Curt Cignetti Reflects on Tenure with Tide Ahead of Rose Bowl

Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti has experience playing for championships, serving as the Crimson Tide's wide receivers coach from 2007 to 2011 under former Alabama head coach Nick Saban. Cignetti won two national championships and one SEC championship as a member of Saban's staff in Tuscaloosa.

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14 seasons later, Cignetti is back competing for a national championship as the head coach of his own program: the Indiana Hoosiers. Cignetti led the Hoosiers to an undefeated regular season in 2025 before defeating reigning national champion Ohio State in the Big Ten championship to clinch the No. 1 overall seed in the College Football Playoff, also winning AP Coach of the Year in back-to-back seasons. Cignetti is cut from a different cloth than modern coaches, still embracing the Nick Saban style that he used to win six national championships at Alabama. He is a two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2024 and 2025.

"Yeah, we had a great experience at Alabama," Cignetti said during his Monday press conference. "It was real important part of my journey. Learned a lot from Coach Saban in terms of organization, standards, stock, and complacency. I wouldn't be where I am today without my time under Nick.

"My family really enjoyed Tuscaloosa. We had great years there. Of course, we took over a team. We were 7-6 our first year and 12-0 the next year in the regular season. Fell short in the SEC game to Tebow and Florida and Urban [Meyer], and then had a rematch the next year and beat them."

Cignetti also has experience in the Rose Bowl, which was the site of Alabama's first national championship under Saban in 2009, defeating the Texas Longhorns 37-21 in January 2010.

"We won the National Championship out at the Rose Bowl. So we had four really good years there, and then began another part of our life."

Cignetti also won Sun Belt Coach of the Year in 2023 after taking James Madison to an 11-2 overall record. He's got an innate ability to be able to turn programs around and compete for championships, with Indiana going 3-9 the year before he arrived in 2023. Cignetti took the Hoosiers to an 11-2 record in 2024 in Cignetti's first year, making an appearance in the College Football Playoff.

Indiana's back in the playoffs in year two under Cignetti, cemented as the no. 1 overall seed, and the only Division I school to have an undefeated regular season.

Alabama will face Indiana in the Rose Bowl on Thursday, January 1, 2026. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. CT.

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Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.