Notebook: From A-Z, Defense Showcasing Speed
3/28/2018 11:04:00 AM | Football
By Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Michael Ziemba, bearing a surname starting with that particular letter, probably got used to waiting back at the end of the line at an early age.
But in regard to Indiana football's defensive line, Ziemba is already moving on up.
Spring practice is made for guys such as Ziemba, young players looking to catch the eye of the coaching staff and start forging potential on-field roles for the fall.
IU defensive line coach Mark Hagen has taken note of Ziemba – who made his college debut as a true freshman in the victory at Virginia last fall and played in 10 games, often on special teams, finishing with four tackles.
"He's coming along," Hagen said of Ziemba, who was a high school teammate of IU wideout Nick Westbrook at Lake Mary, Fla. "He's a guy who was primarily a tight end and linebacker in high school, but we always thought (he could help on the defensive line).
"He's improving and, once he gets more comfortable – he's still thinking at times – once he's able to just let it go, watch out. We're very, very excited about him. He's got a bring future."
Ziemba, now up to 257 pounds, still has the mobility to play the defensive end spot to the wide side of the field.
"We've taken him from our boundary 'Bull' position to our natural defensive end to the field," Hagen said. "And, shoot, Mike's over 255 now and still runs effortlessly. So it's just a matter of developing a rep base and confidence these next three weeks.
"And another thing he gives you is high value on special teams as a big body guy who can run down the field."
Ziemba just wants to get on the field and contribute any which way. He noted there is no shortage of hungry candidates for IU defensive line spots, but he's already gotten positive feedback about his improvement.
"I think I definitely have," Ziemba said after Tuesday's practice. "They like the way I can move. I used to play tight end, and they wanted me to come to the defensive side of the ball and use my speed … and get after the quarterback."
Ziemba was used to catching passes from quarterbacks at Lake Mary before an injury cost him all but one game of his senior season. He was still listed as the nation's No. 23 tight end prospect by ESPN. But he didn't at all mind the notion of playing defense collegiately.
"I like defense more," he said with the trace of a grin. "You hit people more often. I like being physical."
Ziemba and Westbrook are two of 15 Floridians on IU's spring roster, and Ziemba – now a business management major – would advise any and all Floridians to follow suit and give Big Ten football at Indiana a try. Among other things, he has found being so far from home a broadening maturation experience.
"The fact that I could come to this great university, not just for the football but the academics, was a great opportunity," he said. "And it's a good experience, being so far from home. Not seeing my family every day, some days it's hard, but my mom's happy I'm doing this – everybody is happy for me. I made the right decision coming here for sure."
Hagen appreciates that decision, too. "Mike's doing a good job," he said. "We're excited to have him with us."
CADILLAC CORNERS
Indiana is without second team All-Big Ten cornerback Rashard Fant, now possessed of two IU degrees and headed to the NFL, but coach Brandon Shelby's cornerbacks room is hardly bereft of experience and talent.
Redshirt junior Andre Brown Jr. started 10 games and was fifth among all IU tacklers last season with 33 stops. A'Shon Riggins was limited by injury to just six games last fall, starting three, but started eight games and played in 12 as a true freshman in 2015.
"And you look at these two guys, they still have a couple of years left," Shelby said of Brown and Riggins. "We have no seniors, really, this next year. So real excited about the depth and those guys coming along.
That includes Raheem Layne, who played in all 12 games as a true freshman last fall and chipped in 13 tackles as IU's Defensive Newcomer of the Year, and classmate LaDamion Hunt, who played in seven contests.
"From day one, I knew he fit the character, fit the mold that I want," Shelby said of Layne. "And the bonus was he is a really good athlete. When you get a corner who is 6-foot, who is long and can run, that's a guy you can mold into a good player.
"Those types of guys make me a better coach, for sure. But the way he takes coaching – I'm tough on you, but I'm going to love you up off the field – he understands that."
Shelby also doesn't have to explain that to returnee Riggins, who the coach is very happy to have back healthy.
"We just need him to keep doing what he's doing," Shelby said of Riggins. "He's an old Cadillac now, just smooth and steady. He knows the expectations. He's been around here for years. He knows me. He played as a true freshmen, so he got a lot of those growing pains out of the way early. He got thrown into the fire.
"Last year, he had some injuries that kind of held him back, but he's looking great. He had an interception today. So I'm really excited about him. We've got a really great (cornerback) room."
Riggins hails from Hamilton, Ohio, but all the other IU cornerbacks are from south of the Mason-Dixon Line. That includes the three incoming recruits who will join the Hoosiers this fall: Elijah Rodgers (Blacksburg, S.C.) and Jaylin Williams (Germantown, Tenn.).
Another trait those incoming freshmen share with those already in Shelby's cornerbacks room: all are fast afoot and stand either 6-foot or 6-1. That's clearly a trend in the approach to recruiting, as opposed to the swift but relative smallish (5-10) Fant.
"The great thing, too, is we have three more guys coming in this summer who will give us more depth," Shelby said. "So these (returning) guys won't have to play so many plays each game. And when you look at that, it gets you kind of excited about the secondary, especially the corner position.
"You're definitely going to miss a guy like (Fant), with his production and his leadership. His ability to make checks and calls … which comes with experience – the concepts of the game, the flow of the game, that you have to teach the younger players. That's part of the maturity process. And he was once where they are, too. So I'm excited to kind of go back to ground zero and coach them up. It keeps me on my toes."
SWAGGERING SPEED
One area of improvement IU's defense will have renewed focus on next fall is generating more takeaways, and redshirt freshman linebacker Mo Burnam came up with an interception amidst an encouraging performance Tuesday.
New linebackers coach Kane Wommack is seeing younger players such as Burnam starting to play faster as they get a better handle on the defensive schemes.
"We've got most of our package in that we're going to run this spring, and sometimes our effort wasn't as good, because our guys were thinking a little bit (before reacting)," Wommack said, "and Mo got caught up in that. What I love is that he was able to respond today, in the way that he played.
"The execution got a little bit better. He made plenty of mistakes, but his effort and swagger – and just the energy they played with, as a group, including him – was really good."
Wommack is enamored of the especially rapid tempo at which offensive coordinator Mike DeBord's unit plays. Wommack feels facing that daily in practice will prep his young linebackers – who are replacing graduated starters Tegray Scales and Chris Covington – well for the fall.
Once young defenders stop thinking as much and can simply react, their speed of play improves. And Wommack likes the speed to which they're already growing accustomed in practice.
"I think anytime you go up against a team that runs a traditional tempo, the game just slows down in your mind," Wommack said. "If (our defenders) can execute under this tempo – can make their checks, communicate, get their eyes in the right place – and then continue to do that over and over and over, it just makes it that much easier when we go up against a number of our opponents who aren't going to go nearly as fast."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Michael Ziemba, bearing a surname starting with that particular letter, probably got used to waiting back at the end of the line at an early age.
But in regard to Indiana football's defensive line, Ziemba is already moving on up.
Spring practice is made for guys such as Ziemba, young players looking to catch the eye of the coaching staff and start forging potential on-field roles for the fall.
IU defensive line coach Mark Hagen has taken note of Ziemba – who made his college debut as a true freshman in the victory at Virginia last fall and played in 10 games, often on special teams, finishing with four tackles.
"He's coming along," Hagen said of Ziemba, who was a high school teammate of IU wideout Nick Westbrook at Lake Mary, Fla. "He's a guy who was primarily a tight end and linebacker in high school, but we always thought (he could help on the defensive line).
"He's improving and, once he gets more comfortable – he's still thinking at times – once he's able to just let it go, watch out. We're very, very excited about him. He's got a bring future."
Ziemba, now up to 257 pounds, still has the mobility to play the defensive end spot to the wide side of the field.
"We've taken him from our boundary 'Bull' position to our natural defensive end to the field," Hagen said. "And, shoot, Mike's over 255 now and still runs effortlessly. So it's just a matter of developing a rep base and confidence these next three weeks.
"And another thing he gives you is high value on special teams as a big body guy who can run down the field."
Ziemba just wants to get on the field and contribute any which way. He noted there is no shortage of hungry candidates for IU defensive line spots, but he's already gotten positive feedback about his improvement.
"I think I definitely have," Ziemba said after Tuesday's practice. "They like the way I can move. I used to play tight end, and they wanted me to come to the defensive side of the ball and use my speed … and get after the quarterback."
Ziemba was used to catching passes from quarterbacks at Lake Mary before an injury cost him all but one game of his senior season. He was still listed as the nation's No. 23 tight end prospect by ESPN. But he didn't at all mind the notion of playing defense collegiately.
"I like defense more," he said with the trace of a grin. "You hit people more often. I like being physical."
Ziemba and Westbrook are two of 15 Floridians on IU's spring roster, and Ziemba – now a business management major – would advise any and all Floridians to follow suit and give Big Ten football at Indiana a try. Among other things, he has found being so far from home a broadening maturation experience.
"The fact that I could come to this great university, not just for the football but the academics, was a great opportunity," he said. "And it's a good experience, being so far from home. Not seeing my family every day, some days it's hard, but my mom's happy I'm doing this – everybody is happy for me. I made the right decision coming here for sure."
Hagen appreciates that decision, too. "Mike's doing a good job," he said. "We're excited to have him with us."
CADILLAC CORNERS
Indiana is without second team All-Big Ten cornerback Rashard Fant, now possessed of two IU degrees and headed to the NFL, but coach Brandon Shelby's cornerbacks room is hardly bereft of experience and talent.
Redshirt junior Andre Brown Jr. started 10 games and was fifth among all IU tacklers last season with 33 stops. A'Shon Riggins was limited by injury to just six games last fall, starting three, but started eight games and played in 12 as a true freshman in 2015.
"And you look at these two guys, they still have a couple of years left," Shelby said of Brown and Riggins. "We have no seniors, really, this next year. So real excited about the depth and those guys coming along.
That includes Raheem Layne, who played in all 12 games as a true freshman last fall and chipped in 13 tackles as IU's Defensive Newcomer of the Year, and classmate LaDamion Hunt, who played in seven contests.
"From day one, I knew he fit the character, fit the mold that I want," Shelby said of Layne. "And the bonus was he is a really good athlete. When you get a corner who is 6-foot, who is long and can run, that's a guy you can mold into a good player.
"Those types of guys make me a better coach, for sure. But the way he takes coaching – I'm tough on you, but I'm going to love you up off the field – he understands that."
Shelby also doesn't have to explain that to returnee Riggins, who the coach is very happy to have back healthy.
"We just need him to keep doing what he's doing," Shelby said of Riggins. "He's an old Cadillac now, just smooth and steady. He knows the expectations. He's been around here for years. He knows me. He played as a true freshmen, so he got a lot of those growing pains out of the way early. He got thrown into the fire.
"Last year, he had some injuries that kind of held him back, but he's looking great. He had an interception today. So I'm really excited about him. We've got a really great (cornerback) room."
Riggins hails from Hamilton, Ohio, but all the other IU cornerbacks are from south of the Mason-Dixon Line. That includes the three incoming recruits who will join the Hoosiers this fall: Elijah Rodgers (Blacksburg, S.C.) and Jaylin Williams (Germantown, Tenn.).
Another trait those incoming freshmen share with those already in Shelby's cornerbacks room: all are fast afoot and stand either 6-foot or 6-1. That's clearly a trend in the approach to recruiting, as opposed to the swift but relative smallish (5-10) Fant.
"The great thing, too, is we have three more guys coming in this summer who will give us more depth," Shelby said. "So these (returning) guys won't have to play so many plays each game. And when you look at that, it gets you kind of excited about the secondary, especially the corner position.
"You're definitely going to miss a guy like (Fant), with his production and his leadership. His ability to make checks and calls … which comes with experience – the concepts of the game, the flow of the game, that you have to teach the younger players. That's part of the maturity process. And he was once where they are, too. So I'm excited to kind of go back to ground zero and coach them up. It keeps me on my toes."
SWAGGERING SPEED
One area of improvement IU's defense will have renewed focus on next fall is generating more takeaways, and redshirt freshman linebacker Mo Burnam came up with an interception amidst an encouraging performance Tuesday.
New linebackers coach Kane Wommack is seeing younger players such as Burnam starting to play faster as they get a better handle on the defensive schemes.
"We've got most of our package in that we're going to run this spring, and sometimes our effort wasn't as good, because our guys were thinking a little bit (before reacting)," Wommack said, "and Mo got caught up in that. What I love is that he was able to respond today, in the way that he played.
"The execution got a little bit better. He made plenty of mistakes, but his effort and swagger – and just the energy they played with, as a group, including him – was really good."
Wommack is enamored of the especially rapid tempo at which offensive coordinator Mike DeBord's unit plays. Wommack feels facing that daily in practice will prep his young linebackers – who are replacing graduated starters Tegray Scales and Chris Covington – well for the fall.
Once young defenders stop thinking as much and can simply react, their speed of play improves. And Wommack likes the speed to which they're already growing accustomed in practice.
"I think anytime you go up against a team that runs a traditional tempo, the game just slows down in your mind," Wommack said. "If (our defenders) can execute under this tempo – can make their checks, communicate, get their eyes in the right place – and then continue to do that over and over and over, it just makes it that much easier when we go up against a number of our opponents who aren't going to go nearly as fast."
Players Mentioned
DB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
DL
/ FootballFB: Omar Cooper - ISU Postgame Press Conference (09/12/25))
Friday, September 12
FB: Fernando Mendoza - ISU Postgame Press Conference (09/12/25)
Friday, September 12
FB: Week 3 (Indiana State) - Curt Cignetti Postgame Press Conference
Friday, September 12
FB: Inside IU Football with Curt Cignetti - Week 3 (Indiana State)
Wednesday, September 10