Nick Saban Coaching Tree: 5 of 8 Remaining CFP Teams Coached by Former Alabama Assistant originally appeared on Sports news. Add The Sporting News as Favorite source by clicking here.
The 2025 College Football Playoff is down to just eight teams, after a first round that saw Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Tulane and James Madison eliminated in the first four games.
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One of the eight remaining teams is Alabama Crimson Tidewho won their first CFP game since 2022, and first under second-year Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer. DeBoer succeeded the legendary Nick Saban after his retirement in January 2024.
While Saban may not be coaching in this year’s playoffs, his fingerprints are all over several remaining teams. That’s because five of the eight head coaches remaining in the postseason have coached under Saban at some point during their careers.
Here’s how several of Saban’s former assistant coaches ended up in this year’s CFP.
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Kirby Smart, Georgia
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Head coaching file: 117-20
Kirby Smart had two different stints with Nick Saban. His first came to LSU in 2004, as the Tigers’ defensive backs coach. The Tigers were one season away from the national championship that year and finished 9-3.
After a one-year stint with the Miami Dolphins in 2006 under Saban, both coaches returned to the college ranks, this time at Alabama. Smart remained on the Crimson Tide staff from 2007 to 2015, becoming the team’s defensive coordinator in 2008.
During his seven seasons with Alabama, the Tide won four national championships. Under Smart, the Tide still had one of the most dominant defenses in the country. Smart, also known as an excellent recruiter, won the 2012 AFCA FBS Assistant Coach of the Year award. He was named the highest-paid defensive coordinator in college football for the 2013 season, leading the Tide to another national championship in 2015.
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“I’m not sure anyone can match what Nick Saban has done in terms of preparing coaches, preparing them to run their own programs,” Smart said. said earlier this month.
“For me, it’s about the mentor aspect,” Smart added. “Can I call this coach whenever I need to, even though I’m now coaching against him in the same conference, if I have questions or need advice? He’s a real influence. And I think that’s the relationship we’ll all tell you with him.”
Georgia will face a familiar opponent in the second round, No. 6 Ole Miss, who the Dawgs beat 43-35 earlier this season.
Lane Kiffin and Pete Golding, Ole Miss
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Kiffin Experience: 1997 to present
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Kiffin’s coaching review: 116-53
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Golding experience: 2006 to present
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Golding’s coaching review: 1-0
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Lane Kiffin is not coaching Ole Miss through this year’s playoffs, but is instead serving as head coach at LSU. But Kiffin deserves credit for leading the Rebels to this point. The Rebels finished with 11 wins and earned a playoff berth for the first time in school history.
Kiffin was hired by Saban in 2014 as the Tide’s offensive coordinator for three seasons. He successfully aided the Tide’s transition from a run-heavy offense to a pass-and-read-option style attack. He helped Alabama win a national title in 2015, while coaching Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa. He was a finalist for the Broyles Award, given annually to the nation’s top assistant coach, in 2014.
As for Pete Golding, he helped secure a CFP victory for the first time in school history with Ole Miss’ 41-10 victory over Tulane in the first round. Golding served as Alabama’s defensive coordinator from 2018-2022, helping the Tide win a national championship in 2020.
MORE: How Lane Kiffin made $100,000 with Ole Miss’ CFP win over Tulane
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Mario Cristobal, Miami
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Head coaching file: 95-78
Mario Cristobal began his head coaching career at Florida International from 2007-2012, finishing 27-47 at the struggling South Florida program. After being fired, Saban hired Cristobal, where he served as Alabama’s assistant head coach, offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator from 2013-16.
Cristobal helped the Tide win three national titles during his stay. But what Cristobal did as a recruiter was even more impressive, helping Alabama rank as the No. 1 recruiting class in 2011 and 2012. He also finished as 247Sports’ top recruiter in 2015.
As recently as this season, Cristobal bragged about his ability to recruit at Alabama under Saban:
Cristobal took over as Oregon’s head coach in January 2017.
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MORE:Ranking of the eight CFP 2025 teams
Dan Lanning, Oregon
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Head coaching file: 47-7
Oregon head coach Dan Lanning’s experience with Saban and Alabama isn’t as extensive. Lanning only had one season with Saban, coaching his team as a graduate assistant for 2015.
Alabama won a national title that season, while Lanning coached with other aforementioned guys like Kiffin, Cristobal and Smart. Still, Lanning spoke about the impact learning from Saban had on him.
“I worked for him for a year, that’s it, but it gave me this cheat sheet of every possible situation you can think of,” Lanning said. said in a recent ESPN profile. “Whatever the question is for him, his answer is like a teacher’s lesson. ‘Dan, when I was faced with this, these are the three things I did…’ He always has that answer. He’s a leader.”
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After his season at Alabama, Lanning went on to coach on the Memphis and Georgia teams – along with Smart – before becoming the head coach at Oregon in 2022.
MORE:Revisiting Dan Lanning’s career and D-II college position
Curt Cignetti, Indiana
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Head coaching file: 143-37
Curt Cignetti was on Nick Saban’s first team at Alabama from 2007 to 2010. In Nick Saban’s first season in Tuscaloosa in 2007, the Tide finished 7-6. In 2008, Alabama went 12–0 in the regular season, losing to Florida in the SEC Championship Game. In 2009, the Tide finished a perfect 14-0 and beat Texas in the BCS title game.
In Cignetti’s fourth and final season at Alabama, the Tide finished 10-3 with losses to South Carolina, LSU and Auburn. At Alabama, Cignetti coached Julio Jones, who played alongside quarterback Greg McIlroy and running back Mark Ingram.
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In 2011, Cignetti voluntarily left Saban’s staff to accept a head coaching position at Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Cignetti has spoken about this decision in the past, revealing that he didn’t want to be an assistant head coach forever.
“We had two kids going to college, and it was a 60 percent pay cut,” Manette Cignetti said. “It’s not about the money for me, but it’s: How can I make what (the kids) want to achieve?”
She told Curt, “You can’t take this job.”
Saban had a similar reaction. You can get lost there, he warned. But Cignetti had absorbed enough of the great coaches — Saban, Johnny Majors at Pitt, Frank Sr. — to know he was ready to become one. That attraction eventually brought him back to IUP.
“We don’t see this development in this sector,” he said. “I took a chance and woke up many mornings wondering what I had done. But I was going to succeed.”
In just two seasons, Cignetti has led Indiana to two consecutive CFPs, including first place overall this year.
MORE:Best Quotes From Curt Cignetti to Indiana, “Google Me” to Michigan, to Ohio State
