Indiana's Curt Cignetti Talks Rumors of Nick Saban's Coaching Return

LAS VEGAS -- The odds of 2025 College Football Hall of Fame inductee Nick Saban, who retired in January of 2024, returning to the sidelines may depend on which of his former players or assistants is asked.

Greg McElroy, who played under Saban from 2007-10 at Alabama, first ignited speculation of his former coach unretiring on July 14, when he said a source "very much in the know" believed Saban would come back to the profession.

The same day, Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, who was Saban's offensive coordinator from 2014-16 at Alabama, said he thinks Saban will return to coaching. But Georgia coach Kirby Smart, an assistant with Saban from 2007-15, said he feels Saban is too happy as a broadcaster to put on the headset once more.

Put Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti in Smart's camp.

Cignetti, the receivers coach and recruiting coordinator during Saban's first four years in Tuscaloosa, addressed the matter Tuesday at Big Ten Media Days in Las Vegas.

"I'd be surprised by that," Cignetti said of Saban coaching again. "I think he made his decision on how he was going to proceed. I guess anything's possible, but I don't see that happening."

Cignetti left Saban and the Crimson Tide in 2011, taking over the head coaching job at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Now 14 years removed, Cignetti still takes the lessons he learned from Saban each day into his office in Bloomington.

"I would say it's very similar," Cignetti said in December of his program's values compared to Alabama's under Saban. "Now, maybe some of our methods are a little different, but I'd say the overall program philosophy in terms of being process centered, high standards, expectations, hold people accountable, consistency, performance, and how you do everything, the same."

During his introductory press conference Dec. 1, 2023, Cignetti said he learned more about how to lead and run a program from Saban in one year than he did in any of his first 27 seasons as an assistant.

"Just everything from A to Z," Cignetti said. "Monthly calendar, how to lead and manage people, how to avoid complacency, which he was so good at on a day-to-day, minute-to-minute, second-to-second count. How to practice, how to play the game, plan for winning the game, how to recruit, how to evaluate, how to staff or restaff every year."

Cignetti spent enough time with Saban to learn his blueprint for building and sustaining a successful team -- and perhaps he still has enough of a pulse on Saban to correctly predict his former boss's next step.