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Alabama and Indiana have had little in common when it comes to football.
For more than a century, the program has defined dominance in college football. At the same time, the Hoosiers have operated on a different scale, measuring success by progress, persistence and occasional breakthroughs.
The programs have never met on the field, their histories unfolding on entirely different planes. Yet when No. 1 Indiana faces No. 9 Alabama in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl, a sense of familiarity will exist – at least for the two head coaches – as they look across the sideline.
Roaming the west sideline, Curt Cignetti will face the Alabama program that launched him into his first head coaching opportunity. Across from him will be Kalen DeBoer, who once served as Indiana’s offensive coordinator.
Cignetti and DeBoer share many similarities in coaching style, but it is their unconventional paths from the lower levels of college football to Pasadena that bring the moment into focus.
For the first 27 years of his career, Cignetti jumped around the country with various coaching positions, but landed an opportunity to be the receivers coach and recruiting coordinator for Alabama under Nick Saban.
Though his departure to Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) appeared premature, Cignetti absorbed what he learned from the Hall of Fame coach and turned it into a blueprint for his own future success.
“It had such a big impact in my growth and development,” Cignetti said Monday. “I think philosophically, the program that we run here is probably a lot more the same than different than Alabama.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without my time under Nick.”
DeBoer’s journey progressed far more linearly than Cignetti’s. However, similar to Cignetti’s beginning at IUP, DeBoer’s climb started off the beaten path. After a four-year career as a wide receiver, he returned to his alma mater, the University of Sioux Falls, in 1997 as an assistant coach. Promoted to head coach in 2005, DeBoer turned the Coo into a national power, winning three NAIA championships in five seasons.
Stops at Southern Illinois, Eastern Michigan and Fresno State eventually led the Milbank, South Dakota, native to Indiana for his first Power Five opportunity.
With DeBoer as offensive coordinator in 2019, Indiana’s offense surged, averaging more than 31 points per game and finishing in the top 15 nationally in passing. The Hoosiers went 8–4, earning the program’s first January bowl appearance since 1988.
That brief stop in Bloomington helped propel DeBoer to head-coaching roles at Fresno State and then at Washington. In Seattle, he reunited with former Indiana quarterback Michael Penix Jr., guiding Washington to the 2024 national championship game.
Now in his second season at Alabama, DeBoer still holds fond memories of his roots.
“Nothing but a great time there,” DeBoer said of his time in Bloomington. “It was short-lived, but one that I remember.
“I think there are things that you do that give you an appreciation for the moment you’re in, like having an opportunity to be here at Alabama,” DeBoer said. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
At Alabama, DeBoer assembled a staff that includes former Indiana coordinators Nick Sheridan and Kane Wommack, both of whom he worked with during his lone season in Bloomington. Wommack, who initially suggested DeBoer’s name to Indiana when searching for an offensive coordinator, later joined him at Alabama.
“[Wommack] was a big part of me coming there, trying to get me to Indiana,” he said. “I’m glad he returned the favor and came when I called him as well.”
The road to Pasadena is unfamiliar territory for most, but the structure of the journey is not for either coach. Both have navigated postseason paths far from the Power Five spotlight, learning how to survive multi-round playoff formats.
For DeBoer, that meant NAIA title runs at Sioux Falls. For Cignetti, it came through the FCS bracket at James Madison – four games, each more demanding than the last, all in pursuit of a trophy. It’s a task both coaches feel comfortable with achieving as they lead their respective teams into January football.
The Rose Bowl seats more than 75,000 – more than the combined capacity of Frank Cignetti Field and Bob Young Field. Yet, in a twist as unexpected as their head coaches’ careers, these two programs now meet as equals on college football’s grandest stage.
The winner will continue its unforeseen path to immortality, taking another improbable step in a remarkable journey.
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