IU coach Curt Cignetti remembered his four years as an assistant coach at Alabama as crucial to his status as two-time national coach of the year with the Hoosiers.
Top-ranked and undefeated IU faces Alabama in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff on Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
Cignetti was receivers coach for the Crimson Tide from 2007 to 2010 under head coach Nick Saban.
"I probably think about it every single day, to be quite honest with you, because it had such an impact in my growth and development," Cignetti said. "And I think, philosophically, the program that we run here is probably a lot more the same than different than Alabama. So there's probably not a day that goes by where I don't draw from those experiences.
"It was a real important part of my journey. I learned a lot from coach Saban in terms of organization, standards, stalking complacency. I wouldn't be where I am today without my time under Nick. My family really enjoyed Tuscaloosa. We had great years there."
Cignetti was at Alabama during Saban's first four years at the school. In his third year, the Crimson Tide was undefeated and won the national championship.
But Cignetti wanted to be a head coach. He said Saban questioned whether, at age 49, Cignetti was making the right move by leaving Alabama to become head coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
"He had some questions about whether that would be a very good move for me," Cignetti said. "I was just ready to kind of run my own show."
That was the case, even if it meant coaching in NCAA Division II.
"I can't say there weren't many mornings early on where I wondered what I did, because it was such a tremendous, radical change," Cignetti said. "But at the end of the day, it prepared me for where I am today."
Cignetti went on to become head coach at Elon and James Madison before IU hired him.