Gene Hackman in Hoosiers (1986)
Vitals
Gene Hackman as Norman Dale, controversial high school basketball coach and Navy veteran
Indiana, Fall 1951
Film: Hoosiers
Release Date: November 14, 1986
Director: David Anspaugh
Costume Designer: Jane Anderson
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Welcome to Indiana basketball…
The legendary late actor Gene Hackman was born 96 years ago today on January 30, 1930. On the first anniversary of his birthday since his death last February, today’s post centers around Hackman’s celebrated performance in the 40-year-old sports drama Hoosiers as Norman Dale, hired to coach a small Indiana town’s basketball team whose roster includes names like Merle, Rade, Strap, and Whit—which I think is just great.
Though set in the fictional town of Hickory, Hoosiers was loosely inspired by the true story of the Milan High School basketball team’s victory against Muncie Central High School to win the 1954 state championship. And if you don’t think that’s a big deal, just take it from Norm himself:
I thought everybody in Indiana played basketball.
A former college basketball coach who spent a dozen years away from the whistle while serving in the Navy, Norman Dale encounters plenty of resistance in Hickory, from the players themselves to the town elders who are overly invested in the team’s success. Norman eventually makes his first enemy-turned-ally in the form of Myra Fleener (Barbara Hershey), a fellow teacher who discovers a secret about Norm’s past but keeps it to herself as she urges the town to accept him as their coach.
Hackman himself was one of Norman’s own detractors—or at least he didn’t have much faith in Hoosiers itself, frequently clashing with director David Anspaugh during production. During the montage where he makes “Shooter” Flatch (Dennis Hopper) laugh on the bench, Hackman reportedly told his colleague: “Hopper, I hope you’ve invested well, because you and I are never gonna work after this movie. This is a career-ending film for both of us.”
Despite the on-set troubles, Hackman was ultimately impressed with Anspaugh’s finished product and, in addition to recouping its $6 million budget by grossing more than $28 million, Hoosiers continues to be listed among the greatest sports movies of all time.
What’d He Wear?
Norman Dale brings more than his coaching talents to Hickory, Indiana; he also has a small but effective rotation of great jackets. A Navy veteran who attained the rank of chief petty officer (which should tell you all you need to know about his capacity for leadership!), Norman first wears a sturdy dark-navy melton wool 8×4-button pea coat that was surely USN-issue. As the fall weather chills into winter, Norman increasingly layers on the heavy pea coat.
While actively coaching, Norman often swaps out this warm pea coat for a mid-weight leather jacket made from a brown chrome-tanned cowhide, weathered to a comfortably worn-in patina with aged distress along the seams. Although it shares some topical similarities with contemporary military flight jackets, it’s almost certainly a civilian jacket like the Sears “Hercules” series produced through mid-century. These jackets were optimized for early motorcyclists, designed with a straight-zip front, half-belted back, and a pair of hip pockets (often supplemented with hand pockets), and a zipped pocket over the chest.
Norman’s chrome-tanned cowhide hip-length jacket follows this three-pocket design, half-belted across the back. The straight front-zip extends from about six inches above the hem to the neck, where Norm initially wears the shirt-style collar turned up against his neck. It has a slanted zip-up pocket over the left chest, and the two set-in hip pockets are closed with gently scalloped snaps that close through leather-covered snaps, supplemented with slanted-entry hand pockets.
Norman holds himself to a high degree for courtside sartorial standards, insisting to Shooter that coaches and assistants wear shirts and ties during games. (Ironically, the scene where he voices this is one of the few times that he wears neither, sporting a dark jumper under his pea coat!) It’s not an unexpected standard, coming from an ex-military coach who responded to his team’s complaints that: “you are in the Army, you’re in my army. Every day between three and five.”
Norm’s limited but versatile wardrobe includes four shirts, four ties, and two pairs of trousers, effectively mixing and matching most together—making the most of a limited selection by embracing versatility. Aside from a plain black woolen knit tie, Norm generally prefers striped ties, including an “uphill” bar-striped tie in teal, rust, and maroon with narrow white border stripes and a “downhill”-striped tie in more muted shades of brown, tan, sage, and rust. (He also later introduces a navy silk tie with a Deco-informed motif of intersecting purple and lavender squares, but he never wears it with his leather jacket.)
He arrives in Hickory wearing a tan poplin work-shirt with a spread collar, single-button squared cuffs, and two patch-style chest pockets—each covered by a pointed, single-button flap. The shirt is rendered even less formal by the single-needle top-stitching along its edges. Though likely a civilian work-shirt, it appropriately echoes his military background by mimicking World War II-era khaki service shirts.
When Norm takes the court for his first official day coaching, he opts for professionalism in his dressiest shirt—a white cotton poplin shirt, styled with a semi-spread collar, front placket, breast pocket, and button cuffs.
On his first day coaching, Norman Dale reminds his team that “my practices aren’t designed for your enjoyment!”
Most connected to his naval background, Norm frequently wears a chambray work-shirt, woven in blue and white cotton for a classic light-blue finish. Possibly intended to be USN-issue, Norm’s chambray shirt has dark-blue plastic buttons up the plain front, with a convertible top that he wears with the point collar closed to accompany a tie or open-neck, showing the top of his white cotton crew-neck undershirt. The shirt also has two open-top patch pockets over the chest and button cuffs.
Norm occasionally pulls on sleeveless cardigans in shades of gray and maroon, though the only one definitely paired under his brown leather jacket is the field-gray wool sweater vest that he wears most frequently. This sleeveless cardigan has five brown woven leather buttons up the cable-knitted front, finished with a plain-knitted back and detailed with ribbed armholes and waist hem. Two small pockets are positioned low on Norm’s hips.
Norm frequently wears black wool trousers, often orphaned from a full two-piece suit that he wears during games. The matching suit jacket has a high-fastening 6×3-button double-breasted configuration, cut more like the Navy’s blue service dress uniform than civilian tailoring. The flat-front trousers have belt loops, side pockets, button-through back pockets, and full-break bottoms finished with turn-ups (cuffs).
Black trousers, completing a suit while joined courtside by school principal Cletus Summers (Sheb Wooley) and orphaned with his leather jacket and sleeveless cardigan while assisting at the Fleener farm.
Norm’s other trousers are tan cotton flat-front slacks, styled with belt loops, straight pockets cut along the side seams, jetted back pockets, and cuffed bottoms. Given the early ’50s setting and Norm being a veteran, Hoosiers presents a picture-perfect example of how returning servicemen sporting their G.I.-issue slacks resulted in khakis enduring as a fundamental menswear staple.
Norman’s black and khaki belts are of the webbed cotton variety that would have been issued with CPO Dale’s uniforms, fastened through a gold-toned box-framed buckle.
Rather than the black-and-white Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star hi-top sneakers worn by his players, Norman sticks to more professional footwear in his black calf leather cap-toe derby shoes, polished to a perfect shine as he would’ve done in the Navy. He always wears plain black socks.
Norman keeps time with a World War II-era field watch that he likely obtained during his decade-long military service, comprised of a nickel-plated brass 32mm case, round black dial, and olive-drab nylon strap. We can safely assume he’s meant to be wearing one of the FSSC-88-W-800 watches designed as the U.S. Navy’s counterpart to the Army’s A-11 field watch. A large blue cabochon stone shines from the silver filigreed class ring (possibly a U.S. Navy ring) on Norm’s right hand.
How to Get the Look
Gene Hackman in Hoosiers (1986)
Norman Dale wears his mid-20th century military experience in his everyday attire, whether that’s in his mil-spec pieces like field watch and web belt or merely the professionalism in his clean shirts and ties—all anchored by his signature brown leather zip-front jacket that, like the coach itself, has seen plenty of years but is still up to the task.
- Brown cowhide leather hip-length jacket with shirt-style collar, straight front-zip, slanted zip-up chest pocket, set-in hip pockets with covered-snap flaps and slanted set-in hand pockets, plain cuffs, and half-belted back
- Khaki poplin work-shirt with spread collar, front placket, two chest pockets with single-button flaps, and 1-button squared cuffs
- Muted burgundy and teal-striped tie
- Field-gray cable-knit wool sleeveless cardigan with five brown woven leather buttons and two small hip pockets
- Black wool flat-front suit trousers with belt loops, side pockets, button-through back pockets, and turn-ups/cuffs
- Black cotton web belt with gold-toned box-frame buckle
- Black calfskin leather cap-toe derby shoes
- Black socks
- Silver filigreed class ring with blue cabochon stone
- Nickel-plated brass mil-spec field watch with round black dial on olive-drab nylon strap
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie.
The Quote
If you put your effort and concentration into playing to your potential, to be the best that you can be, I don’t care what the scoreboard says at the end of the game, in my book we’re gonna be winners.