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During Nick Saban’s 17-year reign as arguably the greatest coach in college football, hundreds of coaches passed through his coaching clinic. When dissent surfaced within the staff, Saban had a simple response.

“You want to do it that way? Get you a head job, and you can do it that way. Aight?” Saban would tell his assistants.

Plenty of them heeded that advice and leveraged their work with the “Godfather of college football” into head coach roles. Four of those former assistants are now coaching in the College Football Playoff semifinals.

Each coach’s path through Tuscaloosa differed, but Indiana’s Curt Cignetti, Oregon’s Dan Lanning, Ole Miss’ Pete Golding and Miami’s Mario Cristobal have all credited Saban for elements they carried into their own programs.

“I feel like after one year with coach Saban that I learned more about how to run a program than I maybe did the previous 27 (years) as an assistant coach,” Cignetti said. “That’s why he’s the greatest of all time.”

Cignetti worked as Alabama’s wide receivers coach from 2007 to 2011, Lanning was a graduate assistant in 2015, Golding served as defensive coordinator from 2018 to 2022, and Cristobal was the Crimson Tide’s offensive line coach from 2013 to 2016. The group combined to win four national championships and eight SEC titles, earning plenty of tongue lashings from their head coach along the way.

“It’s no different than your players who go on to have success,” Saban told On3. “All four of these coaches did tremendous jobs when they worked for me. Some were with me longer than others, but it was obvious how much they loved the game, loved coaching and developing players and wanted to get better in their own right as coaches.”

Current FBS head coaches stemming from time under Nick Saban

Saban’s influence across college football extends far beyond just those four coaches, as 16 percent of current Power 4 coaches previously worked under Saban. That group includes Georgia’s Kirby Smart, LSU’s Lane Kiffin, Texas’ Steve Sarkisian, Georgia Tech’s Brent Key and Maryland’s Michael Locksley. Now-retired coaches such as Jimbo Fisher, Mark Dantonio and Butch Jones also emerged from Saban’s coaching tree.

During Saban’s 28-year college coaching tenure, 31 of his assistants went on to become FBS head coaches — a coaching branch the size of Yellowstone National Park. He has sown seeds that blossomed into millions of dollars in coaching salaries, nearly 3,000 collegiate games coached and several national championships won.

Saban created a simple pathway for newcomers trying to break into the coaching world, but also for retreads hoping for another opportunity: Just go through him.

Lanning said he took a pay cut to work at Alabama to get his “football doctorate.”

“At times, you almost feel like you’re dealing with a robot because of how methodical he is in his approach. He doesn’t get flustered,” Lanning said.

While some have thrived, other “seeds” never sprouted. Collectively, Saban’s proteges have gone 1,479-1,451 as collegiate head coaches. There have been notable successes, such as the coaches mentioned above, but others were never able to translate their experience under Saban into sustained success.

Saban’s former assistants have a combined .505 winning percentage as head coaches, trailing the coaching trees of Urban Meyer, Bob Stoops and Pete Carroll. None of those coaches has the expansive footprint of Saban (only Meyer comes close), but hiring a Saban disciple hasn’t guaranteed success.

The coaches who have succeeded did so by implementing their own visions for their programs, not by trying to replicate Saban. Lanning has recruited some of the top talent in the country and obsesses over consistency, Cristobal has built through Miami’s offensive and defensive lines, and Golding often mimics Saban’s verbal cues like “aight,” as well as his hand motions.

Then there’s Cignetti. Perhaps the most identifiable Saban clone that college football currently presents, Cignetti’s program-building mantra, attitude and discipline are eerily similar to his former boss. Since being hired in 2019 by James Madison, Cignetti has posted a Saban-like record of 77-11. This year, he has Indiana on the cusp of one of the most surprising titles in the sport’s history.

“I learned a lot from coach Saban in terms of organization and standards,” Cignetti said. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without my time under Nick.”

Two years ago, Saban retired amid the changing winds of college football. Still, on the eve of one of the most unexpected semifinals in the sport’s history, his presence will loom over college football’s biggest night.