BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Hoosiers have had many great leaders emerge from their midst or seen them move here to instill success. Abraham Lincoln is regarded as our greatest president, having saved the Union while forging emancipation. Johnny Wooden followed a path from Martinsville to Purdue, South Bend and Indiana State before winning 10 national titles at UCLA. Knute Rockne presided over a Notre Dame football team that, armed with potatoes and gumption, embarrassed the invading Ku Klux Klan while instilling the nickname “Fighting Irish.”
Indiana University football coach Curt Cignetti has become the latest example of good and potentially brilliant leadership. After the defending Big 10 and national champion Michigan Wolverines — the winningest program in NCAA history — scored with 5:30 left in the game earlier this month, drawing to within 17-15 against the undefeated Indiana Hoosiers — the losingest program in history — I turned to a friend: “This is going to be the most important five minutes in IU history.”
Many of the 50,000 Hoosiers fans had been down this treacherous road before, but fear not. A long kick return by a reserve player, a huge 20-yard pass for a first down and a field goal, followed by suffocating defense, preserved a 20-15 victory, setting up this weekend’s showdown with No. 2-ranked Ohio State.
Coach Cignetti is undaunted. When he was hired last December, he told fans, “I win. Google me.” After he described his “gutty” win over Michigan, he said of the awaiting Buckeyes: “We’re going into this next game confident, believing.”
Why is Coach Cig a good leader and potentially a great one?
He began by believing in himself, leaving national champion Alabama as an assistant to become head coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He has maintained a core of coaches who have followed him to Elon and then James Madison, where they’ve compiled a dozen winning seasons. When IU hired him, most of his coaches and 13 players moved with him to Bloomington.
He has been adept at finding talented players who fit his system. He is a great communicator. He has established a retinue of hard work, accountability and a focus on detail. He has what “Sports Illustrated” called an “uncanny knack to pass that belief on to others.”
While covering Indiana politics for more than 40 years, I’ve long been fascinated by the art of leadership. Several pillars have become evident. A good leader never forgets where he or she came from. Wooden would spend time with Martinsville Artesians players each summer almost until his death.
Great leaders get buy-in to seemingly intractable problems. President Dwight D. Eisenhower orchestrated the D-Day invasion and defeated Nazi Germany. But he faced the persistent problem of segregation in America. In 1957, he appointed Notre Dame President Theodore Hesburgh to head the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Father Ted decided to move a commission meeting from a military base in steamy Shreveport, Louisiana, to Notre Dame’s research site at Land O’Lakes, Wisconsin. He took the commissioners fishing. When the boat returned to the dock, Father Ted had his staff hand out 12 recommendations. These six commissioners, several from the southland, passed 11 of them unanimously and the 12th with a 5-1 vote.
In his book “Father Theodore Hesburgh: He Coached Me,” Notre Dame basketball coach Digger Phelps described how Hesburgh presented the 12 recommendations to President Eisenhower.
Ike leaned over and asked, “Were they fishing?”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
“Do you think I can come up and go fishing sometime?” Ike asked.
Phelps added of Father Hesburgh: “He coached me. When I first met Father Hesburgh, he gave me my job description, which consisted of three rules: Graduate your players, don’t break any NCAA rules and be competitive. I was expected to have my players ready, mentally, spiritually and physically.”
In 2005, Gov. Mitch Daniels solved the Indianapolis Colts stadium dilemma after the mayor and General Assembly had essentially punted. He proposed a tax increase in seven counties surrounding Indy and brought the 21 Republican county commissioners to the Governor’s Residence. It was astounding in its audacity.
“We showed them a lot of data, how many people from their counties worked downtown, worked in hospitality, how many hotel rooms in their county filled up during conventions or even games,” Daniels told me in a 2022 interview. “And then we said, ‘Go to separate corners here and tell us whether you can help us with this.’
“All but one county did,” Daniels explained, “without that process, that doesn’t happen” and the Colts and Peyton Manning would have fled to Los Angeles.
Hoosiers and Americans are now watching two incoming administrations build their governorship, their presidency. How they do so matters. Leadership matters. Deeply.
Do they have a vision? Are they resilient? Does character count? Do they possess integrity? Is there a mentality to tear down instead of build up? Do these leaders care about the people? Or are they in it for themselves? Are they empathetic? Self-aware? Do they listen? Do they have an open-door policy? Are they open to feedback? Do they take responsibility when things go awry? Do they have a Plan B or C? How do they respond to criticism? Are they organized? Do they instill clarity under pressure? Are they transparent? Do they have courage?
As for Cignetti's Hoosiers venturing into the Buckeye valley of death on Saturday, Coach Wooden would instill this advice: “Make each day your masterpiece.”
Howey is a senior writer for Howey Politics Indiana and State Affairs. He is a 1978 graduate of IU-Bloomington with a degree in history. Find Howey on X @hwypol.
