The Oregon Ducks and Indiana Hoosiers have at least two things in common entering Friday's Peach Bowl matchup against one another: they both played each other earlier this season and both coaches – Dan Lanning (Oregon) and Curt Cignetti (Indiana) were mentored under Nick Saban's direction in the early stages of their coaching careers.
Both described what his leadership style was like, along with the biggest lessons and values they were taught under him.
For Lanning, it was about refining an already-established toolbox. Cignetti, meanwhile, wanted to learn how to become the best coach possible while at the highest level.
"He was a great mentor, very organized, detailed; had a plan for everything," Cignetti told reporters. "Managed lead, how to stop complacency, game day, recruiting, recruiting evaluation, player evaluation. I mean, he had it all. And if you were serious about your career and wanted to be a head coach one day, you took great notes or great mental notes."
Cignetti said it was the perfect springboard for where he is today.
"So I felt like after one year with Coach Saban, that I had learned more about how to run a program than I maybe did the previous 27 as an assistant coach, and stayed with him for three more years," Cignetti said. "So there’s a lot of disciples out there doing well, and that’s why he’s the greatest of all time.”
Lanning, meanwhile, was a sponge-type mentor.
"I went to Alabama and was going to take a pay cut to go be a GA there,” Lanning said. “And when anybody asked me why, I said, ‘I’m going to get my doctorate in football.’ And that’s what I feel like working for coach Saban, just like [Cignetti] said, you learn so much. Things I thought I knew, I realized I didn’t know anything. And I got to really carry that over with the opportunity to work with coach [Kirby] Smart, who built off of that as well at Georgia. And that was an unbelievable experience for me, and obviously it shows here as we enter the semifinals.”
Now, both former students will coach against each other, with the winner advancing to the national championship.
A script can't be written any better for this, which is what makes the game so fascinating.
We will see who out-coaches whom on Friday night in the Peach Bowl.
For whoever wins, though, it will be validation that the Big Ten remains one of the best conferences in the sport, or potentially the best conference in the sport, depending on one's opinion.