Alabama
Kalen DeBoer, Curt Cignetti’s Alabama-Indiana coaching paths meet in Rose Bowl
CFP quarterfinal preview Alabama vs Indiana
Alabama faces top-seed Indiana in a CFP quarterfinal matchup. Does Alabama have what it takes to upset No. 1 Indiana?
BLOOMINGTON, IN – A self-professed film junkie, Curt Cignetti actually got an unintended head start on Alabama prep earlier this season.
The Crimson Tide played games during both of Indiana’s idle weeks this season, and Cignetti confessed he’s “always enjoyed studying coach (Kalen) DeBoer’s offenses.” So, without necessarily meaning to, IU’s coach managed to get eyes on the Hoosiers’ Rose Bowl opponent long before Cignetti know what would await him in Pasadena.
“They do a lot of really great stuff,” Cignetti said. “They’ve got a lot of great players, are extremely well-coached. They’re a really good team, and a tremendous challenge.”
That complimentary nod from one sideline to the other Monday afternoon reflected a College Football Playoff quarterfinal game steeped in intrigue, its two programs remarkably interwoven not least by the journeys of their two coaches.
Cignetti and DeBoer spent time during bowl-organized Zoom sessions praising one another’s success, and considering the similarities in their respective career paths.
From 10,000 feet, Indiana vs. Alabama in the Rose Bowl will be billed as a clash of new and old money. Of Southern establishment against Midwest revolution. History and heritage colliding with so many of modern college football’s overturned conventions.
On the ground, though, it presents a fascinating case study into the binding ties of a sport that’s never quite as far removed from itself as it thinks. And it pits against one another two programs that have never met on the field, yet remain unusually influential on one another today.
Curt Cignetti, Kalen DeBoer mirror one another’s coaching paths with stops at Alabama, Indiana
Their respective histories with one another’s current employers are the only meaningful points of intersection, career-wise, between DeBoer and Cignetti.
DeBoer spent one year as Tom Allen’s offensive coordinator, helping Indiana reach its first Florida-based January bowl game (at a time when that still carried greater meaning) in 2019.
And Cignetti spent four years as part of Nick Saban’s first Alabama staff, coaching wide receivers and coordinating recruiting for the program Cignetti eventually helped win a national championship.
But they’ve both distinguished themselves in their profession through their willingness to climb the coaching pyramid: From outside Division I, through lower levels as either a head coach or coordinator, all the way up to the sport’s biggest stage.
“Knowing coach Cignetti and — you referred to it — his path, nothing but respect for how he’s done it, how he’s gotten to this spot,” DeBoer said.
Cignetti’s path is well documented at this point: He left Tuscaloosa for Division II Indiana-Pennsylvania (IUP), coaching six years at the same school where his father built a hall-of-fame career before moving up through Elon, James Madison and Indiana. He routinely cites that experience as formative now.
DeBoer’s own arc is not that different.
The former Sioux Falls wide receiver won three NAIA national titles with his alma mater before taking coordinator jobs at Southern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Fresno State and Indiana, then landing his first head job back in Fresno.
In just five full seasons since — Fresno State only played six games in DeBoer’s first season due to COVID-19 — he’s won 54 games, guiding Washington to the national championship game and now Alabama to the playoff.
In an era when breaking into Power Four coaching without Power Four bloodlines has become increasingly difficult, each of the men captaining a Rose Bowl sideline come New Year’s Day will have earned his way to that moment through his willingness to walk the less-traveled road.
“I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” DeBoer said. “I think all of it goes into just being built for these moments.”
Kalen DeBoer is a historical marker of IU football’s growth
If their experiences have indeed built them that way, then what on their paths is shared has built the programs they bring with them.
DeBoer spent just one season at Indiana, but he has with him on staff several faces familiar to Indiana and its fans.
Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack and co-offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan were on staff in Bloomington with DeBoer. Director of sports performance David Ballou worked in Bloomington before joining Nick Saban’s staff, and DeBoer held him over through the coaching change. Rick Danison, a longtime member of IU’s strength staff, now works with Ballou in Tuscaloosa.
Even DeBoer himself still represents something increasingly important in Bloomington.
When Tom Allen hired him from Fresno State, IU handed DeBoer what was then the richest contract given to one of its coordinators. By the time his one season at Indiana finished — inclusive of bonuses and incentives — DeBoer landed just short of becoming the Hoosiers’ first million-dollar coordinator.
That number seems small now, when compared to the eight-figure salary Cignetti now commands, or the new three-year contract Bryant Haines signed this month expected to be worth in the region of $3 million annually.
They all represent the same basic idea: Indiana spent the best part of two decades spending meaningfully on football with the ultimate goal of eventually climbing to the place it occupies today.
“I felt like when we were there, there was a growth, an investment that was happening, and there was success,” DeBoer said. “Coach Cignetti has done a great job providing the spark, which really leads people continuing to be all in. As you get more people all in, you get the moments that you’re in right now.
“It works off each other — the energy and the commitment to the success.”
Curt Cignetti’s Indiana football a flavor of Nick Saban’s Alabama
Cignetti knows Alabama even better, in some ways, than DeBoer knows Indiana.
It was his last stop (of several) as an assistant before beginning his head-coaching career. It was where he won a national championship under Saban.
And it offered Cignetti an experience he refers back to now, almost daily.
“I probably think about it every single day,” Cignetti said.
Cignetti is not shy about referring to his blueprint — an all-encompassing philosophical approach to running his program he adheres to religiously. He even has a self-published handbook on many of its fundamentals to use like a sort of program bible.
Ask Cignetti about the mentors and experiences that helped him build that structure, and he’ll take you on a journey through his football life. From growing up watching his father, Frank Cignetti Sr., to his time at Pitt with Johnny Majors and Walt Harris, through to his time working under Chuck Amato at NC State.
Cignetti’s years at Alabama, which he spent watching perhaps the best program builder in college football history, remain among his most formative.
“Philosophically, the program we run here is probably a lot more the same than different at Alabama,” he said. “There’s probably not a day that goes by where I don’t draw from those experiences.”
He will carry them onto the Pasadena grass in less than two weeks’ time, his program’s first Rose Bowl victory and a place in the playoff semifinal on the line.
That game will come with all kinds of outside noise and meaning. It will be cast as representing many things, some more legitimate than others.
Few more so than the fundamental truth that both Indiana and Alabama will arrive to that moment in a remarkable number of ways because of one another, the connections that bind them together defining their respective journeys to Jan. 1, 2026.
Alabama
Southern 88-85 Alabama A&M (Mar 5, 2026) Game Recap – ESPN
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — — Terrance Dixon Jr.’s 19 points helped Southern defeat Alabama A&M 88-85 on Thursday.
Dixon shot 7 of 10 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line for the Jaguars (15-16, 11-7 Southwestern Athletic Conference). Michael Jacobs scored 15 points while going 4 of 11 and 7 of 9 from the free-throw line, and added five rebounds. AJ Barnes shot 3 for 7 (1 for 3 from 3-point range) and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line to finish with 14 points, while adding six rebounds.
Koron Davis finished with 23 points for the Bulldogs (17-14, 10-8). James Graham added 19 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals for Alabama A&M. Kintavious Dozier also had 12 points.
The Jaguars led by 10 points with 59 seconds to go, before the Bulldogs executed a three-point play from Bilal Abdur-Rahim then got a 3-pointer from Dozier in the span of nine seconds, cutting the deficit to four. A free throw battle closed out the result for the Jaguars.
——
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Alabama
Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama
Jaxon Richardson, the No. 27 overall recruit in the 2026 class per the Rivals Industry Ranking, has committed to Alabama.
The 6-foot-6 four-star small forward out of Southeastern Prep (FL) ultimately chose the Crimson Tide over USC, Creighton, and Ole Miss. He also received offers from Miami, Cincinnati, Michigan, Florida, Villanova, and others.
Richardson, a McDonald’s All-American, becomes the Crimson Tide’s third commitment of the 2026 cycle. He joins four-star shooting guard Qayden Samuels (No. 28 NATL) and four-star small forward Tarris Bouie (No. 54 NATL).
He’s the son of NBA veteran and two-time NBA Dunk Contest champion Jason Richardson. His older brother, Jase, played for Michigan State last season before being selected 25th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic.
More on Richardson
Rivals’ National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw says Richardson is one of the most explosive players in the 2026 class:
Jaxon Richardson is able to combine fluid athleticism with explosive burst in a way no other player in this class can. He uses his athleticism to his advantage on the floor. He fills the outside channels with a purpose in transition, he is aggressive in the passing lanes, and he plays as a vertical floor spacer in the dunker spots and lob plays. Last summer, playing with the Florida Rebels on Nike’s EYBL Circuit, the 6-foot-6 wing averaged 12.8 points on 54.0 percent shooting and 10.5 attempts per game. Last high school season, he averaged 12.9 points on 61.0 percent shooting on 8.9 attempts per game. He is a highly efficient player, as 84.4 percent of his makes last high school season were at the rim.
Alabama
Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets
Alabama baseball cruised to a win over Alabama State on Wednesday night, beating the Hornets 13-4 to complete the season sweep. The Crimson Tide tied a program record with nine stolen bases in one of the stranger contests that will be played this season.
The tone was set for a tumultuous night on the basepaths in the opening minutes of the game. Leadoff batter Bryce Fowler, who exited Tuesday’s game after getting beaned in the head, was walked, and promptly took second base. He advanced to third on a wild pitch in Justin Lebron’s at-bat, paving the way for Lebron to steal second when he was ultimately walked as well.
The successful baserunning instantly paid off, as Brady Neal drove both in with a double to left-center field before John Lemm walked two at-bats later. Both runners stole their respective bases on the same pitch in Jason Torres’ plate appearance, meaning that four of the first five batters of the game stole a base.
Alabama has been exceptional on the basepaths, sitting at 30-for-30 on the season. Lebron, who swiped two bags on Wednesday, leads the team with 12. The junior had an up-and-down night, hitting his eighth home run of the season, but also committing an error at shortstop for the fourth consecutive game.
“Get those things out of there now, baby. The dude is unbelievable,” an unconcerned Rob Vaughn said on Tuesday of Lebron’s errors. “We’re going to look up at the end of the year, and that guy is going to have five or six errors, which one he’s got right now, and we’ll be like, ‘Man, that guy is the best of all time to do it.’”
Wednesday’s game was a very prototypical midweek contest with no shortage of quirks and oddities throughout its nearly four-hour runtime. Fifteen Alabama batters were walked, falling just one shy of the program record, and the hit by pitch record was tied as seven batters were plunked.
The game was never competitive from an on-field standpoint. After barely escaping with a 2-1 win in the first matchup with the Hornets two weeks ago, this was a far more accurate representation of what these games typically look like, as Alabama now leads the all-time series 15-0.
Freshman Joe Chiarodo made his first career start, allowing two hits and one walk over two scoreless innings. He was named the winning pitcher. Luke Smyers, Connor Lehman, Anthony Pesci and Tate Robertson were the other pitchers to take the mound. Lehman allowed a three-run blast in the sixth inning, and those were the only runs until the incredibly-named Skywalker Mann drove in a run off Robertson in the ninth.
Perhaps the most shocking figure from the game was that Alabama had 19 runners left on base. The Crimson Tide left the bases loaded in four different innings. As stated, this was just a bizarre baseball game across the board. With the midweeks out of the way, the Crimson Tide gets to prepare for its final weekend tune-up before SEC play as North Florida heads into Tuscaloosa on Friday.
-
World1 week agoExclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
-
Wisconsin4 days agoSetting sail on iceboats across a frozen lake in Wisconsin
-
Massachusetts1 week agoMother and daughter injured in Taunton house explosion
-
Massachusetts3 days agoMassachusetts man awaits word from family in Iran after attacks
-
Maryland5 days agoAM showers Sunday in Maryland
-
Florida5 days agoFlorida man rescued after being stuck in shoulder-deep mud for days
-
Denver, CO1 week ago10 acres charred, 5 injured in Thornton grass fire, evacuation orders lifted
-
Oregon7 days ago2026 OSAA Oregon Wrestling State Championship Results And Brackets – FloWrestling