BLOOMINGTON, IN – Coach Curt Cignetti took the college football world by storm last season. In his first year, the Hoosiers went from a three-win afterthought to a College Football Playoff appearance.
“Coach Cig” has brought energy and belief to a fanbase that had all but given up on the dream of competing for a Big Ten title or even a National Championship.
Cignetti memes and nicknames have also taken hold around the university. Playing off the “Cig” sobriquet and his three pack a day habit, the students and fans of all ages have embraced cigarettes like a 1950’s Hollywood starlet.
“It’s just amazing what he’s done for this football program,” said superfan Hunter Young. “I bring my Marlboro logo shirt and a carton of smokes to every tailgate.”
In honor of Cignetti, Indiana University Athletics is gifting autographed packs of his favorite cigarette, Marlboro Reds, to the first 1,000 fans at this Saturday’s matchup against Kennesaw State.
“IU Athletics is proud to partner with Philip Morris USA to bring our fans our little closer to the Coach who has already done so much for this program,” stated IU Athletic Director Scott Dolson. “I’ll say this: Coach Cig is a winner, and he’s also a smoker. Now, I don’t know if it’s correlation or if it’s causation, but we’re not taking any chances; winners smoke, and we want our fans to be winners.”
IU has suspended its campus wide smoking ban indefinitely.
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