The standard is the standard.
We hear it all the time in sports.
There may be no greater illustration of it in college football than the Indiana Hoosiers.
That’s where I was Saturday, calling the game at Memorial Stadium, otherwise known as The Rock. Curt Cignetti is leading his team in year three, this time as the defending national champions. As we’ve talked about many times on the Y-Option podcast, IU is not going anywhere.
And neither are clichés. Dan Hicks and I joked this weekend in the booth that they’re clichés for a reason: they work! They’re also everywhere in sports, from the defending champs to my sons’ 11-year-old flag football team. And there is some truth to them on many levels. Some of my favorite Cignetti-isms:
Fast, Physical, Relentless
Each play has a Life and History of its own
Stalking Complacency
Production over Potential
Humble and Hungry
You get what you demand
Thinking back to my childhood, our dad had a few as well:
Love many, trust few, and always be sure to paddle your own canoe
Knowledge is no burden to carry
A penny saved is a penny earned
You get it. Clichés often get an eye-roll, but they often leave an imprint.
Over the last few weeks, one word has left a major imprint on me: conviction. I’ve enjoyed asking coaches what they are most convicted about and how that has shown up on film and in the facility. It often leads to a conversation about what’s at their core as a leader. I’d bet it’s at their core as a husband, father and human as well.
Quarterbacks need to play with conviction too. Meeting Josh Hoover, then calling his game on NBC, confirmed that he has the tools and mentality to thrive for the Hoosiers. He wasn’t perfect, and he didn’t seem to meet his own standard or Coach Cignetti’s, but if I had to guess, he knew that walking off the field.
His head coach knew it too, but the way in which Coach Cignetti sets and upholds that standard is what has me inspired today. Many coaches who use that phrase can beat down their players and lead heavy-handed. Not Cignetti.