Curt Cignetti’s rise in the college football landscape has been a top storyline in the sport. In just a few short years, the 64-year-old has built Indiana into a true contender for the National Championship and has the Hoosiers on the verge of a second straight trip to the College Football Playoffs.
Now, with a seismic coaching carousel on the horizon this offseason, teams all over the country will be looking for their version of Coach Cignetti.
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg spoke to several people around or involved with Cignetti’s hire in 2023 to get an idea of what made him stand out in the process and what’s allowed him to be successful since. Rittenberg then gave a list of coaches that fit the mold, with two former Tennessee Football assistant coaches appearing among the names. One was a name on Josh Heupel’s staff, and the other dates back to Jeremy Pruitt’s first season on Rocky Top.
Before we get there, though, Rittenberg listed four main attributes in selecting his list of candidates. Those traits included:
- Winner at Multiple Levels
- A Hands-On Approach Toward Personnel
- A Clear Vision For the Program
- The Ability to Bring Along Key Assistants and Players
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The first of the two former Tennessee names on the list is former UT running backs coach Jerry Mack, who spent three seasons in Knoxville from 2021 to 2023. He was part of the staff that head coach Josh Heupel first assembled when he arrived in Knoxville, coming over from an associate head coach/offensive coordinator position with Rice. Mack was part of some big-time wins with the Vols and had plenty of playmakers in his room, such as Jabari Small, Tiyon Evans, Jaylen Wright, and Dylan Sampson.
Rittenberg believes that Mack’s journey might be the closest to Cignetti than anyone else on the list.
“A wide receiver at Jackson State and Arkansas State, Mack coached wideouts at multiple stops, including Memphis, before becoming a head coach at North Carolina Central, an HBCU, where he went 31-15 with four winning seasons, three MEAC titles and a Celebration Bowl appearance,” Rittenberg writes. “Mack then gained offensive coordinator experience at Rice before coming to Tennessee, where he coached running backs from 2021 to 2023. After a year in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars, he landed his first FBS job with Kennesaw State, which is 7-2 and 5-0 in Conference USA. Mack’s varied experience and ties to the South and Southeast make him an intriguing candidate for future cycles.”
The other name on the list with Tennessee ties is Tyson Helton, who spent one year as the Vols’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2018. Helton left Tennessee to become the head coach at Western Kentucky, where he has achieved a 55-34 record through seven seasons with the Hilltoppers.
“Consistency at the Group of 5 level isn’t easy, especially in the transfer portal era, but Helton has achieved it at Western Kentucky,” Rittenberg writes. “He has won eight or more games in five of his first six seasons with the Hilltoppers, and is 7-2 this fall. Although WKU hasn’t won a league title, it twice reached the Conference USA championship game and has consistently had one of the nation’s top passing offenses. Helton has spent most of his coaching career at the Group of 5 level, mostly at schools in the American Conference and WKU, but he also gained Power 4 experience at both USC and Tennessee.”
