College Football Playoff remains unclear and chaotic midseason
With a very unclear CFP field midway through the 2025 season, Before The Snap argues why this might be the best playoff race yet.
Despite entering his second year of retirement as a head coach, Nick Saban continues to have a major influence on college football today.
Look no further than the Saturday, Oct. 18 matchup between No. 5 Ole Miss and No. 7 Georgia for proof. The matchup pits two former Saban assistant coaches against each other in a game with a lot of SEC and College Football Playoff implications.
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Lane Kiffin and Kirby Smart served as the Alabama offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively, in 2015, for a Crimson Tide team that finished the season 14-1 and defeated No. 1 Clemson 45-40 in the CFP national championship game. In fact, looking back, that coaching staff was full of head coaching talent across college football today.
Here’s what you need to know about the 2015 Alabama coaching staff and where they are now:
2015 Alabama coaching staff, revisited
Head coach: Nick Saban
Now: Retired
The 2015 college football season was Year 8 for Saban as the Alabama head coach, and he put together the best coaching staff in the country. Alabama won its fourth national championship under his leadership that season, and first since 2012.
The Crimson Tide’s lone loss came to No. 15 Ole Miss on Sept. 19, dropping their record to 2-1 at the time. However, Alabama would win 12 in a row, including the SEC championship vs. Florida, a CFP semifinal against No. 3 Michigan State and the national championship against top-ranked Clemson.
Offensive Coordinator: Lane Kiffin
- Now: Ole Miss football head coach
- Career record: 112-52
Kiffin, in his second year as the Alabama offensive coordinator, had one of the easiest go-to plays in the history of college football in 2015: Hand it off to Heisman Trophy-winning running back Derrick Henry. In his first year as a starter, Henry rushed for an SEC-record 2,219 yards.
The former Tennessee and USC head coach used his Alabama tenure to rebuild his status as a coach, taking a head coach role with FAU after his Alabama gig ended unceremoniously ahead of the 2017 CFP championship game vs. Clemson.
He led the Owls to a 26-13 record to get the Ole Miss head coach offer. Kiffin has led the Rebels to a 50-18 record in his five-plus seasons leading Ole Miss. The 2025 season is Kiffin’s best shot of reaching the CFP.
Defensive Coordinator: Kirby Smart
- Now: Georgia football head coach
- Career record: 110-20
Smart has had the privilege of not only working under Saban, but also coaching under former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden. The 2015 season was Smart’s final year in Tuscaloosa, as he accepted the Georgia head coaching position on Dec. 6, 2015 — over a month before Alabama won the national title.
In his 10 years leading the Bulldogs, Smart has posted a 110-20 record and won back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022. He has only a 1-7 record vs. Alabama, including a 1-5 record vs. Nick Saban.
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Assistant head coach/offensive line: Mario Cristobal
- Now: Miami football head coach
- Career record: 89-76
Just as Kiffin did, Cristobal used the Alabama assistant position to help rebuild his status as a coach. After logging a 27-47 career record with FIU, he joined Saban’s staff in 2013. Cristobal was an elite recruiter for the Crimson Tide, finishing as the National Recruiter of the Year by 247Sports in 2015.
The 2015 Alabama offensive line led by Cristobal won the inaugural Joe Moore Award. Cristobal actually spurned the Miami assistant position to take a role on Saban’s staff. Now as a coach at his alma mater of Miami, Cristobal has led to a 15-3 record over the last two seasons. Miami is a legitimate national title contender in Year 4 under Cristobal.
Assistant head coach/defensive backs: Mel Tucker
- Now: Unemployed
- Career record: 25-21
After being replaced as the Chicago Bears’ defensive coordinator, Tucker took a position on Saban’s staff as an assistant head coach and defensive backs coach in 2015. He followed Smart to Georgia in 2016 and eventually landed head coaching roles with Colorado (2019) and Michigan State (2020).
Michigan State fired Tucker in September 2023 following allegations of sexual harassment.
Wide receivers: Billy Napier
- Now: Florida football coach
- Career record: 61-35
Just as Cristobal had done, Napier stepped down at a different role to be on Saban’s staff. Napier accepted a position with Jimbo Fisher at FSU to be the tight ends coach but, less than a month later, he joined Saban’s staff as the wide receivers coach.
Napier was responsible for getting five-star offensive tackle Cam Robinson and five-star wide receiver Calvin Ridley to Tuscaloosa. The now-Florida football coach finds himself on the hot seat with a 21-23 record at Florida, after he went 40-12 as the Louisiana coach.
Graduate assistant: Dan Lanning
- Now: Oregon football coach
- Career record: 40-7
Lanning spent one year on the Alabama coaching staff under Saban in 2015 as a graduate assistant, working with outside linebackers. Following his year with Alabama, Lanning took an inside linebackers coaching position with Memphis under Mike Norvell.
He was hired as an outside linebackers coach by Smart in 2018 and bumped up to defensive coordinator after Tucker took the Colorado job. He was named the Oregon head coach on Dec. 11, 2021, and then helped Georgia beat Alabama in the 2022 CFP national championship game.
