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Vanderbilt

Mark Byington reflects on his friendship with Curt Cignetti, time at James Madison

Byington mugby: Alex Byington01/15/26_AlexByington

Curt Cignetti — and his meme-able scowls — remains the talk of the college football world after leading No. 1 Indiana (15-0) to its first-ever national title appearance in next Monday’s College Football Playoff national championship game against No. 10 Miami. But Cignetti isn’t the only former James Madison head coach making waves in their second season as a part of the Power Four.

Vanderbilt men’s basketball coach Mark Byington, who coached at JMU from 2020-24, has the 10th-ranked Commodores off to a blazing 16-1 start to the 2025-26 season and were undefeated before Wednesday night’s road loss to Texas. Byington opened up his relationship with Cignetti during a recent postgame press conference following last Saturday’s home win over LSU.

“We’re good friends, we were there the entire time at James Madison together. Coach Cignetti is a, uh, you’ve got to get to know him,” Byington said Saturday. “I think when you see him on (TV) and his quotes and reactions, all these other things, (but) he is a football guy through and through. We had a good relationship at James Madison; we used to bounce ideas off of (one another). I texted him the other day when he won Coach of the Year, and they’re the team I’m cheering for right now. I hope they pull out a national championship.”

Th 64-year-old Cignetti has completely transformed Indiana football — and the Big Ten hierarchy — in just two seasons in Bloomington. In that time, the Hoosiers have gone 26-2 overall, including a perfect 15-0 this season en route to securing the program’s first-ever national championship game in football. That included Indiana winning its first Big Ten championship since 1967. Cignetti had a similar run at James Madison, where he went a combined 52-9 over five seasons with the Dukes between 2019-23, including an 11-1 run in 2023 before being hired by the Hoosiers.

Around the same time, Byington went a combined 82-36 in four seasons at James Madison between 2020-24. That included a stellar 32-4 campaign in 2023-24 to secure the Dukes’ first NCAA Tournament bid since 1983 — a string of more than 40 years.

Now in his second season in Nashville, Byington and the ‘Dores (16-1, 3-1 SEC) will look to return to their winning ways Saturday at home against No. 19 Florida (12-5, 3-1 SEC), the defending NCAA national champions. The game tips at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN.