Todd’s Take: Mike Woodson-Related Noise Has Jumped The Shark

Nothing wrong with praising or criticizing Mike Woodson, but does it have to be a 24-7 obsession?

Indiana Hoosiers head coach Mike Woodson in the first half against the Sam Houston State Bearkats at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti says a lot of things. Many of them are insightful. Some of them are cliches. Guess what? We all do the same thing, so that’s no knock on Cignetti.

During his Wednesday National Signing Day press conference, Cignetti was asked a question about how he balances the rigors of preparing for a playoff game, recruiting a high school class and handling the impending opening of the transfer portal.

In his response, Cignetti said that he’s had conversations with some members of his team about the portal, but with the College Football Playoff looming, he wants his players to focus on the task at hand and avoid distractions.

“The main thing has to be the main thing, right?” Cignetti said.

That’s great advice. I wish it could be applied to Indiana basketball regarding the drumbeat of noise that is constantly honed in on coach Mike Woodson.

After Indiana’s 1-2 performance at Battle 4 Atlantis last week, the annual Woodson Angst Fest is back with another sequel, almost like a holiday movie release.

The Hoosiers lost decisively to Louisville and Gonzaga, and those offseason positive vibes that came largely from excitement about Indiana’s transfer portal haul disappeared into the ether for many frustrated fans.

Let’s not sugar-coat this – those were bad losses. Losing by 28 to Louisville and by 16 to Gonzaga does not a NCAA Tournament team make. During the games, it was totally understandable for Indiana fans to vent their spleen. The Louisville game in particular was an embarrassment.

Even in the run-up to Indiana’s post-Battle 4 Atlantis game against Sam Houston on Tuesday, no one would blame Indiana fans for feeling residual annoyance. There was more on Friday as Miami of Ohio hung with the Hoosiers into the second half before Indiana pulled away for a 76-57 victory.

Fans live and die with the wins and losses. Otherwise, why care at all?

The problem, for some anyway, is that the irritation becomes all-consuming. The rancor becomes a way of life.

At some point, the anger becomes so self-sustaining that it reaches the point of parody. The 24-7 nature of being ticked off takes on a shrill quality where the anger becomes more of a problem than what the anger is supposed to be about in the first place.

And I don’t think the angriest Indiana fans are representative of the fanbase, even though in their desire to vent their spleen they are an out-sized voice.

I also don’t think Woodson’s most strident supporters are in the majority, either.

Most fans are in the middle, and they don’t over-think these things. They just want Indiana to succeed. They hope that Woodson – a program legend – can pull it off and get Indiana to national prominence. Many are also likely put off by bad traits that have marked the Woodson regime and don’t seem to go away.

That large group in the middle aren’t going to be the ones running to message boards every time Indiana faces the smallest bit of adversity. The silent majority also isn’t going to man the ramparts to fight back against every last thing the anti-Woodson crowd tosses out there, either.

The most reasonable people are usually the most silent.

However, even taking that into account, the noise produced mostly by the anti-Woodson contingent gets tiresome. Myself? I’m pretty mellow. I am not attracted to constant aggrievement even if I agree with some of the points anti-Woodson fans make. Who wants to be in that constantly furious headspace all of the time?

It reminds me of some political-related beliefs I might support. Then I see who the true-believer crusaders are for that particular belief, and I’m turned off by their stridency.

In the Indiana basketball universe, Woodson has unwittingly created this problem. In his fourth season as Indiana men’s basketball coach, his regime is a kind of worst-case scenario.

Before the anti-Woodson fans dip their torches of approval in my general direction, it’s not the worst-case scenario in the way you might think. It’s the worst-case scenario in terms of polarizing a very passionate fanbase.

Woodson’s time at Indiana has been right down the middle in terms of accomplishment. For a coach at a school that is dying for someone to take them back to national championship contention, it’s a terrible place to be as far as fan sentiment is concerned.

Woodson has not been great. To be great, Indiana would have had to at least make it to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament or win a Big Ten championship since Woodson arrived. Neither has happened.

Woodson has not been terrible. He has a 69-42 record as Indiana’s coach. It may shock those who are dyed-in-the-wool anti-Woodson folks that he has a winning percentage inside Indiana’s all-time top 10.

What Woodson’s regime has delivered is shades of gray, good and bad in arguably equal measure. As I said, that’s the worst thing that can happen when the fans are so desperate for a winner.

Indiana basketball is a hothouse of passion. That’s good in most ways – the loyalty of Indiana fans to the Hoosiers is second to none.

But when a segment of fans is up in arms about someone like Woodson, who has such an ambiguous record? The noise never stops inside the hothouse because, there is always a morsel that supports either the pro-Woodson or anti-Woodson contingencies.

Which gets back to the main thing being the main thing. The noise often drowns out what’s really important – what the end result of the games are.

As mentioned above, I’m fine with strident opinions when tethered to the games. Indiana’s performance in the first two games at Battle 4 Atlantis was poor and disappointing. On Friday, there were times when the Hoosiers seemed to play at half-pace. Fair enough. Fire away while the games are being played.

But if you’re holding on to it for more than 24 hours after the games are played – ask yourself, what’s the point? Woodson isn’t going anywhere during the season. It all seems a bit pointless until the finish line is reached.

Also, this season still has plenty of plot twists to come, and nothing is over yet.

I’m not suggesting Indiana’s wins over Providence, Sam Houston and Miami are anywhere near as impactful as wins over Louisville or Gonzaga could have been. But the notion that a 7-2 team is on a runaway train to oblivion is just a tad over the top.

Let the players play it out. This team does have signs of being better than the disappointing 2024 crew. Is Woodson perfect? No, but nothing that’s happened in this season is fatal as far as Indiana reaching its goals is concerned. It will be harder, but certainly not impossible.

As for the noise? For those who perpetrate it 24/7, save it for game day. Keep the main thing the main thing. Let the results dictate the noise instead of you.

Related stories on Indiana basketball

• INDIANA CONTROLS SECOND HALF TO BEAT MIAMI OF OHIO: Indiana took control of the game in the second half to take down Miami of Ohio 76-57 on Friday. CLICK HERE.

• WOODSON WANTS MORE FROM HIS DEFENSE: Statistically, Indiana was good on Friday in the win over Miami of Ohio, but Mike Woodson saw breakdowns he wants fixed. CLICK HERE.

• FORMER INDIANA ASSISTANT STEELE COMES BACK: Miami of Ohio coach Travis Steele came back to Indiana where he was an assistant during the Kelvin Sampson era. CLICK HERE.

• WHAT WOODSON SAID: Mike Woodson's postgame comments to the media after the victory over Miami of Ohio. CLICK HERE.