Did you know? All of the coaches in the 2026 CFP semifinal are a product of the GOAT coach Nick Saban. Appearing on set ahead of the Fiesta Bowl, he was asked about the growing list of former assistants now running playoff contenders. His answer was precise and familiar to anyone who has ever worked under him. 

“All these guys were different,” Nick Saban said on ESPN College GameDay on January 8. “They all coached a different position… But they had some characteristics that were very similar. They had great competitive character, they were good people, they were good teachers, they could relate well with the players.”

That line framed a much larger reality shaping the 2026 playoff field. Five of the 12 playoff teams this year were led by Nick Saban products. Four remain alive in the CFP semifinals. Indiana’s Curt Cignetti. Oregon’s Dan Lanning. Ole Miss’ Pete Golding, and Miami’s Mario Cristobal. Then came the reminder that pressure was the curriculum.

“There’s one thing that they learned from me, it’s how to get your ass chewed out,” he added.

Curt Cignetti may be the clearest example of how that curriculum translates. He served as Alabama’s WR coach and recruiting coordinator from 2007 to 2011, part of Nick Saban’s inaugural staff. He helped recruit and develop Julio Jones and played a role in landing Mark Ingram. Recruiting, evaluation, and structure were his lanes. Today, that foundation is visible in Bloomington. He has led Indiana to a 25-2 record over two seasons after inheriting a 3-9 roster. He is a two-time Coach of the Year. 

“Four for four,” Cignetti said of Nick Saban’s assistants still standing. “There’s a lot of disciples out there doing well. That’s why he’s the greatest of all time.”

Dan Lanning’s path was different, and riskier. He spent just one season under Nick Saban, joining Alabama as a graduate assistant in 2015. He left a full-time job at Sam Houston State and took a pay cut to do it. Alabama won the national championship that year. He called it his “doctorate in football.” 

“Things I thought I knew,” he said, “I realized I didn’t know anything.” 

That lesson followed him to Georgia under Kirby Smart, and now to Oregon, where his defense-driven identity has carried the Ducks into the playoff.

The same Nick Saban influence is evident in Glendale, where Pete Golding and Mario Cristobal will meet in the Fiesta Bowl. Cristobal coached Alabama’s offensive line from 2013 to 2016, winning the Joe Moore Award in 2015 and earning 247Sports Recruiter of the Year honors. Golding ran Alabama’s defense from 2018 to 2022, winning a national title in 2020 and finishing top 20 in scoring defense every season. The Ole Miss head coach has been direct about what still matters. 

“There’s a toughness component, a competitive character component,” Golding said. “Holding guys accountable to a high standard. I think that’s pretty consistent with whoever is playing right now.”

That brings the story back to the field, where Nick Saban’s coaching tree now competes against itself for the sport’s biggest prize.

The 2026 CFP semifinals carry Nick Saban’s fingerprints

The Fiesta Bowl between Miami and Ole Miss on Thursday night in Glendale has a national championship berth on the line. The Rebels enter as the No. 6 seed after a Sugar Bowl win over No. 3 Georgia, a game Pete Golding controlled late for his second victory as a head coach. Miami, the No. 10 seed, knocked off No. 2 Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl behind a disciplined defensive effort and explosive rushing led by Mark Fletcher Jr. The two head coaches narrowly missed overlapping in Tuscaloosa. Now, one advances.

Friday night brings the Peach Bowl, where top-seeded Indiana faces Oregon. The Hoosiers won the regular-season meeting 30-20. The series is tied 2-2 all-time. Defense defines both teams. IU ranks second nationally in scoring defense and allows the third-fewest rushing yards. The Ducks sit sixth in scoring defense, ninth against the pass, and shut out Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl. Curt Cignetti and Dan Lanning know each other’s blueprint and only one will survive it.

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Nick Saban may have been removed from the sideline a couple of years ago. But his influence never left.