CINCINNATI — Cincinnati and Alabama are less than 24 hours away from battling it out in the Cotton Bowl for a chance to play in the National Championship. On Thursday, both coaches paid respect to each other’s programs and efforts to make it this far. 

What You Need To Know

  • Alabama coach Nick Saban showered Luke Fickell and Cincinnati with compliments during the final press conference before the Cotton Bowl

  • Cincinnati coach Luke Fickell returned that respect by stating Nick Saban’s has seen unprecedented success at Alabama

  • Saban cherishes his time as a coach in Ohio, because it helped shape him through his career

  • Cincinnati and Alabama battle in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl on Friday

It’s safe to say Alabama Coach Nick Saban knows a thing or two about building a successful program. Six national championship trophies have been lifted in Tuscaloosa with Saban at the helm — a seventh could be had this year. 

But for Cincinnati Coach Luke Fickell, it is his first shot at a national title as a head coach. Saban said what Fickell has built in Cincinnati is highly impressive. 

“When you look at what's happening on the field, the way the players play, the way they compete, the discipline that they have, you know, it's a very structured organization that’s creating a lot of value and teaching a lot of people what they need to do to be successful,” Saban said. “And that's something that we always have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for."

The high praise was met with mutual respect from Fickell. He said while he hasn’t had the chance to really get to know Saban, he’s always studied and admired his greatness from afar. 

“One of my great mentors in Jim Tressel always said, ‘It's one thing to be able to get to the top of the mountain. It's another thing to be able to sustain it,’” Fickell said. “And he used to always say, ‘It's 10 times harder to sustain that greatness once you can get there and reach those tops of the mountains.' And obviously, what coach (Saban) has done there over his time is, in my mind, unprecedented, not just getting to where he's gotten to but the ability to stay there.” 

Reflecting on his past, Saban said his Ohio roots are what helped him become the coach he is today. 

“You know, Don James was an instrumental part in getting me started in coaching,” Saban said. “And certainly, learned a tremendous amount from him and Earle Bruce and Bill Belichick. So the experiences I had as a coach in Ohio into a lot of things that we believe in. And that we try to implement in our program.” 

That formula has been tried and proven true over the years — something Fickell is working to replicate in Cincinnati. 

“I can't say enough about him,” Fickell said. “Like I said, I don't know him all that well. I've visited with him maybe a couple times. But for the last 10, 12, 15 years, I've studied pretty much everything that they've done as a program, whether that's been recruiting or a lot of the defensive stuff.”

The Cotton Bowl game will be played, and a winner declared, but when it’s all said and done the mutual respect between Saban and Fickell is certain to only grow even more.