If someone had to be crowned as the hero of the 2025 season, it would be Curt Cignetti. It’s no surprise considering the coaching tree he comes from. Cignetti is easily one of the most successful of Nick Saban’s prodigies. But he left him helping lay down the foundation for the juggernaut that Alabama would become. Ahead of the Peach Bowl, the veteran coach addressed that exit.

Cignetti worked under Nick Saban at Alabama from 2007 to 2010. He developed Saban’s receivers during that pivotal time and also headed recruiting operations.

The Indiana head coach was easily one of the most critical men on his staff. But when he announced his decision to take a head coaching role at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Saban had his concerns.

“I remember him telling me where he was going, IUP, and thinking that’s a big drop from coaching in the SEC,” Saban told On3. “But he wanted to be a head coach. He was ready to be a head coach, and it tells you a lot about the belief he had in himself that he would take a job at that level at a place that hadn’t had great success.”

At Alabama, Cignetti unearthed gems like Julio Jones, Mark Ingram II, and Dont’a Hightower. He was giving up a position at a national championship-winning program on track to become an even bigger one. At IUP, he was looking at a team whose wheels had fallen off under his predecessor.

But he took the risk nonetheless, having served as an assistant for 28 years. Curt continued the legacy of his father (Frank Cignetti) at IUP, who remains the winningest coach of the program.

The younger Cignetti started with a 7-3 record but went 12-2 in the next season and won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship. Since then, he hasn’t had to look back. Ahead of the Peach Bowl, Cignetti’s total record stands at 144-37 over 15 seasons as head coach. His success rivals that of Nick Saban, who was 145-53-1 in 17 seasons.

The former Alabama coach told On3 that he hasn’t spoken to Cignetti much since he left. It’s been 15 years since they parted ways, but Cignetti has given Saban a lot of reasons to be proud of. He turned around two football programs for good: James Madison is now an FBS team, and Indiana is the No. 1 favorite to win the 2025 National Championship.

“That’s what he’s done his whole career, take programs that weren’t football hotbeds and turn them into winners,” Saban said.

He will, however, get a chance to talk to Cignetti in the Peach Bowl as a College GameDay host. And while Saban is there, he might witness his prodigy emerge as the next best coach to come after him. This was all possible because Cignetti took the risk of leaving Saban on that eventful day.

Curt Cignetti credits Nick Saban for his success as head coach

Curt Cignetti, after a patient few decades, has emerged as one of the best coaches in college football. Though he spent only four seasons with Nick Saban and hasn’t been in much contact with the latter, Cignetti continues to hold him in extremely high regard. Ahead of the Peach Bowl, he even credited the legend as being the reason he could become a head coach.

“He was a great mentor, very organized, detailed; he had a plan for everything,” Cignetti said about his learnings from working under Saban. “He managed lead, how to stop complacency, game day, recruiting, recruiting evaluation, player evaluation. He had it all. If you were serious about your career and wanted to be a head coach one day, you took great notes or great mental notes.

So, I felt like after one year with Coach Saban, that I had learned more about how to run a program than I maybe did the previous 27 as an assistant coach, and stayed with him for three more years.”

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Curt Cignetti is the senior-most head coach in the semi-final lineup. Over the years, he has become one of the most prominent alumni of the Nick Saban school. Considering Cignetti’s current momentum, he may continue to maintain it for the near future.