01/08/26 11:20:00
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01/08 11:18 CST Nick Saban's legacy lives on as his former assistants dominate
the College Football Playoff
Nick Saban's legacy lives on as his former assistants dominate the College
Football Playoff
By MAURA CAREY
AP Sports Writer
It's been two years since Nick Saban last took the field as a coach, but he
still has his hands all over the College Football Playoff, regardless of how it
shakes out.
Five of the 12 CFP teams this year are led by a coach who served directly under
Saban at one time or another. Four of them are still in the race: Curt Cignetti
at No. 1 Indiana, Dan Lanning at No. 5 Oregon, Pete Golding at No. 6
Mississippi, and Mario Cristobal at No. 10 Miami.
"Four for four," Cignetti said. "There's a lot of disciples out there doing
well. That's why he's the greatest of all time."
The disciples Cignetti speaks of are some of the most successful in the game.
Cignetti and the Hoosiers will face Oregon in the Peach Bowl. Across the
country, Cristobal's Miami Hurricanes and Golding's Ole Miss Rebels go
head-to-head in the Fiesta Bowl.
Kirby Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs were eliminated in the quarterfinals. Lane
Kiffin passed the baton to Golding after leading Ole Miss to the playoffs.
Brent Key's Georgia Tech team had a historic season and fell just short of the
ACC Championship game. Jimbo Fisher stepped away from coaching after a highly
decorated career.
Saban's disciples argue it's no coincidence.
"Everybody learned a lot from Nick," said Cignetti, who was Saban's initial
receivers coach and recruiting coordinator at Alabama. "He was a great mentor,
very organized, detailed; had a plan for everything. Managed lead, how to stop
complacency, game day, recruiting, recruiting evaluation, player evaluation. I
mean, he had it all. And if you were serious about your career and wanted to be
a head coach one day, you took great notes or great mental notes."
Lanning saw the value in learning under Saban from afar. He took a gamble,
leaving behind a full-time position at Sam Houston State and taking a pay cut
to accept a graduate assistant role with Alabama.
"When anybody asked me why, I said, ?I'm going to get my doctorate in
football,'" Lanning said. "Working for Coach Saban, just like Coach (Cignetti)
said, you learn so much. Things I thought I knew, I realized I didn't know
anything. I got to really carry that over with the opportunity to work with
Coach Smart, who built off of that as well at Georgia. And that was an
unbelievable experience for me, and obviously it shows here as we enter the
semifinals."
Similar sentiments are being echoed in Arizona, as Ole Miss and Miami prepare
for the Fiesta Bowl.
Golding and Cristobal narrowly missed each other in Tuscaloosa. Cristobal was
Saban's offensive line coach from 2013-16. Golding led the Crimson Tide defense
for five years, from 2018-22.
Cristobal says his time in Tuscaloosa opened his eyes to what college football
has become and what's necessary to run a successful program. But above all
else, he adapted Saban's mentality, and keeping that alive will always be a top
priority for him as a coach.
Golding doubled down. In an era where the life of a college football player can
be luxurious, keeping the traditional hard-nosed spirit of college football,
embodied by Saban for 17 years at Alabama, is key.
"There's a toughness component, a competitive character component to hold these
guys accountable and hold them to a high standard," Golding said. "I think
that's pretty consistent with whoever is playing right now."
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AP Sports Writer John Marshall contributed to this report.
___
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