Frank Cignetti Sr., who won 182 games as IUP football coach and served for more than a decade as the university's director of athletics, died Saturday morning in the Pittsburgh area after an extended illness. He was 84.
Cignetti, a 1960 graduate of IUP, came back to the university in 1982 as athletics director and then became the head football coach in 1986. In his 20 seasons leading IUP, he took the football program to the national stage, with 13 NCAA Division II playoff berths, 14 PSAC West Division titles, and two trips to the national championship game––in 1990 and 1993.
"Coach Cignetti meant so much to IUP, and I know IUP meant so much to Coach Cignetti," said IUP President Michael Driscoll. "He always strove to help the university any way he could and served as an outstanding ambassador for IUP and its student-athletes. The number of lives he impacted is too great to count, but it's easy to be seen by those who played for him, coached with him, or worked alongside him.
"We offer the Cignetti family our condolences and sincere gratitude for the way they all have always stayed close to IUP."