect that Pitt fans would have had a similar reaction if Pitt lost DC Bennett after one year as some expected. No one would have begrudged Bennett going — since presumably it would have been — back to K-State under Snyder or somewhere in Big 12 country to be closer to his family.
This looks like a solid hire. I don’t care that much about the local ties, having spent time as a grad assistant at Pitt. All of limited importance. It plays well for storylines and selling it to boosters and alumni groups. The fact is, he could be from Hawaii, and all that it comes down to is his abilities as a coach, coordinator and recruiter. In those fronts he has a solid to very good looking record. That’s what makes me think this is a good hire.
