Florida Beckons. So Does Bloomington.

By Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The calendar is again advancing toward the time when college-age youths make their annual pilgrimages from chilly northern climes to the sunshine, warmth and halcyon days of Florida.

But such is the persuasiveness of Indiana's football recruiting these days that the Hoosiers actually have a slew of young men heading the opposite direction.

IU finalized its 2018 recruiting with Wednesday's signings, adding three prized Florida prospects in linebacker James Miller, defensive end Jonathan King and defensive back Jamar Johnson to cap off a class of 26.

A class that now features eight Floridians, also including quarterback Michael Penix Jr., defensive end James Head Jr., defensive back Devon Matthews, linebacker Michael McFadden and defensive back Noah Pierre – all of whom joined up during the new December early signing period.

Add in graduate transfer center Nick Linder, a Fort Lauderdale product who started 25 career games for the Miami Hurricanes, and you've got nine Florida players in a group of 27. A full third, then, of the signees.

And while Indiana football hasn't set up a permanent office in Tampa as yet, one is perhaps justified, given the recruiting results since Tom Allen took the Hoosier helm.

Penix is the Tampa Bay Times' Area Offensive Player of the Year and Miller is the Times' Area Defensive Player of the Year. Both had offers from Florida State, among other perennial powers. King, originally committed to Oregon, had an offer from Florida. All were expected by many, back home, to stay closer to home.

Johnson, from just down the Gulf Coast from Tampa in Sarasota, had other offers from Big Ten, Pac 12, Big 12 and ACC schools.

All told, IU landed more players from the Times' Top 25 All-Area team (four) as did Florida State (three), Florida (two), South Florida (one) and Miami (none).

And that gives IU a total of 13 Tampa-area players on its roster, the most of any Division 1 team in the nation according to Bob Putnam of the Times.

Indiana had already made recruiting inroads in and around Tampa before Allen arrived, spearheaded by former IU offensive line coach and area native Greg Frey, but Allen seems even better positioned to recruit there.

Allen began his coaching career at age 22 in the Tampa area, at (now closed) Temple Heights High School and then Armwood High School (Miller's school).

He was there for five years, and returned as South Florida's defensive coordinator in 2015, turning the Bulls' defense around before then doing the same for IU (and Allen's son graduated from Tampa Plant as the 2016 Times' Area Defensive Player of the Year).

Allen never stopped building recruiting relationships in the area during the interim.

"A lot of our close, close friends still live there," Allen said. "I have a lot of strong connections with the high school coaches, many of whom still coaching were there when I was a young high school coach in the mid-1990s.

"That helps. It's about relationships. It always will be, in regard to recruiting. When people know you and they trust you, it makes a difference – especially if they're thinking about sending their son so far from where they live."

And it also helps, once the pipeline from Florida to Bloomington starts producing prospects for IU, that those players enjoy some success and help provide a comfortable context for those who might follow.

"The more kids we get (from there), the more comfortable they feel, because they know people," Allen said. "There are a lot of connections to our team, already, and those things help.

"It goes back to relationships, plus the fact that the guys who have come here have done well. Whop (Philyor, the freshman receiver from Plant) was Freshman All-Big Ten. Jonathan Crawford (the All-Big Ten junior safety from Largo), they've seen what he's done. They've seen guys come up here and have success, playing at the highest level of college football."

It didn't hurt IU's chances with King, either, that he and Penix were teammates at Tampa Bay Tech.

Or that Miller – whose younger brother Justin has Duchenne muscular dystrophy – saw rival school Plant conduct 7-of-7 tournaments as fund-raisers to combat the disease and sent players (including Tom Allen's son Thomas) as counselors to M.D. camps Justin attended.

Miller had a lot of reasons to stay in Florida for college. His dad lives in Tallahassee, for one thing. But Miller wanted to play for Tom Allen.

"I just like what Coach Allen has going up there," Miller – who spent time with fellow Tampa men Penix, Philyor and Thomas Allen on his IU visit -- told the Times' Putnam about IU. "Indiana just felt like family."

King put it this way to Putnam:
"Sometimes coaches take a business standpoint. It is a business, but that doesn't mean you can't like the people you're around. I just liked (Allen's) approach. He talked to me about becoming a man and being a husband and a father to my kids down the road.

"His approach to me was outside of football where everyone else was football, football, football. The sport itself was always going to a main topic. I felt like me being mature and becoming a man was what was most important and that's what Coach talked about."

Which is a nice distillation of what Allen and his philosophy are all about. Allen himself warmed to the topic Wednesday.

"I'm not bashful about talking about helping them become the kind of man I believe they were created to be," Allen said. "To be the future husbands and fathers they want to be, and their families want them to be. That matters to me. And I want them to know that's going to be an important part of what we teach them. That's part of the development here."

"And they see those five guys we have going to the (NFL) Combine, and they can also say, 'Hey, I can go there and also reach my on-field goals as well.' And it's a world-class education. It's a great combination. We make it more than just about football here. I will always do that. They're coming here to play football, but that's not all we're teaching them."

Allen also said IU benefits from a regional, rather than positional, recruiting approach by his assistant coaches. They return to the same area over and over, getting to know high school principals, athletic directors and guidance counselors and establishing trusting relationships.

"Once again, it's about a familiar face, a guy you trust and believe in," Allen said. "And I mentioned this yesterday to my boss (IU director of athletics Fred Glass), that when I was out this last cycle, people were so complimentary of our coaching staff. How thorough they are. How professional they are. And just relentless in recruiting, on top of everything, they are.

"They believe in us. They do. They see the job we're doing. Anytime you put people first, and you care about people, it just shows. And that's who I always want us to be, as a program. They know me so well down there. There is a level of comfort. They know their sons are going to be entrusted to somebody who cares about them more as a person than as a player. That surely helps."

Other aspects help, too. Allen said he has heard a whole lot from Florida prospects about watching Indiana throw a scare into Ohio State on ESPN's College GameDay 2017 season debut telecast.

And they've seen how talented young players can play early and develop well at IU.

They're well aware that, yes, IU is matching a program-high by sending five players to this year's NFL Combine (tied for fourth-highest among Big Ten schools): Simmie Cobbs Jr., Chris Covington, Rashard Fant, Tegray Scales and Ian Thomas. Results like that matter.

The results from Florida could not have been better for IU Wednesday. The Hoosiers targeted three specific players for three spots heading into the signing day and …

"We went 3-for-3," Allen said. "We got all three we had made our priority guys and that was impressive. You don't always get the ones you really want."

Allen got a whole lot of what he wanted with the 2018 class, including a lot of guys who can play in space for a defense graduating eight starters.

"When you talk about our class, it's very athletic, with a lot of speed," he said. "And, when you watch these guys play, there were a lot of very physical performances by these guys in high school, something we really, really emphasize on both sides of the ball.

"We really want to get guys who love to hit and love to run and can do both of those things well … I love what we've attracted here, not just athletically, but as young men. It is really important that we bring guys here who are good fits for Indiana."

Including guys willing to travel almost 1,000 miles to play their college football. The official distance from Tampa to Bloomington is 970 miles. But the Hoosiers will most certainly keep recruiting there and throughout Florida.

"It's just such a talent-rich state," Allen said. "There are so many players. It's been that way for a long time. And there's no sign of that changing."

So expect the annual pilgrimages to continue. And not just north to south.

HOOSIER NOTES
IU has three players currently seeking to obtain "medical non-counter" status in linebacker Tom Bolstad, safety Jameel Cook Jr. and offensive lineman Tyler Knight. "The paperwork has been submitted," Allen said. "They'll be part of our program in a different role."

Allen also announced Wednesday that cornerback Tyler Green has decided to transfer.

"We appreciate everything he's done for us," Allen said of Green. "He leaves in good academic standing and we wish him nothing but the very, very best."

The only position move Allen anticipates heading into spring practice is erstwhile wideout Jonah Morris moving defense, likely into the backfield.

IU's spring practice session starts March 3. It will conclude with the annual Cream and Crimson intrasquad game at 12 p.m. April 14.

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