US EditionNick Saban's Legacy Lives on as His Former Assistants Dominate the College Football Playoff
Five of the 12 College Football Playoff teams are led by Nick Saban’s former assistants, reflecting his lasting influence on coaching and program success.
- This year, five of the 12 College Football Playoff teams are led by coaches who once served under Nick Saban, former Alabama head coach, two years after he last coached.
- Curt Cignetti said he and others learned much from Nick Saban, calling him a meticulous mentor who taught recruiting and player evaluation, while Dan Lanning left a full-time job to join Alabama as a graduate assistant to accelerate his development.
- Cignetti and the Indiana Hoosiers will face Oregon in the Peach Bowl, while Mario Cristobal's Miami Hurricanes meet Pete Golding's Ole Miss Rebels in the Fiesta Bowl.
- Kirby Smart, Georgia head coach, and the Georgia Bulldogs were eliminated in the quarterfinals, Brent Key, Georgia Tech head coach, narrowly missed the ACC title, and Jimbo Fisher, former head coach, stepped away after a decorated career.
- Cristobal and Golding trace core program lessons back to their time in Tuscaloosa, where Cristobal coached from 2013-16 and Golding led defense from 2018-22, emphasizing toughness and competitive standards.
38 Articles
38 Articles
Nick Saban jokes that former assistants learned how to get their ‘ass chewed out’ at Alabama
Nick Saban’s very healthy coaching tree will be on full display over the next few nights during the College Football Playoff semifinals, with all 4 of the remaining teams being coached by former Saban assistants. Whether it’s Miami head coach Mario Cristobal and Ole Miss’s Pete Golding at the Fiesta Bowl on Thursday night, or whether it’s Indiana’s Curt Cignetti and Oregon’s Dan Lanning at the Peach Bowl on Friday night, these CFP semifinals are…
Although he retired in 2024, the legacy of Nick Saban, one of the best coaches in NCAA's history of college football, is still more alive than ever. In Alabama, Saban built an authentic training school, from which multiple coordinators and head coaches emerged. It is no coincidence that the semifinals of College Football Playoff, which start from today, face four of them. Curt Cignetti, from Indiana; Dan Lanning, from Oregon; Pete Golding, from …
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