Indiana University Athletics
Development Key for Defensive Line
3/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
March 22, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - As spring football practice gets underway at Indiana, Indiana's Co-Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line Coach Brian George knows that the main priority for his young defensive line is development. With the loss of seniors Victor Adeyanju, Russ Richardson and Ben Ishola, the spring practice session serves as a time for those players who have proven their ability on the field to step it up and fill that void. Spring is also the time for the younger players to live up to their potential.
"For spring practice, we really want the older guys to continue to develop," George said. "We have a young group of guys that have to lead even younger guys. We need those younger players, especially those who redshirted last season, to really step it up, and a lot of that is done through spring practice learning the techniques and what we're doing. We lost a lot of seniors. We need the guys who played last season to really play well."
The loss of three seniors has certainly left some spaces to fill on the defensive line. Those players that contributed last year see this spring session as a time to mature and lead their younger teammates.
"Those guys did a great job," George said. "They are excellent leaders, and it's certainly hard to replace them right away, but that's college football. This isn't the NFL, where players play for as long as they can. We know that there is a limited amount of time a player is here in college. You have to just continue to bring guys along, and hope they develop to fill the holes."
The defensive line is not only concerned with filling the voids left, but are also looking to improve on everything including coaching techniques.
"We want to improve in just about every area defensively," George said. "Players improve during the offseason by increasing their strength and speed. We want to see what the new guys can bring to the table. We're hoping that they can play like we think they're capable of. There are minor adjustments in how I will approach the season in terms of coaching, but my general philosophy remains the same. We try to learn a few things to implement in the offseason, but in general, it's the same."
Players on the defensive line are excited to start the season expecting great things from themselves and their teammates. Senior defensive end Kenny Kendal looks forward to stepping up as a leader and helping his younger teammates develop during spring practice.
"The D-line is really young so we have a bunch of guys that need the spring to get some much needed experience," Kendal said. "Also, we have made some changes with the defense this spring so we have some new schemes we have to learn. We did lose a lot of talent last year with Ben, Victor and Russ, but we have some very athletic guys waiting for their shot to play."
Sophomore defensive tackle Greg Brown, who saw some playing time last season, is optimistic about the returning defensive players in the upcoming season.
"The players that are returning for spring ball have a lot of talent," Brown said. "I am very confident that we will step up for the challenge. My expectations are to be more consistent the whole season, and to do whatever I can to help the team get to a bowl game."
George believes that the young players are going to make a strong statement during spring practice that will carry over into the 2006 season.
"Several players appeared to play real well," George said. "Redshirt freshman Neal Jones, Emile Bass, Todd Newman and Jammie Kirlew made an impression last season. Now I'm just hoping that they'll step up and really contribute for us."
