Nick Saban Drops Hilarious Line About What He Taught All Four CFP Coaches

Ryan Phillips | 18 Hours Ago

Nick Saban revealed what all four remaining coaches in the CFP learned from him. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Nick Saban knows all four of the head coaches remaining in the College Football Playoff well, and had a great line about what they all learned from him.

Hours before the Fiesta Bowl that will pit Miami against Ole Miss on Thursday night, Saban was asked to discuss the four coaches remaining. Indiana’s Curt Cignetti, Miami’s Mario Cristobal, Oregon’s Dan Lanning, and Ole Miss’s Pete Golding were all assistant coaches at Alabama under Saban, and all won national championships on his watch. He was the perfect guy to ask about their abilities.

Saban said the four guys were all different and coached in different ways, but had similar characteristics. all learned the same thing from him.

“They had great competitive character, they were good people, they were good teachers, they could relate well with the players, and there’s one thing they learned from me: it’s how to get your ass chewed out,” Saban said. “And I hope that they learned how to do it.”

“One thing that they learned from me, it's how to get your ass chewed out.” 😅

Coach Saban talking about his former assistants 😂 pic.twitter.com/TUwqMQ4Z3w

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) January 8, 2026

That’s just a perfect Saban line.

Each of the coaches did different things during their time at Alabama, but all got to work under arguably the best head coach in college football history.

Cristobal was at Alabama from 2013 through ‘16 as the offensive line coach and assistant head coach. He won a national title in 2015 as the team went 14-1, and beat Clemson 45-40 in the national title game. Cristobal left Tuscaloosa in 2017 to become the co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Oregon. He was promoted to head coach of the Ducks in 2018.

Golding was the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach of the Crimson Tide from 2018 through ‘22. They won a title in 2020 with Golding running the defense as they topped Ohio State 52-24 in the CFP national title game. He left to take over as the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach at Ole Miss in 2023.

Cignetti was the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator at Alabama from 2007 through ‘11. The team won national championships in 2009 and 2011 before Cignetti left to become the head coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Lanning was a graduate assistant under Saban in 2015 and was on the national championship staff with Cristobal. He left to become the inside linebackers coach at Memphis in 2016.

All four coaches have made a name for themselves outside of Saban’s shadow, but none of them are likely to forget what it felt like to get chewed out by him.

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