Small Ball Snapshot - Built, Not Bought

Indiana just won a national championship. In fact, the Hoosiers became just the second team in major college football history to finish a perfect 16–0 season, joining Yale all the way back in 1894. This is a program that went 2–10 in 2021 and 1–11 in 2011, with plenty of similar seasons in between.

In a college football world obsessed with money, transfers, and shortcuts, the easy explanation is that titles can be bought. But if that were true, the usual powerhouses would still be standing.

They weren’t.

Indiana didn’t win by outspending everyone. They won by aligning everyone. The right coach, the right quarterback, the right people pulling in the same direction.

I don’t say this lightly. I’ve seen “unthinkable” turnarounds up close. My alma mater Wisconsin went from one win my freshman year to a Rose Bowl championship my senior year. I covered the St. Louis Rams going from last place to Super Bowl champs in one season. I was alongside the Royals as they went from bottom feeders to champions.

All were incredible.

And still, this feels different.

It hit home personally, too. My wife is an Indiana grad. In nearly 30 years together, Indiana football never came up. We have an old photo of our kids wearing Indiana shirts, back when Hoosiers meant hoops.

Mason and Ellie Goldberg Approximately 15 Years Ago

Now it means something very different. I never imagined her school would be the football powerhouse instead of mine, but it was so fun to sit back and watch her nerves be tested while I kicked back, quietly pulling for one of the greatest Cinderella stories in sports history.

But the lesson isn’t about football.

Championships aren’t built by collecting talent.
They’re built by connecting people.

That’s Small Ball.

Question: How do you find the right people to build alignment?