When Curt Cignetti left Alabama in 2011, Nick Saban did not hide his skepticism.
Cignetti had spent five seasons on Saban’s original Alabama staff starting in 2007, helping lay the foundation for what became a modern dynasty. But at 50, he chose to leave the SEC spotlight to become a head coach at IUP, a Division II program. Saban, by his own admission, viewed the move as risky.
“I remember him telling me where he was going, IUP, and thinking that’s a big drop from coaching in the SEC,” Saban said in a recent interview with On3's Chris Low. “But he wanted to be a head coach.”
Those comments, blunt as they were, also revealed Saban’s respect for Cignetti’s belief in himself. Saban noted that he had long made a habit of taking over programs with limited football history and turning them into winners.
That same "bet on yourself" mentality that now defines what many around the sport call “The Cignetti Effect.” When he arrived at Indiana, the program owned the most losses in FBS history and was coming off a 3-9 season. Two years later, Indiana is 25-2, has achieved multiple program firsts, including a Heisman Trophy winner, and sits two wins away from an unprecedented national championship.
Fans have taken notice of the long road Cignetti chose. What once looked like a demotion now reads like a defining step. And also a reminder that conviction, not convenience, often shapes the best coaching careers.
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