DIPRIMIO NOTEBOOK – New Strength Coaches ‘Amaze’ the Hoosiers
6/29/2018 11:25:00 AM | Football
By: Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – For Indiana's football Hoosiers, it's a whole new strength-and-conditioning world.
David Ballou has seen to that.
Ballou didn't join the Hoosiers as director of athletic performance last winter after a successful run as Notre Dame's co-director of football strength and conditioning to offer more of the same power-and-speed approach.
Not with the start of a series of winning seasons as the goal.
Ballou, the former Hoosier fullback, along with Dr. Matt Rhea, who arrived after two years as the head of sport science at IMG Academy, are pushing the get-stronger-and-faster envelope with new ways, including the latest in technology.
Veteran running back Ricky Brookins is a believer.
"The new strength and conditioning coaches are amazing," he said. "Everybody is faster and stronger. Overall, we feel a lot healthier. We're ready to play. Everything we're learning and doing will translate onto the field."
Case in point -- the leg sensors.
"We have a lot of individualized work," Brookins said. "Dr. Rhea puts sensors on our legs to see if the hamstring is firing, if the quad is firing. We have a thing called a 1080 sprint, which is a miles per hour testing machine. A lot of guys have increased their speed."
Veteran tailback Cole Guest has been especially impressive.
"He ran a 23.8 miles per hour assisted, which is super-fast," Brookins said. "I already knew he was quick. A lot of guys are improving. It will be good for us."
How good?
During one play against Purdue last season, Brookins blazed to a speed of over 18 mph.
That would be slow for him now.
"With Dr. Rhea and all the workouts, I ran a 20.4," he said. "I'm gradually trying to get faster."
Brookins and all the Hoosier are trying to upgrade their football skills with player-directed 7-on-7 workouts.
"It's been going really well," Brookins said. "Everybody looks good. People are working together. The new guys are picking up the schemes. The young guys want to learn and be great, which is a huge thing for the team. Nobody wants guys out there who slack off and think they've made the team."
That includes quarterback Brandon Dawkins, a graduate transfer from Arizona expected to make immediate impact given he threw for 2,414 yards and 15 touchdowns, and rushed for 1,582 yards and 20 TDs in 23 career games for the Wildcats.
Still, nothing will be given to him. He faces a competitive starting battle with veteran Peyton Ramsey and heralded freshman Michael Penix Jr.
"He's transitioned well," Brookins said of Dawkins. "Everybody likes him.
"What I like about him is everybody knows he's good, but he came in mellow. He didn't try to take any starting roles, or say he was at the top or try to assert himself. He was smooth and blended in with everybody. He's a cool dude. A great guy."
As a fifth-year senior, Brookins has secured oldest-guy-in-the-running-backs room status. He's a year older than the next-oldest running back, senior Mike Majette.
Brookins said he's fine with that designation.
"It feels the same to me because I do what I have been doing. I don't like to say I'm the oldest. Me and Mike take the role as the older guys in everything we do. If we're doing individual stuff with the running backs, we'll talk and say, 'We've been here for so long, what should we do?' It's cool.
"It does feel like I've been here a while."
What's the next step for a guy who has been a career backup with 242 rushing yards and 23 catches on his resume?
"I'm doing the role (coaches) need," Brookins said. "If they need me to be the third-down dude, play a lot of special teams, pass protection, run the ball, whatever they need, I'm fine with doing it. I don't think anything needs to change.
"I'd like to play more, get the ball more, do whatever the team needs to win."
Experience finds Brookins, Majette and redshirt sophomore Connor Thomas in summer teaching mode.
"It's talking the basics," Brookins said. "We teach the young dudes what to do."
Brookins continues to lead the fundraising effort – via a GoFundMe page -- to help team manager Matt Stauder's battle with Hodgkins Lymphoma.
"Matt is an awesome person," Brookins said. "I know the (manager) job can be stressful. He always has a smile on his face. Whenever we do drills, he laughing with us.
"The reason I took initiative is anybody can say they want to help, but most people won't take the time to create something, do ads and stuff. I just thought, I have a lot of down time after class, why not do it for my friend? With this, having to promote and stuff, I could do that for him. He's a good kid. He deserves it. Nobody needs to go through that alone.
"The whole team backs him up. He talks about coming back for (August) camp, but the main thing is his health. We tell him, 'Take your time. We just need you healthy.'"
TAYLOR MADE
Reese Taylor downplays his potential not-so-secret-weapon role.
For now, Indiana's Mr. Football out of Indianapolis Ben Davis High School is focused on learning how to be a cornerback. It's a new role the heralded freshman embraces with as much gusto as he displayed when he was a record-breaking quarterback leading Ben Davis to a state title last fall.
Ask him what his IU goals are and he keeps it simple.
"Work as hard as I can in the weight room. Gain as much weight as I can so I can get on the field as early as I can."
Taylor is likely to get on the field a lot early on, and it could include a specially designed offensive package to take advantage of the talent that enabled him to throw for 7,631 yards and 79 touchdowns while running for 2,077 yards and 45 TDs for the Giants.
That earned him Mr. Football accolades. He's the first such Indiana winner to sign with IU since Indianapolis Lawrence Central's Tre Roberson in 2010.
It has not distorted Taylor's perception of himself and his prospects for this season.
"In high school I was Mr. Football, but in college basically everybody is Mr. Football," he said. "Everybody is as athletic as me, as fast as me, so I have to keep working as hard as I can."
Taylor very much appreciates being a Hoosier.
"It's been a blessing," he said. "I'm only an hour away, so I'm real close to home."
IU coach Tom Allen, who once ran Ben Davis' powerhouse program, is a huge reason why Taylor wears Cream 'n Crimson.
"He's a great man, a great coach," Taylor said. "He knows what he's doing."
Beyond that, Taylor said, "I'm coming into a brotherhood. I feel like I'm at home. There has been a lot of competition and hard work everywhere I go."
THE NEXT RASHARD FANT?
Jaylin Williams is no Rashad Fant.
Not yet, anyway.
The freshman cornerback from Tennessee understands that.
Still, he'd like to get as close as he can to duplicating the former Hoosier cornerback standout's impact, and that could make all the difference.
"I consider myself a good lockdown corner," Williams said. "Hopefully I'll be like Rashard and play like him."
Given Fant, currently a Chicago Bear, earned second-team All-Big Ten honors while setting school records for passes defended (58) and pass breakups (53) in a stellar four-year career, that's a lofty long-term goal.
But Williams has more immediate goals in mind, starting in the weight room.
"I want to get more weight and more speed, get a little more powerful and explosive.
"It's been a good vibe in the weight room. I've gained at least six pounds since I've been here. The coaches set goals for me. My job is to reach those goals."
He's getting help from veteran defensive backs A'Shon Riggins and Andre Brown Jr.
"They brought me in. They helped me learn everything, like my way around campus. It's a good relationship with them."
Williams, a 6-foot, 180-pound Tennessee Mr. Football finalist, arrived with one big Cream & Crimson objective, and it had nothing to do with individual accolades:
"To break through (as a team). This program is on the verge of turning it around. I want to be part of that."
MILLER TIME
James Miller is a freshman on the move, a 6-2, 229-pound linebacker out of Florida who understands that early playing time depends on having the size and strength to meet Big Ten demands.
So he, too, has bought into what Ballou and his strength staff are teaching.
"We're adjusting to the weight room and the conditioning. It feels like everybody is getting better.
"I want to get my weight up. It's the Big Ten, so I have to be heavier."
Beyond that, "I want to know the whole playbook by fall camp."
The Hoosiers beat out Florida State for Miller, an all-state selection who totaled 164 tackles and 11 sacks as a high school senior.
Credit Allen's Florida connections developed as a high school coach (Temple Heights, Armwood), and then a college coach (South Florida) for landing a player of Miller's caliber from Florida.
"Coach Allen (attracted me here)," Miller said. "He's special. There are special people here. He made me want to be part of it.
"He puts God first. That was on my list. He's family oriented. It made everything else easier."
SMOOTH TRANSITION
The two-way days are over. Elijah Rodgers aims to settle on a defensive back role and it starts, he said, "with being mentally and physically ready for the season."
That means for him, as it does for all the Hoosiers, "gaining a few pounds, getting faster and stronger."
Rodgers aimed to do that during an all-state South Carolina high school career, when he did just about everything but sing the National Anthem while thriving at quarterback and defensive back.
Still, this IU adventure is much different under Ballou.
"It's a huge change," Rodgers said. "You go from 9 a.m. lifts in high school to 6:45 a.m. lifts in college. And then you're in class.
"But it's been a smooth transition. It's big, but smooth."
That's what Rodgers envisioned when he chose the Hoosiers.
"It was probably the fight here, going to a program that is always competing," he said about his reason for coming to IU. "Coach Allen and his staff will get us over the hump."
So will veterans such as Riggins and Brown.
"I talk to them a lot," Rodgers said. "It's just hard work. Expect to work hard. Clock in every day and do what you can."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – For Indiana's football Hoosiers, it's a whole new strength-and-conditioning world.
David Ballou has seen to that.
Ballou didn't join the Hoosiers as director of athletic performance last winter after a successful run as Notre Dame's co-director of football strength and conditioning to offer more of the same power-and-speed approach.
Not with the start of a series of winning seasons as the goal.
Ballou, the former Hoosier fullback, along with Dr. Matt Rhea, who arrived after two years as the head of sport science at IMG Academy, are pushing the get-stronger-and-faster envelope with new ways, including the latest in technology.
Veteran running back Ricky Brookins is a believer.
"The new strength and conditioning coaches are amazing," he said. "Everybody is faster and stronger. Overall, we feel a lot healthier. We're ready to play. Everything we're learning and doing will translate onto the field."
Case in point -- the leg sensors.
"We have a lot of individualized work," Brookins said. "Dr. Rhea puts sensors on our legs to see if the hamstring is firing, if the quad is firing. We have a thing called a 1080 sprint, which is a miles per hour testing machine. A lot of guys have increased their speed."
Veteran tailback Cole Guest has been especially impressive.
"He ran a 23.8 miles per hour assisted, which is super-fast," Brookins said. "I already knew he was quick. A lot of guys are improving. It will be good for us."
How good?
During one play against Purdue last season, Brookins blazed to a speed of over 18 mph.
That would be slow for him now.
"With Dr. Rhea and all the workouts, I ran a 20.4," he said. "I'm gradually trying to get faster."
Brookins and all the Hoosier are trying to upgrade their football skills with player-directed 7-on-7 workouts.
"It's been going really well," Brookins said. "Everybody looks good. People are working together. The new guys are picking up the schemes. The young guys want to learn and be great, which is a huge thing for the team. Nobody wants guys out there who slack off and think they've made the team."
That includes quarterback Brandon Dawkins, a graduate transfer from Arizona expected to make immediate impact given he threw for 2,414 yards and 15 touchdowns, and rushed for 1,582 yards and 20 TDs in 23 career games for the Wildcats.
Still, nothing will be given to him. He faces a competitive starting battle with veteran Peyton Ramsey and heralded freshman Michael Penix Jr.
"He's transitioned well," Brookins said of Dawkins. "Everybody likes him.
"What I like about him is everybody knows he's good, but he came in mellow. He didn't try to take any starting roles, or say he was at the top or try to assert himself. He was smooth and blended in with everybody. He's a cool dude. A great guy."
As a fifth-year senior, Brookins has secured oldest-guy-in-the-running-backs room status. He's a year older than the next-oldest running back, senior Mike Majette.
Brookins said he's fine with that designation.
"It feels the same to me because I do what I have been doing. I don't like to say I'm the oldest. Me and Mike take the role as the older guys in everything we do. If we're doing individual stuff with the running backs, we'll talk and say, 'We've been here for so long, what should we do?' It's cool.
"It does feel like I've been here a while."
What's the next step for a guy who has been a career backup with 242 rushing yards and 23 catches on his resume?
"I'm doing the role (coaches) need," Brookins said. "If they need me to be the third-down dude, play a lot of special teams, pass protection, run the ball, whatever they need, I'm fine with doing it. I don't think anything needs to change.
"I'd like to play more, get the ball more, do whatever the team needs to win."
Experience finds Brookins, Majette and redshirt sophomore Connor Thomas in summer teaching mode.
"It's talking the basics," Brookins said. "We teach the young dudes what to do."
Brookins continues to lead the fundraising effort – via a GoFundMe page -- to help team manager Matt Stauder's battle with Hodgkins Lymphoma.
"Matt is an awesome person," Brookins said. "I know the (manager) job can be stressful. He always has a smile on his face. Whenever we do drills, he laughing with us.
"The reason I took initiative is anybody can say they want to help, but most people won't take the time to create something, do ads and stuff. I just thought, I have a lot of down time after class, why not do it for my friend? With this, having to promote and stuff, I could do that for him. He's a good kid. He deserves it. Nobody needs to go through that alone.
"The whole team backs him up. He talks about coming back for (August) camp, but the main thing is his health. We tell him, 'Take your time. We just need you healthy.'"
TAYLOR MADE
Reese Taylor downplays his potential not-so-secret-weapon role.
For now, Indiana's Mr. Football out of Indianapolis Ben Davis High School is focused on learning how to be a cornerback. It's a new role the heralded freshman embraces with as much gusto as he displayed when he was a record-breaking quarterback leading Ben Davis to a state title last fall.
Ask him what his IU goals are and he keeps it simple.
"Work as hard as I can in the weight room. Gain as much weight as I can so I can get on the field as early as I can."
Taylor is likely to get on the field a lot early on, and it could include a specially designed offensive package to take advantage of the talent that enabled him to throw for 7,631 yards and 79 touchdowns while running for 2,077 yards and 45 TDs for the Giants.
That earned him Mr. Football accolades. He's the first such Indiana winner to sign with IU since Indianapolis Lawrence Central's Tre Roberson in 2010.
It has not distorted Taylor's perception of himself and his prospects for this season.
"In high school I was Mr. Football, but in college basically everybody is Mr. Football," he said. "Everybody is as athletic as me, as fast as me, so I have to keep working as hard as I can."
Taylor very much appreciates being a Hoosier.
"It's been a blessing," he said. "I'm only an hour away, so I'm real close to home."
IU coach Tom Allen, who once ran Ben Davis' powerhouse program, is a huge reason why Taylor wears Cream 'n Crimson.
"He's a great man, a great coach," Taylor said. "He knows what he's doing."
Beyond that, Taylor said, "I'm coming into a brotherhood. I feel like I'm at home. There has been a lot of competition and hard work everywhere I go."
THE NEXT RASHARD FANT?
Jaylin Williams is no Rashad Fant.
Not yet, anyway.
The freshman cornerback from Tennessee understands that.
Still, he'd like to get as close as he can to duplicating the former Hoosier cornerback standout's impact, and that could make all the difference.
"I consider myself a good lockdown corner," Williams said. "Hopefully I'll be like Rashard and play like him."
Given Fant, currently a Chicago Bear, earned second-team All-Big Ten honors while setting school records for passes defended (58) and pass breakups (53) in a stellar four-year career, that's a lofty long-term goal.
But Williams has more immediate goals in mind, starting in the weight room.
"I want to get more weight and more speed, get a little more powerful and explosive.
"It's been a good vibe in the weight room. I've gained at least six pounds since I've been here. The coaches set goals for me. My job is to reach those goals."
He's getting help from veteran defensive backs A'Shon Riggins and Andre Brown Jr.
"They brought me in. They helped me learn everything, like my way around campus. It's a good relationship with them."
Williams, a 6-foot, 180-pound Tennessee Mr. Football finalist, arrived with one big Cream & Crimson objective, and it had nothing to do with individual accolades:
"To break through (as a team). This program is on the verge of turning it around. I want to be part of that."
MILLER TIME
James Miller is a freshman on the move, a 6-2, 229-pound linebacker out of Florida who understands that early playing time depends on having the size and strength to meet Big Ten demands.
So he, too, has bought into what Ballou and his strength staff are teaching.
"We're adjusting to the weight room and the conditioning. It feels like everybody is getting better.
"I want to get my weight up. It's the Big Ten, so I have to be heavier."
Beyond that, "I want to know the whole playbook by fall camp."
The Hoosiers beat out Florida State for Miller, an all-state selection who totaled 164 tackles and 11 sacks as a high school senior.
Credit Allen's Florida connections developed as a high school coach (Temple Heights, Armwood), and then a college coach (South Florida) for landing a player of Miller's caliber from Florida.
"Coach Allen (attracted me here)," Miller said. "He's special. There are special people here. He made me want to be part of it.
"He puts God first. That was on my list. He's family oriented. It made everything else easier."
SMOOTH TRANSITION
The two-way days are over. Elijah Rodgers aims to settle on a defensive back role and it starts, he said, "with being mentally and physically ready for the season."
That means for him, as it does for all the Hoosiers, "gaining a few pounds, getting faster and stronger."
Rodgers aimed to do that during an all-state South Carolina high school career, when he did just about everything but sing the National Anthem while thriving at quarterback and defensive back.
Still, this IU adventure is much different under Ballou.
"It's a huge change," Rodgers said. "You go from 9 a.m. lifts in high school to 6:45 a.m. lifts in college. And then you're in class.
"But it's been a smooth transition. It's big, but smooth."
That's what Rodgers envisioned when he chose the Hoosiers.
"It was probably the fight here, going to a program that is always competing," he said about his reason for coming to IU. "Coach Allen and his staff will get us over the hump."
So will veterans such as Riggins and Brown.
"I talk to them a lot," Rodgers said. "It's just hard work. Expect to work hard. Clock in every day and do what you can."
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