$56.7 million head coach reveals Nick Saban's impact on college football career

A coach at a major college football program discusses the impact Nick Saban had on his career as a college football coach.

Jan 9, 2026; Atlanta, GA, USA; Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti reacts on stage after the 2025 Peach Bowl and semifinal game of the College Football Playoff against the Oregon Ducks at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

The stage is set for the 2025 College Football Playoff national championship game. No. 1 Indiana (15-0, 9-0) will square off against No. 10 Miami (13-2, 6-2) at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, on Monday night (7:30 p.m. EST, ESPN).

Indiana's overnight rise to national prominence has become one of the most dominant storylines across college football. Prior to 2024, the Hoosiers had never experienced a 10-win season, as the only close calls came in 1945 and 1967.

Curt Cignetti's arrival sparked a new age of Indiana football. He immediately led the Hoosiers to an 11-win regular season and their first-ever College Football Playoff appearance in 2024. In just his second season, Cignetti is one victory away from leading Indiana to a perfect season.

While the rise of Indiana has come out of nowhere, the rise of Cignetti in the head coaching ranks is 15 years in the making. Prior to his time at Indiana, Cignetti held head coaching jobs at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Elon and James Madison, compiling a 119-35 record along the way.

James Madison Dukes head coach Curt Cignetti walks the sideline during a game against the Appalachian State Mountaineers | David Yeazell-Imagn Images

Prior to his ascent into the head coaching ranks, Cignetti worked alongside Nick Saban at Alabama. An oft-forgotten member of the Saban coaching tree until recently, Cignetti was a member of Saban's first staff with the Crimson Tide. He served as the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator at Alabama until the end of the 2010 season.

An important skill Cignetti learned in his time with Saban in Tuscaloosa was the ability to evaluate players who best fit what the Crimson Tide needed. Cignetti discussed the details of the skill and how it has shaped Indiana's success prior to the national championship game in a media availability.

"When I was with Nick (Saban), there was an evaluation sheet, and supposedly when he was with (Bill) Belichick at the Browns, he had sort of come up with a sheet, or had a large impact on that, ankle, knee, hip flexibility, toughness at every position," Cignetti said.

"Ankle stiffness, hip stiffness, knee stiffness, fatal flaws, start-stop game, generate explosion from those three facets of your lower body. That would be the biggest things."

Cignetti is not the only coach in the 2025 College Football Playoff national championship to have learned under Nick Saban's tutelage as an assistant.

Following his firing from Florida International, current Miami head coach Mario Cristobal spent a four-year period in Tuscaloosa from 2013 to 2016. He served as the Crimson Tide's associate head coach, offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator before departing to Oregon in the 2017 offseason.

University of Miami Head Coach Mario Cristobal talks at Media Day during the College Football Playoff | Rich Janzaruk / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images