Let me start by sharing my bona fides for discussing the head coach of Indiana University Football. I was born and raised in Bloomington, IN. Many of my core childhood memories center on being on the IU campus for a wide variety of activities – concerts, musicals, parades, etc. One of my consistent childhood memories was going to the IU Football pancake breakfast, spring game, and press day. Back in the day, crowds were small, and you could watch from the press box. I remember bringing my own football and throwing it around with friends on the field after the game. And most importantly, I remember meeting coaches and players on the field. Somewhere, I’ve got a picture on the field at Memorial Stadium with Coach Lee Corso (he was the IU Football coach from 1973-1982).
I attended my first IU Football game sometime in the early 1980s. We had seats on the west side of the stadium, and I remember our seats were beneath the press box, right next to the TV camera (at the time, I may have been a bit more interested in the TV camera than the game). I think it was 1985 that our family got season tickets to IU Football. We attended home games consistently until I went to college. I remember traveling with my family to games at Northwestern, Illinois, Ohio State, Kentucky, and several other places. We attended all the bowl games in the 80s. I had student tickets all four years I was at IU, and since moving to Indianapolis, I’ve tried to get to games whenever possible (though not nearly as often as I’d really like).
During those years of season tickets, there were a few high points, and a LOT of low points. I was there in 1987 when IU knocked off Michigan 14-10 in a season they finished 8-3 and then went to the Peach Bowl. I was also there when we lost 52-17 in a miserable showing against Wisconsin. I remember sitting in the rain, snow, sleet, and complaining to my mom about how cold my feet were. I remember sunny days without sunscreen and going home with a sunburn. And I remember lots of beautiful fall days in a stadium that might have been only half full, spending time with my family and hoping for a good outcome.
Every year, when football season comes around, I get excited about the possibilities, but my time as an IU fan has always been layered with sadness by the end of the season. Seeing Curt Cignetti come in and completely change the culture and expectations around IU football in just 2 years has been amazing!
First, there was the introduction of this coach from James Madison University. This wasn’t too long after JMU had hosted College Gameday, and I vaguely remembered this coach with some great one-liners. Then we got this:
I remember seeing this and saying, “Huh… There’s some swagger to this guy.” As a lifelong fan, I was ready to give him a shot. But after all the losses that we’d had, and the fact that we’d never won more than 8 games in a season in my entire lifetime, it was a measured level of interest. A few weeks later, we got this:
Little did I know that after 2 seasons, I’d see a team that won 27 games while losing only 2 (both to teams that played in the national championship game in January of 2025).
So it’s safe to say that the guy knows something about leading people. As he’s said, he wins. In his time as a head coach, he’s never seen a season with more than 5 losses or a season with fewer than 6 wins.
But what have I noticed about his coaching? One thing that stands out to me is his ability to delegate tasks. If you watch him during a game, you’ll see him on his headset, communicating with the other coaches. When a timeout is called, you see him talking first with his assistant coaches. Afterwards, Coach Cignetti typically steps back and trusts his assistant coaches to talk with the players in their personnel groups, so the guy who coaches linebackers is the one delivering the team message to the linebackers. At key moments, he may step in and speak to a particular player, or even to the entire offensive or defensive team, but ultimately Coach Cignetti sets the vision for the team, adjusts as the game unfolds, and trusts those around him to carry it out.
As a school leader, it’s easy to strive to do it all. There are so many factors to leading a school, from instructional leadership and staff development to school systems, student interactions, safety, facilities, budgeting, staff evaluation, and community & family engagement. There are so many different directions one could be pulled in while leading a school.
One of the things that impresses me the most is the consistency of what he says. Coach Cignetti’s vision is crystal clear. During IU’s run this year, I came across an old interview from about 14 years ago, when Coach Cignetti was the head coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In that interview, I heard Coach saying, “We want to be relentless competitors… 60 minutes, one play at a time… We want to buy into the process of doing things right… We’re playing one play at a time, 6 seconds a play, every play has a life and a history of its own, when that play’s over its on to the next play.” Here’s what is interesting about that… I have heard Coach Cignetti use those exact same phrases to describe his expectations for players in his current position with Indiana University. It’s hard to argue with success. He wins. And that success becomes even more apparent when you can maintain the consistency in a vision.
What I think Coach Cignetti has taught me is that if you set a vision, maintain focus on it, and put the right people in the right places to do their jobs, you have taken the initial steps toward successfully leading people. In an interview after the game, Coach Cignetti said, “If you keep your nose to the grindstone and work hard, and you’ve got the right people, anything’s possible.” He went on to say that with the right people, “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” This is so true in school leadership, too. When you have the right people in the right positions, a leader can set the vision, maintain focus, and trust those around them to do the work they were hired to do.
So, as you think about how you lead, in whatever realm of leadership you exist, I think there are two key things: Surround yourself with people who are good at what they do, set a rock-solid vision for your role, and trust them to do what they do best. Be consistent in your goals, and deliver your message to the smart, hardworking people around you. You’ll find success in what you do.
The View from 518 