Indiana University Athletics
Scales Emerges as a Leader for Indiana
8/16/2017 8:26:00 PM | Football
By Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The set of scales sits right up front in the Indiana football team room auditorium. And it is currently unbalanced.
The left dish is already full of coins, signifying the expectation that Ohio State's Buckeyes will make the proper daily investment in preparing for their Aug. 31 opener at Indiana.
The right dish is meant to represent the same thing for the host Hoosiers, who are adding coins to their side with each passing day of fall camp.
"We're trying to deposit on that side and show them that it's a daily process of continuing to get where we want to be," IU head coach Tom Allen said last week, "and tip those scales in our favor by Aug. 31."
It's nifty symbolism and, as a motivational analogy, could well prove helpful.
But standing adjacent to that display Wednesday afternoon was a Scales that seemed certain to help to tip things Indiana's way this season. Tangibly.
Tegray Scales, IU's first All-American linebacker since 1987, is back for his senior campaign after leading the nation in both solo tackles (93) and tackles for loss (23.5) last fall.
Those tackles for loss often arose from Scales blitzing. Ever since he came out of Cincinnati Colerain, Scales has resembled a guided missile in that regard.
Scales is thoughtful, soft-spoken and not overly animated during interviews but, when meeting with the media after practice Wednesday, he was asked, "Do you like to blitz?"
Suffice to say a light suddenly shined in Scales' eyes as he responded: "Absolutely!"
Scales relishes blitzes in part because, rather than sorting through multiple bodies to find the ball-carrier on a conventional call, it can come down to beating a single blocker to get to the quarterback.
"I just like the one-on-one matchups," he said. "You go back to my background, just being a wrestler (ranked 13th nationally as a high school senior), I like those one-on-one matchups and stuff of that nature. So when I get the opportunity to do that, I take full advantage of it."
Scales took advantage of enough overall opportunities to record double-digit tackles in five straight games through the meat of Indiana's schedule last season – Michigan State (13, a career-high), Ohio State (10), Nebraska (12), Northwestern (10), Maryland (13).
And then he ended the campaign with three straight: Michigan (12), Purdue (10), Utah (10).
IU linebackers coach William Inge naturally appreciates that sort of consistent production, but has also seen Scales contribute in less quantifiable ways.
"One of the best things we've liked about Tegray over the past couple of years has been his leadership development," Inge said. "Him being able to speak, but him also being able to show things through great and correct action. So we've been very pleased with him in terms of how he's been able to lead the team.
"It also helps when you can couple (leadership with) actions that are very good on the football field. That gives you what we will call more 'sweat equity.' When you come to the football field and see him work, rarely do you see him lose anything. He's not last in the conditioning, and things like that. And that gives him some added value when he speaks, so that everybody would listen."
Scales' emergence in that leadership role has coincided with the departure of linebacking partner, fellow Cincinnatian and former Hoosier defensive captain Marcus Oliver.
But Scales is glad to see classmate Chris Covington stepping up comfortably to fill Oliver's old middle "Mike" linebacker spot.
Covington, who came to IU as a safety and played quarterback briefly, is up to a rock solid 6-2, 230.
"He knows he's the guy," Scales said of Covington. "And that he has to do the things to be the guy. He's pushing himself daily, and I'm pushing him and Coach Inge is pushing him, and Coach (Tom) Allen. He knows what his role is and I think he'll own up to it.
"He's played the position before, at Mike. Coach Inge is doing a great job helping him and he's doing a great job helping himself, coming in by himself and with me, just doing extra stuff to make sure he's got the defense down pat. He definitely grew into his body, too. Now, he's filling out. He's a true Mike. That's what we need on our team – somebody who can put a dent into the O line for sure."
Inge has also taken note of Covington's physical development.
"Coach (Keith) Caton and his strength staff have done a great job of developing him," Inge said. "And from Chris' standpoint, the biggest thing is that he's been able to endure a full season with no injuries (after missing most of 2014 with an ACL tear). He's been able to develop the whole time.
"So we're getting to see the fruits of that labor at this point in time. He's had literally a full year and a half of nothing but full physical development."
Inge likes how his whole unit is developing. There is depth formulating behind Scales and Covington.
"I think we're very encouraged at this point in time," Inge said. "There are young men emerging, guys challenging each other, so the competition in the meeting room is exactly like we want it right now.
" … I think we're a very good group that's developing and showing the consistency we need to own and run this defense … I'm very pleased with (the veteran) guys and some other young men are really stepping forward."
The first newcomer Inge mentioned was Mike McGinnis, a junior transfer from New York's ASA College, who joins classmate Dameon Willis Jr. in backing up Covington. Inge also cited true freshmen Mo Burnham and Thomas Allen (the head coach's son).
"Just from a new guy standpoint, we've been pleased with what Mike McGinnis is doing, what he can bring to the table," Inge said. "He's a ball-hawk. He's around the football. He's shown some really good promise.
"… He is a takeaway machine. Some of it comes from his preparation. He understands exactly where to be. That's one of his strong suits. He may not have the fastest step, but he's going to be there when he needs to be there.
"We also know we're getting a really good worker in Thomas Allen. And Mo Burnam is a really good learner. He's learning the system. He's raw … he's learning something new every day. But when he knows exactly what he's supposed to do, he shows flashes of being able to be great."
Willis, who along with Covington impressed in 2016, earned praise from Inge among the returnees, as did Kiante Walton and Reakwon Jones, who figure to back up Scales at the weak-side linebacking spot.
"A guy who is returning who has been doing well is Dameon Willis," Inge said. "And that was our expectation. We have a higher level of expectation of him, maybe even more than some of the guys who start. He's got a lot of value in everything we're doing.
"… He played just as much as Chris Covington did a year ago. We've been pleased with his performance and how he's been emerging, even from a leadership perspective at this point.
"Behind Tegray, you have two guys challenging for the spot in Kiante Walton and Reakwon Jones. Both of them have been pretty good so far and have shown that they can be reliable to be able to go in and get some quality reps when Tegray isn't in the game. (They) also give us capacity and experience on special teams."
Hoosiers coaches have noted that increased depth on the defense should help negate that unit wearing down a bit late, as it did during some games last fall, when starters played too many snaps at times – and should also help IU more productively populate its special teams units.
"Everybody's got a role to play, special teams or backing somebody up," Scales said. "They're doing their job."
Scales also sees that from the IU offense he goes against in practice every day during camp, with Allen looking to transform that unit along the same lines he did for Indiana's defense as a coordinator last fall.
"Absolutely," Scales said. "He's telling them the same thing that he told the defense last year. The message is still the same, but now it's everybody bought in on offense and defense.
"I think we'll be (somewhat) defined our first game, for sure, but I think the way we look now is that we're a 'bought-in' team. Everybody has bought in. Everybody is doing the small but necessary things on and off the field. That's what turns into success."
Small, necessary things done every practice day leading up to that nationally-televised Aug. 31 season-opener.
Is Scales especially fired up about that, being an Ohio guy?
"Right now, I'm an Indiana guy," he said. "I go to Indiana. But it's going to be fun just to go to war against them, with my team, versus them."
And trying to tip those scales.
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The set of scales sits right up front in the Indiana football team room auditorium. And it is currently unbalanced.
The left dish is already full of coins, signifying the expectation that Ohio State's Buckeyes will make the proper daily investment in preparing for their Aug. 31 opener at Indiana.
The right dish is meant to represent the same thing for the host Hoosiers, who are adding coins to their side with each passing day of fall camp.
"We're trying to deposit on that side and show them that it's a daily process of continuing to get where we want to be," IU head coach Tom Allen said last week, "and tip those scales in our favor by Aug. 31."
It's nifty symbolism and, as a motivational analogy, could well prove helpful.
But standing adjacent to that display Wednesday afternoon was a Scales that seemed certain to help to tip things Indiana's way this season. Tangibly.
Tegray Scales, IU's first All-American linebacker since 1987, is back for his senior campaign after leading the nation in both solo tackles (93) and tackles for loss (23.5) last fall.
Those tackles for loss often arose from Scales blitzing. Ever since he came out of Cincinnati Colerain, Scales has resembled a guided missile in that regard.
Scales is thoughtful, soft-spoken and not overly animated during interviews but, when meeting with the media after practice Wednesday, he was asked, "Do you like to blitz?"
Suffice to say a light suddenly shined in Scales' eyes as he responded: "Absolutely!"
Scales relishes blitzes in part because, rather than sorting through multiple bodies to find the ball-carrier on a conventional call, it can come down to beating a single blocker to get to the quarterback.
"I just like the one-on-one matchups," he said. "You go back to my background, just being a wrestler (ranked 13th nationally as a high school senior), I like those one-on-one matchups and stuff of that nature. So when I get the opportunity to do that, I take full advantage of it."
Scales took advantage of enough overall opportunities to record double-digit tackles in five straight games through the meat of Indiana's schedule last season – Michigan State (13, a career-high), Ohio State (10), Nebraska (12), Northwestern (10), Maryland (13).
And then he ended the campaign with three straight: Michigan (12), Purdue (10), Utah (10).
IU linebackers coach William Inge naturally appreciates that sort of consistent production, but has also seen Scales contribute in less quantifiable ways.
"One of the best things we've liked about Tegray over the past couple of years has been his leadership development," Inge said. "Him being able to speak, but him also being able to show things through great and correct action. So we've been very pleased with him in terms of how he's been able to lead the team.
"It also helps when you can couple (leadership with) actions that are very good on the football field. That gives you what we will call more 'sweat equity.' When you come to the football field and see him work, rarely do you see him lose anything. He's not last in the conditioning, and things like that. And that gives him some added value when he speaks, so that everybody would listen."
Scales' emergence in that leadership role has coincided with the departure of linebacking partner, fellow Cincinnatian and former Hoosier defensive captain Marcus Oliver.
But Scales is glad to see classmate Chris Covington stepping up comfortably to fill Oliver's old middle "Mike" linebacker spot.
Covington, who came to IU as a safety and played quarterback briefly, is up to a rock solid 6-2, 230.
"He knows he's the guy," Scales said of Covington. "And that he has to do the things to be the guy. He's pushing himself daily, and I'm pushing him and Coach Inge is pushing him, and Coach (Tom) Allen. He knows what his role is and I think he'll own up to it.
"He's played the position before, at Mike. Coach Inge is doing a great job helping him and he's doing a great job helping himself, coming in by himself and with me, just doing extra stuff to make sure he's got the defense down pat. He definitely grew into his body, too. Now, he's filling out. He's a true Mike. That's what we need on our team – somebody who can put a dent into the O line for sure."
Inge has also taken note of Covington's physical development.
"Coach (Keith) Caton and his strength staff have done a great job of developing him," Inge said. "And from Chris' standpoint, the biggest thing is that he's been able to endure a full season with no injuries (after missing most of 2014 with an ACL tear). He's been able to develop the whole time.
"So we're getting to see the fruits of that labor at this point in time. He's had literally a full year and a half of nothing but full physical development."
Inge likes how his whole unit is developing. There is depth formulating behind Scales and Covington.
"I think we're very encouraged at this point in time," Inge said. "There are young men emerging, guys challenging each other, so the competition in the meeting room is exactly like we want it right now.
" … I think we're a very good group that's developing and showing the consistency we need to own and run this defense … I'm very pleased with (the veteran) guys and some other young men are really stepping forward."
The first newcomer Inge mentioned was Mike McGinnis, a junior transfer from New York's ASA College, who joins classmate Dameon Willis Jr. in backing up Covington. Inge also cited true freshmen Mo Burnham and Thomas Allen (the head coach's son).
"Just from a new guy standpoint, we've been pleased with what Mike McGinnis is doing, what he can bring to the table," Inge said. "He's a ball-hawk. He's around the football. He's shown some really good promise.
"… He is a takeaway machine. Some of it comes from his preparation. He understands exactly where to be. That's one of his strong suits. He may not have the fastest step, but he's going to be there when he needs to be there.
"We also know we're getting a really good worker in Thomas Allen. And Mo Burnam is a really good learner. He's learning the system. He's raw … he's learning something new every day. But when he knows exactly what he's supposed to do, he shows flashes of being able to be great."
Willis, who along with Covington impressed in 2016, earned praise from Inge among the returnees, as did Kiante Walton and Reakwon Jones, who figure to back up Scales at the weak-side linebacking spot.
"A guy who is returning who has been doing well is Dameon Willis," Inge said. "And that was our expectation. We have a higher level of expectation of him, maybe even more than some of the guys who start. He's got a lot of value in everything we're doing.
"… He played just as much as Chris Covington did a year ago. We've been pleased with his performance and how he's been emerging, even from a leadership perspective at this point.
"Behind Tegray, you have two guys challenging for the spot in Kiante Walton and Reakwon Jones. Both of them have been pretty good so far and have shown that they can be reliable to be able to go in and get some quality reps when Tegray isn't in the game. (They) also give us capacity and experience on special teams."
Hoosiers coaches have noted that increased depth on the defense should help negate that unit wearing down a bit late, as it did during some games last fall, when starters played too many snaps at times – and should also help IU more productively populate its special teams units.
"Everybody's got a role to play, special teams or backing somebody up," Scales said. "They're doing their job."
Scales also sees that from the IU offense he goes against in practice every day during camp, with Allen looking to transform that unit along the same lines he did for Indiana's defense as a coordinator last fall.
"Absolutely," Scales said. "He's telling them the same thing that he told the defense last year. The message is still the same, but now it's everybody bought in on offense and defense.
"I think we'll be (somewhat) defined our first game, for sure, but I think the way we look now is that we're a 'bought-in' team. Everybody has bought in. Everybody is doing the small but necessary things on and off the field. That's what turns into success."
Small, necessary things done every practice day leading up to that nationally-televised Aug. 31 season-opener.
Is Scales especially fired up about that, being an Ohio guy?
"Right now, I'm an Indiana guy," he said. "I go to Indiana. But it's going to be fun just to go to war against them, with my team, versus them."
And trying to tip those scales.
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