Mike Seidle ...notes from the road

Short term success should never be confused with excellence. It's easy to prop something up and win quickly. It's much harder to build for a sustained long term winning effort.

Last year in Indiana sports provides some insight:

Excellence: Colts

In the mid 90's Jimmy Irsay took over the Colts from his father. Jimmy quickly set about building a platform for long term excellence. He brought in Bill Polian. He focused in getting the best players possible in the draft and building around them. And most importantly, there was a focus on character. Players who had integrity problems went away. After a few years of struggling, the Colts got Peyton Manning and put together the most wins in a decade for any NFL team and won one super bowl. The Colts are currently working on winning another Super Bowl – with a rookie head coach.

Excellence is a Learned Skill: Butler Basketball

Not even changing coaches every few years derails the men's basketball program at Butler. Why? Butler hires assistant coaches that have played inside the system started by Barry Collier in the 90s. When Collier was promoted to Athletic Director, he hired then former player and assistant coach Thad Matta (now coach of the Big 10 Ohio Buckeyes). When Matta left, he turned to former Butler player and assistant coach Todd Lickliter. When Lickliter left for Iowa University, again, Collier brought in Brad Stephens, another former player and current assistant coach. The coach changes, the players change, but the system remains.

Notre Dame Football: Cracks in the Dome

The last 10 years have not been good to the Irish. Mired in a string of coach changes starting with Bob Davies, followed by Tyrone Willingham and finished by the firing of Charlie Weiss. One could argue that each of these coaches were failures. One could also argue that none of them were able to lay a long term foundation for success.

Reality is each coach had a totally different system, and in football it takes three to four years to change systems. Davies was an assistant who had a very different philosophy (pass) than his former boss, Lou Holtz (run + defense +big play special teams). There was little continuity. The rub on Willingham was unable to recruit. Charlie Weis was the offensive coordinator for the NFL New England Patriots who brought a pro-style passing attack, and a third change to the formula, and the result was a predictable failure. After five long years, he was fired.

Ball State Sucks Again... and Again … and Again.

If you are a Ball State Alum, you've watched athletic programs rise and then fall spectacularly:

In the late 80s and early 90s, Ball State hired Rick Majerus, who in two seasons moved the Cardinals from an occasional MAC contender to a powerhouse. When Majerus' contract came up for renewal, Utah offered Majerus a contract. Ball State was given the chance to match it, and chose not to. The next year, Majerus assistant Dick Hunsaker took the Cardinals to the Sweet Sixteen, but was fired a year later under investigation for NCAA rules violations that did not occur under Majerus' tenure. The pattern was repeated with former Ball State star Ray McCallum who came in for two years, got in the NCAA tournament and left for the University of Houston and a big pay day.

Two years ago, Ball State's football team went undefeated through the regular season, taking down Navy, Indiana University and the entire Mid American Conference. The Thursday night game remains the most watched non-bowl weekday college football game in history. Faced with the decision to invest in the long term or continue being happy with occasional short term success, Ball State's board of trustees chose not to renew coach Brady Hoke's contract. The next year: two wins. That's right. Two wins.

So What's the Lesson

• Building for the long haul is a slow and painstaking process.
• When you are at the top, you have little more to gain, and a lot more to lose.
• Excellence requires a long term investment.