Greg Schiano hired the sixth offensive coordinator of his Rutgers tenure yesterday, plucking Frank Cignetti Jr. out of the mess that is the Pittsburgh coaching debacle.
Pittsburgh, the preseason favorite to win the Big East, underachieved in going 7-5 during the regular season as its offense finished a so-so 72nd in Division I. But Schiano’s Scarlet Knights will settle for so-so after co-coordinators Kirk Ciarrocca and Kyle Flood oversaw a disastrous unit that ranked 114th out of 120 teams this past season and was a big reason Rutgers finished just 4-8, missing a bowl for the first time since 2004.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to join Coach Schiano’s staff at Rutgers,” said Cignetti, 45, who is expected to scrap the spread and direct a return to a more power-based pro-style offense. “I am anxious to get to New Jersey and start working with the student-athletes, coaches and support staff.”
Flood is a highly regarded offensive line coach who got a nominal promotion, and Cignetti replaces Ciarrocca. In Cignetti’s first season with Pitt in 2009, the Panthers’ 32.1-point scoring average was one of the five best in school history. The year before, he coordinated a Cal attack that averaged 33 points per game en route to a 9-4 mark.
“Frank brings a wealth of knowledge and experience as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach to our program,” Schiano said in a release. “We are thrilled to welcome him and his family to our Rutgers football family.”
Cignetti also has been the offensive coordinator at North Carolina (2006) and Fresno State (2002-05), leading the latter to four straight bowl games and Top 10 offensive finishes in his last two campaigns. He also had a pair of stints as an NFL quarterbacks coach with the Saints (2000-01) and 49ers (2007).
Cignetti follows Jeff Hafley as the second assistant plucked from Pitt, which fired head coach Dave Wannstedt last month and then axed his replacement Mike Haywood on Saturday in the wake of a domestic abuse arrest. Hafley, 31, is a Montvale native largely responsible for Pitt’s recent recruiting prowess in New Jersey.
