MIAMI — Indiana football offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan has his group hitting on all cylinders going into Monday night’s title game against Miami.
Shanahan has flourished calling plays as a longtime assistant under IU coach Curt Cignetti going back to their days together at James Madison.
With one of the top offenses in the country, the No. 1 Hoosiers (15-0) will look to complete a perfect season against the No. 10 Hurricanes in the CFP championship game.
Here’s what to know about Indiana’s offensive coordinator:
Indiana football locked up Mike Shanahan to a new deal ahead of CFP
Shanahan will make $2.4 million next season as part of a new three-year deal he signed in December. It will nearly double his salary from the contract he signed the previous season when IU awarded all of Cignetti’s assistants new deals with pay raises after a historic 10-0 start.
He would owe the university 50% of his then-annual salary if he leaves for another job any time before April 15.
The contract is fully guaranteed if he’s fired without cause, subject to mitigation.
According to the 2024 USA Today assistant coaches salary database, there were only nine assistant coaches in the country that made more than $2 million a year and the highest paid assistant made $2.5 million.
Indiana football’s Mike Shanahan not related to the Super Bowl winning coach
Shanahan is a Pittsburgh native who attended Norwin High School. He ended up attending college in his hometown state where he became one of the most decorated receivers in the program’s history.
The other Mike Shanahan, a two-time Super Bowl winner, coached on the same side of the ball, but has no relation to IU’s play-caller. The former Denver Broncos coach’s son, Kyle, is the current coach of the San Fransisco 49ers.
Indiana football’s Mike Shanahan has been on Curt Cignetti’s staff since 2016
After starting his coaching career as a Pitt grad assistant, Shanahan landed his first on-field job as Indiana-Pennsylvania receivers coach in 2016. He followed Cignetti up the coaching ladder from Elon and James Madison in the same roles.
He earned a promotion at JMU in 2021 as the team’s offensive coordinator and play caller, the same role he will have on Monday night.
Indiana is ranked No. 2 in scoring offense (42.6 points per game) and No. 11 total offense (461 yards) going into the title game with Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza under center.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
