As far as I can tell, no 63+ year-old head coach of a power conference program has ever packed up his belongings and left for a more demanding job. Cignetti going to Penn State would be breaking the mold, but that doesn't mean it won't happen. Paterno was 84 when he was fired for non-FB reasons, so Penn State might be receptive to an old guy, but Cignetti could be harder to convince. He could win 40% of his games going forward and still be a Bloomington legend for the remainder of his life and beyond.
Thats a great point. I don't have a dog in the fight, maybe you are right. But imo, Cignetti is not on the projection of the typical 63 year old. He started d2 coaching when he was 50. He is a bit of a late bloomer. If no one told you he was 63, I assume people thought he was 53 considering his career trajectory.
Ultimately, I think one could argue either way. Either he needs to hurry up and make it to an elite level program right now because of his age. Or he can consider Indiana the last stop because of his age.
IMO, playoffs might be a bigger obstacle for Cignetti vs age. If I were a PSU fan, the best scenario for me would be someone like Urban Meyer agreeing to start soon. Otherwise it might not have been wise to fire Franklin midseason.