Nick Saban left the sidelines, but his shadow still looms over college football playoffs. Four remaining head coaches who once learned under him are in the semifinals; that shows his influence. Now, ahead of their clash, Curt Cignetti and Dan Lanning didn’t dodge the truth; they credited Saban’s discipline, standard, and shaping of how they head now!

“Four for four. You know, I think everybody learned a lot from Nick,” Indiana’s HC Curt Cignetti said to media in a Zoom press conference. “He was a great mentor, very organized, detailed, and 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, you know, if you were serious about your career and wanted to be a head coach one day, you know, you took great notes or great mental notes.”

“You know, in my time, I was working in Sam Houston State before I went to Alabama and was going to take a pay cut to go be a GA there,” Oregon’s head coach Dan Lanning added. “And when anybody asked me why, I said, I’m going to get my doctorate in football. And that’s what I feel like, you know, working for Coach Saban. Just like Coach said, you learn so much.”

Cignetti made it pretty clear that all his beliefs, methods, and game plans come from Nick Saban, as he credits 95% of his philosophies to him. He even made it pretty clear that he wouldn’t be where he is today without his time under Saban. Now, you know why he confidently says, “Google me, I win,” after leading 15 straight winning seasons across multiple programs.

And in just two seasons he took Indiana to two playoff berths, won a Big Ten title, produced a Heisman Trophy winner, Fernando Mendoza, and is in the semifinals with a perfect 14-0 score. Curt Cignetti’s and Nick Saban’s ties go way back in time.

He was part of Nick Saban’s first coaching staff at Alabama in 2007. Cignetti was there till 2010, serving as a wide receiver and recruiting coordinator for the program. He developed All-Pro Julio Jones and helped them win the 2009 BCS national championship. Later on he went to test all those learnings at his head coaching jobs at IUP, Elon, and James Madison.

The same goes for Dan Lanning, who worked as a graduate assistant under Nick Saban at Alabama in 2015, a year that he described as “the most influential year of my career.” He made it pretty clear that it helped him learn more about football than at any other point in his coaching life. Saban’s consistency pushed Lanning to work even harder and make an impact. His consistency and work ethic inspire him to date.

“I’ve never been more impressed with the consistency of a coach than Coach Saban,” Lanning said. “Just watching him every day, it was almost robotic how well he was able to move, but robotic and adaptable.”

Even after leaving Alabama, Lanning stayed in contact with Saban and regularly consults him for strategic and leadership insights. Saban advised him to define his own identity and “figure out what your non-negotiables are,” which helped him stand out as a leader at Oregon. Even Pete Golding and Mario Cristobal had their own learnings under Saban and gained valuable learnings that are now showing up.

But with playoff buzz on one side, Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer is facing a tough situation.

Kalen DeBoer faces massive backlash for wrong call

Alabama and Indiana met for the first time in program history on the Rose Bowl stage, and the game turned into Kalen DeBoer’s worst nightmare. The pressure to enter the playoffs was already massive; on top of it, one wrong call just made matters worse for him. When DeBoer chose to go in on fourth and 1 from Alabama’s 34-yard line instead of punting the ball.

That aggressive call backfired when a shovel pass from Daniel Hill to Germie Bernard fell short. This gave Indiana the ball, and four plays later, Indiana took advantage by scoring a touchdown, which gave them a 10-0 lead in the second quarter. That call drew massive backlash for Kalen DeBoer to such an extent that during halftime he had to address the adversity.

“Unfortunately, we’ve been in this spot before… We’ve got to come out of the locker room,” Kalen DeBoer said to ESPN. “The momentum is not in our favor right now. I know what our team is made of, and I know what our character is, so we’ll come out fighting.”

Fans also praised Indiana’s defense, which made Alabama run for their lives. The Hoosiers entered the Rose Bowl, allowing just 10.8 points per game and ranking among the nation’s top red zone defenses. They carried the same momentum against Alabama, too, as they totaled only 93 yards in the first half, averaging 3.9 yards per snap, and never reached the red zone.

Those moments in the game made things worse for Alabama, and Kalen DeBoer’s tenure came into question once again. Now, let’s wait and see how things turn around for them in the 2026 season.