Indiana University Athletics
Hoosier Linebackers Continue to Improve
3/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
March 30, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - With the Hoosiers nearly halfway through the spring practice season linebackers coach and special teams coordinator George Ricumstrict feels optimistic about his young group. With the departure of two key seniors, middle linebacker John Pannozzo and outside linebacker Kyle Killion, Ricumstrict feels his players have shown great potential and are ready to step up strong for the 2006 season.
"So far during spring ball, for what we've done I think it's going real well," Ricumstrict said. "The kids have really picked it up. We've thrown a lot of stuff at them. I think for the most part they've done a good job of grasping what we're doing. In our base stuff, it's similar to last year but in some other things what we're doing is different and they've done a really good job at picking it up I think. We've had very minimal mistakes."
While the loss of two seniors has left some spaces to fill Ricumstrict is confident that his young players are going to continue getting better and live up to their potential.
"The two guys that I lost, John and Kyle are really going to be hard to replace in experience and leadership standpoints," Ricumstrict said. "But, there are a lot of opportunities for younger players. We're about one third of our way through spring practice and we've got a lot of young guys. One position-moved guy was Josh Bailey who was on secondary last year. He has really shown signs of what you want in terms of being athletic and aggressive. He's very fast, but he's still learning the position."
Ricumstrict feels that the players who saw action last season will step up as leaders for their younger teammates as well as for the new additions in the fall.
"You hope to get to the point where your veterans at times really can show the younger kids the way," Ricumstrict said. "Kids like Geno Johnson, Jake Powers and Adam McClurg who have played football here for us; we hope these guys can be good examples for the younger players and even the new players that come in. That's really what you hope for."
While senior linebacker Jake Powers is making the transition from outside to middle linebacker he is excited to take on a leading role for the Hoosiers' in the upcoming season.
"Spring practices have been a learning experience for me so far because I have moved to middle backer," Powers said. "It's a great position in our defensive package and requires a lot of responsibility. Best of all, I am trying to take on the role of an upperclassman. My expectations for this spring are to get comfortable with my new position and the defensive package. My goal is to establish myself as a leader and become an asset to the defense. The defense is one of the fastest and most talented units I have been apart of."
With a string of practices under their belts, Ricumstrict feels confident in his young players' abilities to mature and improve in order to win.
"Obviously we want to win, I mean that's what this is all about. It's why we do it," Ricumstrict said. "I want to see my young kids come along. From spring to fall, I definitely want to see a marked improvement. Obviously the kids that come in the fall are going to be thrown in the fire, I think we've got a lot of work to do and we've got to get it done."
