FLORENCE, AL – Former IUP head football coach Frank Cignetti continues to add to his personal trophy case as he's been selected to the 2013 class of the Division II Football Hall of Fame, announced on Thursday morning. The induction will be held on Friday, December 20 at the 28th Annual Harlon Hill Trophy and Division II Hall of Fame Banquet.
This is the second Hall of Fame that Cignetti has been chosen to in the past few months as he was just inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame by the National Football Foundation on August 28 in Atlanta.
Cignetti is one of three inductees in this year's Division II class, joining former Valdosta State quarterback Dusty Bonner and former Jacksonville State tight end Keith McKeller.
The winningest head coach in IUP history, Cignetti led the then-Indians to unprecedented success during his 20-year tenure from 1986 to 2005.
It didn't take long for Cignetti to find success at IUP, leading the Indians to conference titles in his first two seasons in 1986 and 1987 and subsequent Division II national title game appearances in 1990 and 1993. He took IUP to 13 Division II playoffs appearances, including six trips to the national semifinals, and he led the Indians to at least a co-share of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division title 14 times. Under his tutelage, IUP ranked in the Top 20 each season from 1986-2004, achieving undefeated regular seasons in 1991 and 1993. He retired after the 2005 season as the third-winningest active coach in Division II. His career record as a Division II coach was 182-50-1 for a 78.3 winning percentage.
Cignetti's teams received the Lambert Cup 10 times as the top Division II team in the East. He was named the PSAC West Coach of the Year five times and the Kodak College Division Regional Coach of the Year three times en route to earning Chevrolet Division II National Coach of the Year honors in 1991. Cignetti coached 11 First Team All-Americans and 124 first team All-PSAC performers.
Cignetti served as the offensive coordinator at West Virginia University under College Football Hall of Fame coach Bobby Bowden from 1970-75 before taking over as the Mountaineers' head coach for four seasons (1976-79). The former NAIA All-American, who played end at IUP from 1956-59, was an inaugural member of his alma mater's athletics hall of fame in 1996, and he served as the school's athletics director from 1982-98.
Established in 1999, the Division II Football Hall of Fame inducted former Division II players annually from 1999-2009 before inducting its first class of coaches in 2010. This year's inductees brings the total number of players inducted to 31 and the total number of coaches to five.
The inductees were chosen by a selection committee and the official announcement was made Thursday by Division II Football Hall of Fame Chairman Jeff Hodges.
The banquet is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (Central) at the Marriott Shoals Conference Center in Florence, Ala.
