Winning football coaches generally fit a personality pattern. The ones I’ve known who had support of the fans and created excitement were extroverts. They work the room when they are in front of fans and the team, they can draw you in during casual conversation, and they show emotions on cue to fire up the team or express disapproval of the refs and others.
I once spent three hours with a famous coach at his stadium and when I had to leave for another event, he asked if I could come back later that evening because we still had a lot to talk about. I was exhausted.
Adhering to the traditional leadership archetype is a huge help in landing a job as a big time coach. The process for hiring coaches is usually very compressed in time, so first impressions really matter. And the people making the selection - athletics administrators and football boosters - are usually looking for a traditional leadership affect. This is even more important now in the era of NIL (name, image, likeness) rules that require raising money from donors to pay players.
But these extroverted traits don’t amount to much unless the coach also wins the games. Is a larger-than-life personality required for success on the field? The emergence of Indiana’s Curt Cignetti as the reigning national champion in college football suggests not. I am not in any way suggesting that Cignetti is autistic, and he has not acknowledged that. Nevertheless, Cignetti’s awkward traits have been a national fascination for sports pundits, and his appearance in a new commercial has allowed him to embrace his personality, making a very public acknowledgment of his differences.
Cignetti’s situation poses two important questions. The first is why do you have to be a champion football coach to embrace traits that are different from the norm? And why can’t we have more leaders like Cignetti?
‘He comes across kind of like a serial killer’
Curt Cignetti was a consistent winner in the lower levels of college football. He posted winning seasons at earlier stops: 53-17 at D-II Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 14-9 at Elon and 52-9 at James Madison. After such success at JMU, he was a logical candidate on the market in 2023. Several Power 4 schools that were better at football than Indiana were also looking. They passed him over. Indiana, which had more losses than any program in major college-football history, did not. Cignetti would change its status—and fast.
As his success built last season, many profiles were written of his unusual mannerisms and how they might have led to his success.
From CBS Sports’ profile by John Talty:
"If we're not talking about football, it's kind of awkward to have a conversation with him," DiNucci said. "His brain and his mind are wired one way, and it has been for the last 25 years. He cares about one thing -- winning -- and whatever we have to do to make that happen.“
So he doesn’t do small talk well and is focused on his job above all else. (DiNucci is a quarterback who played for him at JMU.)
"Honestly, early on at JMU, I couldn't really read him," said star Indiana cornerback D'Angelo Ponds. "I used to call him Batman. I couldn't really read what he was doing, but once you kind of get to know him, you understand what his reactions to everything are."
So he’s hard to read.
Dan Wolken called him “America’s best loved curmudgeon,” and speculated openly that perhaps he hadn’t landed a better job earlier because his mannerisms prevented him from doing well in an interview, quoting someone who had interviewed Cignetti:
“Now everybody thinks it’s kind of a cute schtick, but interviewing him, he comes across kind of like a serial killer,” the administrator said. “I don’t think you sit with him and you’re like, ‘Man, our fans are going to love this guy.’”
So people form quick judgments of him based on his affect that are mostly negative (if you consider “serial killer” to be negative).
But, none of that means Cignetti doesn’t have strong connections with people. Talty tells the story of coaches who wanted to attend a former colleague’s wedding and how Cignetti cheerfully rescheduled practice so they could attend.
Happy Coach
Cignetti, of course, is aware of all of this analysis. And he concedes that one might not know when he’s having a good time. “There’s lots of times I’m happy,” he told the Sporting News, “I just don’t show I’m happy.” He says it’s at least in part so he can keep his team focused rather than giving in to emotion. And it helps keep his own emotions in check so he can make logical decisions. Before the 2026 National Championship, when asked how he stays composed, he said, ““Self-control, I guess. I’m just trying to anticipate, not be emotional, which is the best way to make good decisions.” Of course, that’s right but you wouldn’t know it looking at every other coach yelling and throwing his headset.
I’m not a Chiefs fan, so I usually dread the release of the latest “Jake from State Farm” ads at the beginning of football season. But this year, they released an ad with Cignetti called “Happy Coach” where he playfully (and no doubt, profitably, for him) acknowledges his flat affect:
Cignetti is very happy with the personal price plan he’s going to get from Jake but never cracks a smile. At the end he flatly says, “I’m so excited.” To which Jake sarcastically says, “Yeah, I can tell.”
It’s great that Cignetti is acknowledging his traits. That’s good for those of us who have the same traits. But most of us have also been told (as he may have, as well) that we “don’t have good people skills,” are “too focused on work, not relationships,” are unable to inspire people with our outward expression, and that we make people nervous because they can’t tell what we’re thinking. Many autistic leaders who are good at getting the work done get told this when they get to the corner office (that includes me). Cignetti gets to have fun with it because of the success he’s had, and I get to do so now because I decided to stop trying to pretend I’m someone I’m not. (Also, I’m the editor of a science journal.)
But what about people who haven’t had Cignetti’s success? They are often excluded and criticized for these very same traits, especially if they are also not white men and subject to other forms of discrimination. These very same traits - flat affect, lack of interest in small talk, apparent lack of interest in relationships - are often disqualifying for leadership roles, but more tragically, lead to exclusion and even bullying for many people who never even get a chance.
Who looks like a leader?
Given all the problems we’re facing, wouldn’t it be better to have more leaders who actually accomplish things rather than making us feel good or exploiting our emotions? In my book, Leading with Autism, I will make that very case. Check it out next year.
Maybe Cignetti’s example—and, I hope, my book—can help make room for more awkward people who are good at getting things done to help make the world better. If that happens, I can tell you my response:
[says flatly]: “I’m so excited.”