INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana coach Curt Cignetti reflects on his time as an Alabama assistant coach nearly every day.
He believes his four seasons working with Nick Saban helped him learn how to prioritize organization, avoid complacency and maintain high standards. In fact, Cignetti thinks it’s a primary reason he’s preparing for his first Rose Bowl as a head coach.
Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer feels similarly about the one season he spent at Indiana. He developed tight bonds there with fellow staff members who eventually followed him to Tuscaloosa and helped orchestrate the 11th-ranked Crimson Tide’s impressive comeback at No. 8 Oklahoma last weekend.
On New Year’s Day, Cignetti, the two-time AP Coach of the Year, will square off against Saban’s replacement in Pasadena, California, vying off for a spot in the College Football Playoff semifinals — against the schools that helped put them on this stage.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without my time under Nick,” Cignetti said Monday. “We had great years there. We took over a team (that was 6-7), we went 7-6 and 12-0 the next year in the regular season. We fell short in the SEC (title) game to (Tim) Tebow and Florida and Urban (Meyer), then had a rematch the next year and beat them and won the national championship at the Rose Bowl.”