Paul Tortorella is comfortable in his area of expertise.
For 22 seasons, Tortorella served as Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s defensive coordinator and consistently cemented the Crimson Hawks among the nation’s elite on that side of the football. The veteran coach continued that trend over the past eight seasons he has led IUP as its head coach.
When it came time to make changes to his offense following a disappointing 2024 season, Tortorella turned to another legendary IUP name with a singular focus.
Tortorella hired Frank Cignetti Jr. to return to his alma mater this season as offensive coordinator following 34 seasons coaching offenses from NCAA Division II’s Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference to Division I’s Power Four conferences and the NFL.
“It’s comforting as the head coach that’s a defensive guy to know that we’re in good hands with Frank running the offense,” said Tortorella. “He’s very in tune to it’s not just about the offense, it’s the total offense, defense and special teams. He’s like all of us; whatever he can do to help us win games, that’s what he’s going to do.
“I’m a big guy on experience,” he added. “To me, the No. 1 thing in playing and coaching is, experience is valuable. Obviously, his experience at this level is probably better than everybody’s.”
After graduating from IUP in 1988, Cignetti followed in his late father Frank Cignetti Sr.’s footsteps and began a coaching career with a one-year stint as a graduate assistant at Pitt. He then returned to IUP and served on his father’s coaching staff from 1990 until 1998 in several roles on the offensive side of the football.
Cignetti Sr. had an expansive coaching career, which began in 1960 in the WPIAL at Leechburg, included NCAA stints as an assistant coach at Pitt, Princeton and West Virginia before he settled in for 19 legendary seasons turning IUP into a national Division II power as its head coach. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013 and had the field at Indiana’s George P. Miller Stadium renamed in his honor in 2015.
“He kind of knows what we are all about,” Tortorella said of his newest coordinator.
Cignetti declined to be interviewed for this story, citing a wish to keep the focus on his players.
“I am excited to return to Indiana University of Pennsylvania as the offensive coordinator, a place that holds great meaning for both me and my wife, Ellen,” he said in a news release announcing his hiring. “I give thanks to coach Tortorella for the opportunity to come back to the program that gave so much to me as both a player and coach.”
Tortorella said Cignetti’s wealth of knowledge was immediately impactful.
Cignetti served as an offensive assistant with the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, New Orleans Saints, the former St. Louis Rams, New York Giants and Green Bay Packers. His lone experience as offensive coordinator at the professional level came under then Rams coach Jeff Fisher in 2015.
Aside from his time at IUP, Cignetti also has extensive NCAA Division I experience with stints at Fresno State, North Carolina, California and Rutgers to his credit. He also most recently served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Boston College from 2020-21 before returning to Pitt where he served in the same role from 2022-23.
“It’s been great,” said Tortorella of Cignetti’s return. “We have a lot of the same philosophies. We coached here together, obviously, back in the day.
“It’s been a great transition.”
And that began with Cignetti’s effect on the transfer portal, as IUP picked up two Division I transfers over the offseason who are expected to make a large impact on the Crimson Hawks offense.
Quarterback Matthew Rueve transferred to IUP and is set to be the Crimson Hawks starter after throwing for 2,646 yards and 26 touchdowns a season ago at Division II Findlay. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Cincinnati native played for Cignetti during his time at Boston College where he played from 2020-23.
“He recruited me to Boston College where I spent four years,” Rueve said. “I had two seasons with him there. It was a playbook that I really enjoyed being around. Even more so, I just enjoyed being around Cignetti. He was fun to be around every day. All the guys in the quarterback room and everybody on the offense, they really enjoyed being coached by him. So, having the opportunity to come back and be with him again at IUP, it was a no-brainer.”
Belle Vernon product Devon Whitlock was the second high-profile transfer to join IUP’s offense this season.
After throwing for 1,023 yards and nine touchdowns, while also rushing for 1,189 yards and 23 scores as a senior at Belle Vernon, Whitlock walked on at Pitt and was coached by Cignetti in 2023.
Whitlock is expected to be one of Rueve’s top targets in the passing game along with graduate student Maurice Massey. The 6-foot-4, 217-pound wide receiver caught a team-high 42 passes for 610 yards and eight touchdowns a season ago from former Crimson Hawks quarterback Karst Hunter.
“It’s going to be a team effort,” Rueve said. “We’re going to have to have all hands on deck on offense, and I think we have a very selfless group. These guys are hungry, and they’re going to do whatever it takes to go win.”
IUP also returns its top running back JD Younger, a Pittsburgh native and Central Catholic product, who rushed for 466 yards and seven touchdowns in 2024.
Westinghouse product Chance Battle — a 6-foot-7, 325-pound three-year starting tackle — is expected to lead the Crimson Hawks offensive line.
Tortorella said redshirt junior Upper St. Clair product Wyatt Kovell is also expected to be a major contributor on IUP’s offensive line along with graduate student center Matthew Nelson, who is an Indiana native.
“My first experience when I got here was these guys were hungry,” Rueve said. “These guys want to be champions, and the culture shows that, and I think it starts from the top down. They’re really just doing a great job of every day coming and attacking. It’s the brotherhood that IUP has.”
The Crimson Hawks open their season at 7 p.m. Thursday with No. 24 Ashland visiting George P. Miller Stadium in Indiana.
Although expectations for success are always high at IUP, Tortorella said his team is primed to face a perennial NCAA Division II playoff contender to open its season.
“I think we have to do a good job of just worrying about what’s next,” he said. “You can get caught up in goals and so forth, and we all have goals, but we’re just worrying about the next game and that’s the most important game.”
As much as IUP may be hoping to rebuild following its 7-3 campaign of a year ago, Slippery Rock enters the 2025 season as one of the nation’s top teams.
Coach Shawn Lutz, now in his 10th season, has the Rock ranked No. 4 across all of NCAA Division II football. Slippery Rock’s preseason ranking is tied with the 1999 team for the highest in program history.
The Rock experienced one of their finest seasons a year ago, advancing to the national semifinals where eventual national champion Ferris State had to erase an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat Lutz’s team.
This time around, though, Slippery Rock will have its work cut out for it in replacing many of its top playmakers from 2024.
Former quarterback Brayden Long — a two-time finalist for the Harlon Hill Award, which is presented annually to Division II’s top player — graduated and is now an assistant coach at Shippensburg. He threw for 3,470 yards, completing 65% of his passes, with 28 touchdowns and just eight interceptions in 2024.
Senior Anthony Vespo, a Northern State transfer, has the most experience among Slippery Rock’s current crop of quarterbacks with 22 NCAA games played, 2,644 yards and 16 touchdowns on his resume.
Long’s top four targets in the passing game all transferred to Division I schools, including most notably wide receiver Logan Ramper, who is now at West Virginia.
Tight end Kam Kruze, a West Allegheny product, who caught 40 passes for 327 yards and four touchdowns in 2024, also graduated along with Slippery Rock’s top rushers Idris Lawrence and Chris D’Or.
Returning wide receivers John Sabo, Xander McClure and Latrell Sutton are all expected to compete for significant targets in Slippery Rock’s passing attack along with Northwestern transfer Reggie Fleurima and Missouri Baptist transfer Joe White.
Blackhawk graduate Carson Heckathorn, a returning tight end, is expected to be a major contributor in the passing game as well.
Running back JayJay Jordan is expected to be the Rock’s top running back, with Quentin Harrison and Luke McCoy looking to contribute to the ground game as well.
Slippery Rock will crucially, however, look to lean on its veteran offensive line.
All-American left tackle Joe Cooper started every game for the Rock last season along with redshirt junior right guard Luke Pugliese, a Penn Hills product.
New Haven transfer Matthew Prudhomme is set to be the Rock’s starting center, while South Park native redshirt senior Eli Podgorski is set to start at left guard, and Jake Jonassen is set to return and contribute at right tackle.
Slippery Rock opens its season at 6 p.m. Friday with a contest against Franklin Pierce at Sodexo Field in Rindge, N.H.
After advancing to the NCAA Division II Super Region One championship game in 2024, California University of Pennsylvania will open its 2025 campaign with a No. 15 preseason ranking.
Gary Dunn, in his 10th season coaching the Vulcans, returns his top rusher from a season ago in sophomore Bobbie Boyd Jr.
The McKeesport product rushed for 938 yards and seven touchdowns in a breakout 2024 campaign and will look to lead a California offense that will have to replace former starting quarterback Davis Black.
The Vulcans will also lean on a veteran defense led by junior defensive back Keith Charney and linebacker Grant Hopple.
Charney recorded 56 tackles, 34 solo, in 2024 to go along with four interceptions and four tackles for a loss over his two-year career as a starter in the Vulcans defensive backfield.
Hopple, meanwhile, recorded 43 tackles, 23 solo, with three tackles for a loss in his first season as a starter in 2024.
California opens its season at 6 p.m. Thursday against No. 12 Charleston, W.Va., at Adamson Stadium in California.
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.