Allen Talks Preparation for Spring Football

Opening Statement…

"Just the time of the year. Love spring practice. Love the process that you go through to develop your team in April and May, starting here in March. I just feel like our guys worked extremely hard in the weight room. We are really pleased with coach Caton and the hard work he's put in. Being able to watch the session this morning, you can just see the mindset of our guys, the words, just the approach as they come today. Still feel like we've got to focus on the little things. We've got a lot of work to do I think in that area. We make that a focus going forward and want to address this offseason. The discipline, the little things that will allow us to be able to make that difference in the fourth quarter, in those key critical points of the game. Excited about the progress we're making. We start spring ball here coming up on Saturday which is very very exciting for the whole staff and the players as well. They're kind of ready to get back and play some football after being in the weight room for so long. They're excited to get a whole new staff out there together and have them coach these boys and it's going to be a whole lot of fun. The spring game is going to be on April 13^th, the Thursday night before Easter weekend. That's an exciting time for us. It will be exactly 140 days prior to our kickoff on the 31st of August to open the season. That's going to be a fun night, Jon Gruden is going to be here with us as a special guest and our staff had a chance to spend some time with him and he's got connections to IU. He's excited about being here. It's a really good thing. The game will be starting at seven o'clock. That's it something that will obviously be the conclusion to everything that we do for spring ball and it'll be a fun night for us. I would like to update the roster. Joe Belden has been placed with the medical hardship and so that's his status. We've got three young men, Wesley Green, Jordan Fuchs & Danny Cameron have been suspended indefinitely from the program and that's all to say about that. That's where we're at."

On any position changes…

"Camion (Patrick) is going back to running back. Other then that, no specific changes as the guys finished up in the fall. That's where we're going to start here in the spring and just trying to get some guys healthy and squared away."

On new health updates…

"Simmie Cobbs, has been encouraging with his development and he's come along really really well. Watching him move around is encouraging for us and and we need to get him back. Mike Majette, same thing. Cole Gest, Brandon Knight these guys are going to be back for spring which is good for everybody here. We've got some other guys along the way after postseason surgeries that won't be full board for spring. Overall I like the health of our team. I think that the direction we're going in terms of getting guys back to being full speed and obviously the objective is to be full speed by august 31^st. We have a lot of work before then."

On the new coaches adapting to their roles…

"I think it's been really positive. I believe we've attracted some really high-quality people. I know one of the strengths is relationship building and being able to do it in their own way, everybody has their style. I feel like so far, it's very new for sure not a lot of time involved here, but spring ball will create a lot more of that time for that. Even in the initial contacts during workouts here, and be able to get within the rules, to spend time with them has been very productive for me. A lot of this is one-on-one. When you can get in your office and know the young man, that's extremely valuable.

On T.J. Simmons…

"He had his redshirt year. We'll see how he can progress. We have that mike linebacker spot up for competition. This spring, that's going to be one the key things to watch. We got some experience there. Chris Covington really played well when he played. We are excited about that position."

On Simmie Cobbs coming back from injury…

"I think anytime a receiver ahs lower-leg injury like that, it makes it tough. He's a big strong guy so he's had to be disciplined and stay focused off the field as well while your injured sometimes gives guys trouble I think. The mature ones are able to handle it and I think he's grown up a lot in that regard. I'm really excited about his growth as a person and then getting healthy. I think he's worked extremely hard to get back out here and have some fun on the field. He commands with his presence and his work ethic and I told him he has to earn back the right to speak as a verbal leader. Sometimes you can't make him that way and it's hard to hold him back. I have no problem with him being in that mode, he knows he earn that to be able to have his off-the-field matches on the field. That's what he's doing, he leads by example right now and that's what I charged him to do and I'm really pleased with that."

On preparing in spring to play a triple option team…

"There will be. I played the Navy in the past, Georgia Tech in the past and some other places I've been. We have a plan for that and then it will begin to be implemented this spring, not prior to spring break. Post-spring break we'll start working on it and that you pretty much have to because you don't play them in at a bowl setting."

On talking with other coaches about preparing for different schemes…

"We have and we will. We have already begun that process in phase one. Phase two will be another trip for us. Absolutely, I think it's important just because our guys haven't played them. It's been a few years since we've played Navy here. Even as a staff we want to get some new ideas and different things. I think that's a really critical part of the preparation.

On Gruden's connection…

"Mike DeBord knows him professionally and as friends. It's just about relationships and that's how we got to go down there. We had a really great visit down there."

Players Mentioned

Chris Covington

Cole Gest

Brandon Knight

Mike Majette

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