Indiana University Athletics
Indiana Head Coach Gerry DiNardo Press Conference
3/28/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
March 28, 2003
Opening with numbers:
GD: "Let me start with numbers, we will have 45 guys on scholarship this spring and 26 without, so we will be at 71. Some of those guys are banged up, but basically our numbers are a little back. A year ago, we were at 60 total with scholarship and non-scholarship, so our numbers are back up. We will have 69 in the fall. We go into spring practice with 24 offensive scholarships, 18 defensive scholarships and three special teams scholarships. By my math, that is 45 and then we should be at 69 in the fall. Our numbers are starting to come back."
GD: "We had a really good off season. I am really excited about some of the progress we have made, but you do all that so that you can play better. So we will see if we can turn that into better play and a better team."
Q: What progress have you seen in conditioning?
GD: "I can give you an example. When we first got here eight people passed our conditioning test, which was 10 percent of our team. Last time we tested them in March, 50 passed it, which was 69 percent of the guys that took it. We have made huge gains in conditioning. Now we want to make the same improvement in strength and the same improvement in playing the game. The first step is always conditioning because you can't play the game if you're not in condition and you can't get stronger without the ability to run. That is where we are, our numbers are getting better and our conditioning is getting better. Another couple of years we will be at 85, I am hoping the fall of 2004 we will be at 85. That is the plan, we knew it would take us about three years to get our numbers back and we are right on schedule."
Q: What was the reasoning behind Herana-Daze Jones' position change?
GD: "We felt that his size was becoming an issue at linebacker. It became hard for him to play in there at times. Not that he won't be in there because in our defense the strong safety is going to be part of the box a lot. Herana-Daze's move was motivated mostly by his size.
Q: What are the benefits of Joe Gonzalez coming back this season?
GD: "He is going to play free safety, and he is a fifth-year guy. In a lot of programs this would be the time he would be a senior. This is the time Kris Dielman would be a senior, Derek Barnett, those types of guys. Joe is on a schedule where in a good, solid program he would be in his senior year. The national average tells us that only 10 to 15 percent of freshman classes play, so the great majority of your signing class would be there for five years. We have a very small senior class, anytime you have a fifth year senior it helps."
Q: What other position switches have occurred?
GD: "We moved Courtney Clency to corner. The offensive line is always a little bit fluid with whether guys are going to play guard, tackle or center. Patrick Thompson has moved from wide receiver to tight end. Tyrone Allen is a corner, that is another move."
Q: What was Clency's reason for moving to corner?
GD: "Speed, he was the fastest guy on our team on testing day. Our depth at tailback is such that it was a good move to take a guy like Courtney, who looks physically like he could be a corner, and give him a shot at it."
Q: What are you expecting from LoVecchio this spring?
GD: "Continuing to learn the offense. He had a fall where he wasn't involved in our offense and he was on the scout team. He needs to continue to learn the offense."
Q: Is it at a point now where LoVecchio is the guy or is there still competition?
GD: "I think if you looked at our off season conditioning, everything that we have done, Graeme McFarland would probably be one of the top five guys in every category as far as improvement. I see Graeme competing for the starting position at quarterback. I don't know how you couldn't give both of them a chance. They certainly both deserve it, and they have both done things in their past that indicate that they can be the starting quarterback. We will let those two guys compete because they both have done some outstanding things since they have been on campus, and that translates into they both deserve a chance."
Q: Did LoVecchio learn anything from running the scout team last season?
GD: "He started in a BCS Bowl, so he has had a lot of game experience. Ordinarily, I would think that running the scout team would give a guy some advantage, but when you are talking about a guy who started for two years, I don't know that is does. It probably did more for him to get to know the team and make that transition that a transfer has to make."
Q: What attributes of LoVecchio do you like?
GD: "I followed Matt when he was in high school, I always thought that one of the things that Matt had was the combination of the ability to run and the ability to throw. I think if you look at now-a-day quarterbacks there is a lot to say about guys who can get themselves out of trouble. I think he brings a balance to the position where he is not only a runner or not only a passer, but he brings both."
Q: Is that type of quarterback better suited for the West Coast Offense?
GD: "I believe it is. We do some movement passes. We will use the run game depending on how well the quarterback can move. I think now-a-days in any offense, you have to have a quarterback that can move a little bit."
Q: Is Graeme in the same mold?
GD: "I believe that he is, but I haven't seen him enough. I watched Matt play a couple of times live when he was in South Bend and I have watched him on tape. I just haven't seen Graeme. By his numbers in the off season, absolutely, but I want to see him play. One of the things that gets your attention about Graeme's off season numbers, he had a heck of a couple of months, and he is a great student. You can't disqualify a guy who does well in school and does well in off season conditioning. There is something about a person that can do those things."
Q: What do you what to accomplish this spring?
GD: "Well if you look at it statistically a year ago and you started on both sides of the ball, our scoring offense was 11th and our scoring defense was 11th. So we have to work on both our scoring offense and our scoring defense. Our ability to stop the run has to be addressed and our ability to run the football has to be addressed. Our passing game on offense, we had 21 picks. We have to cut those in half. Other than that we secured the football well, we only had eight fumbles, second to Penn State in the conference. We threw too many interceptions, but we protected the ball in the run game very nicely. We threw the ball very well other than the 21 picks, but our run game on offense has to come. Our pass defense is a little bit of a negative stat because if people have the ability to run against you, they tend not to pass. Our pass defense has to continue to develop. Our redzone offense and our redzone defense were the worst in the conference. With a team like ours, when you are in the redzone and you have the possibility of scoring, you are going to have to score to win some football games. By way of example, when you got the ball between the 40's, the national average of people scoring is 56 percent when you start in that field position. We were 29 percent. Even when we got the ball in good field position on offense, we didn't score and a lot of that was our poor performance in the redzone. So both sides of the ball need to work on the redzone play this spring. Our punt team was ranked seventh, I want our punt team to be 1, 2 or 3 at the end of the season. I believe we can do that on the punt team. Our kickoff coverage was awful and we have to do a much better job with that team. Our kickoff return was ok. Our punt return, we have to find our niche there. I believe Bryan Robertson in field goals was gaining confidence as the season went on; I want to see him continue to do that. Those are a couple of things and you want to find your players. Our numbers are a little bit of a problem saying this, but you want to come out of the spring with your team. Although I do believe we will have some help from our freshmen again. It is hard to say that when you have 45 scholarship players, but we really do want to come out of the spring with the team that we fly to Connecticut."
Q: What is the difference from this spring and last spring?
GD: "We have a reference point with what needs to be done on the field. We have a better chance of becoming a better football team when you are a better-conditioned team. So most of the guys are not going to just try to get through practice, it is not going to be survival test. It might even be a real football practice instead of just a survival or endurance test. I think that really helps us. Last year, we didn't have personnel, we had a style change, and we had a chemistry change. This happens all over when you have a change and I think that is the difference."
Q: What are the major holes you need to fill this spring with the guys leaving?
GD: "I would say all of them really, everyone that left you would have to replace. I would hate to single some people out. I have an idea who I think is going to be hardest to replace. I don't know that that is fair to go on the record; I don't want to slight the other guys. Obviously, you have to replace everybody. I feel good about that. There are a couple spots I am concerned about."
Q: How are the guys coming back from injuries on the defensive line?
GD: "Chris (Beaty) is going to do as much as he can. He had significant reconstruction on his shoulder. He has a significant injury, so he is going to do some drill work, but no live work. John (Lumpkin) is going to be a matter of how much confidence he has in that leg if he comes back. Both of those guys had significant injuries and significant surgeries, so you don't rush those guys. You let them come back at their own speed. You will see both of those guys out on the field, you will see them dressed like the rest of the team, but you won't see them in the team period and you certainly won't see them in the scrimmage."
Q: Talk about the numbers being down on the defensive line.
GD: "Well we have got two nose guards in Richardson and Tingle, two three techniques in Lapostolle and Derek Frye, and then we have got four defensive ends, not counting John (Lumpkin) in Victor, Clemons, Kendal and Radke. This is who we are right now, it will get better. Most of the time when you are building a program, both sides of your line of scrimmage are going to be down. One thing that separates good programs from programs that are struggling are the amount of big guys they have. This is not a new blueprint."
Q: How is Adam Braucher?
GD: "He has had an incredible rehab. He has really worked hard. If you would have told me a year ago when he slipped on the practice field that with that injury he would be back in spring, I won't have believed you. I am surprised he came back at all; I thought he was done. I admire the way he has rehabbed and kicked some at his own pace. It is good to have him back."
Q: What are you expecting from Courtney Roby this spring?
GD: "I think Courtney has a lot of upside, he had a good off season. He has to cut his drops in half. I think if you look at his season, if he dropped half as many passes as he did last year; he would have a heck of a year. He worked really hard in the off season. He is a guy who could have an impact on our team. I say that because he has a lot of talent and in our offense he will have opportunities. He is talented, he works hard, he has good character. He has to work on a specific skill, and in this offense, he could have a tremendous impact on our season."
Q: What are your feelings on the guys coming in early with Mangiero and Hearn?
GD: "Having the two offensive linemen coming, we would be down seven offense linemen without them. So they get us to nine. Both of them have some significant progress condition wise. When Paul Hearn did his first shuttle, it was all he could do just to finish. We just did it the other day and it was night and day. That is why this idea of a freshman coming in midway through his senior year of high school. With Paul being Canadian it is different because he is in his fifth year of high school and then Chris is a young senior in high school. We had a couple of guys at LSU do that, and you really don't see the benefits until they come in in the fall. They come into camp not as freshman, it is incredible. I wish we had them all, the other 24."
