The Quest for Indiana University Football Glory – And So It Begins

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Quest for Indiana University Football Glory, written by Hall of Fame sports writer Pete DiPrimio, takes an unprecedented look at the Hoosier program thanks to exclusive access to practices, meetings, players, coaches and more. In this chapter, coach Tom Allen talks about why L-E-O (Love Each Other) is such a cornerstone of his program, and what that could mean for the future.

AND SO IT BEGINS
A new Indiana football era began amid crisp sunshine, high energy, a bullhorn and a recruiting commitment from the state's top-rated athlete.

In other words, it was a heckuva day.

Tom Allen paced the practice fields on the first day of August camp, focused, passionate and ready for another debut as a college head football coach to follow efforts in spring practice and the annual Big Ten media gathering in Chicago.

"Be finishers guys!" he shouted, a theme he'd pushed since he got the job nine months earlier.

The biggest debut of all loomed in four weeks -- the season opener against perennial powerhouse Ohio State, a home game Allen called the "biggest in school history" -- and plenty of work needed to be done.

Allen armed himself with coaching essentials -- lemon drops to soothe over-worked vocal cords, a bullhorn to limit the stress on those vocal cords and ensure he would be heard, a hat and sunglasses to shield out the sun, and a tolerance for music nearly every coach in America would rather skip.

Officially, it's called Trap Music, which is part hip-hop, part dance-music, part repetitiveness and all courtesy of IU's strength coaches and young male preference.

And so 21 Savage rapped the song, "Numb," from practice field loud speakers, then followed minutes later with "Bank Account."

It was loud, and it was not Sinatra.

In case you wondered.

Then came Kodak Black's "First Day Out," which seemed appropriate for the first day of training camp until you realized Kodak Black was trapping about his first day out of jail.

No matter. It fit the high-energy mood crucial to high-level preparation necessary for the breakthrough season Allen pushed.

Practices were divided into five-minute segments, with each segment addressing different areas, a mix of fundamental work, drills and plays.

Quarterbacks drilled throwing to receivers without any defensive backs covering them. A few minutes later, defensive backs arrived. Then it became 11 offensive players against 11 defensive players.

Short-pass accuracy didn't translate to deep balls, which was what you'd expect on the first day.

Returning starting quarterback Richard Lagow led the way, which was also what you'd expect, with redshirt freshman Peyton Ramsey and true freshman Nick Tronti right behind him.

A veteran cornerback got beat on a deep ball, and it didn't matter that the receiver dropped the ball. Cornerback coach Brandon Shelby instantly addressed it – "Get your eyes up. That's why you got beat."

At one point, defensive line coach Mark Hagen made an emphatic fundamental point – "Head up! You can't see what's going on with your head down."

Through it all, sweat bees did what sweat bees do -- buzz and sting.

The Hoosiers pushed to sting -- and Buckeyes topped the list.

"We do a lot of situational work. We try to create game-like situations to create those breakthrough opportunities we've talked about. We did a study on that all last off-season here, all those opportunities we had in games that were close, be able to recreate those in practice as best we can so we can be able to change the outcome."

The outcome is already changing. A few hours later, Indianapolis Ben Davis's Reese Taylor became IU's 14^thcommitment for the Class of 2018. He was a do-it-all high school quarterback (as a senior he won Indiana's Mr. Football Award while throwing for 3,150 yards and 40 touchdowns, and rushing for 802 yards and 15 TDs; as a junior he threw for nearly 2,800 yards, rushed for nearly a thousand yards and combined for 34 touchdowns) who was listed as an "athlete" with elite ability that included a 4.53 40-yard dash and 38-9 vertical leap.

It reflected Allen's commitment to winning in-state recruiting battles and landing the talent necessary to beat the Ohio States of the world.

For motivation leading to Ohio State, Allen tried something new:

The Scale of Justice.

It was a scale placed in the Memorial Stadium team room. Each side of the scale had 25 coins to represent the 25 practice days before the season opener against Ohio State.

"We have 25 opportunities to prepare for Ohio State," Allen said. "On one scale, we have all (Ohio State's) opportunities and we assume they will take advantage of all theirs. Every day based on how we practice and prepare, we get to add to our side of the scale. We're trying to deposit on that side of the scale. It's a way to visualize that process on a daily basis.

"We want to tip those scales in our favor by Aug. 31."

Practice resumed the next day and the quarterbacks looked sharp, but so did the secondary.

"Nice job on coverage!" Allen shouted via bullhorn. "Execute. Both sides execute!"

The hurry-up offense showed good energy. A running back busted a big run, which irritated Allen tremendously.

"Are you kidding me?" he shouted.

Defensive linemen drilled hitting sleds and bursting from the snap. Not everyone had the desired burst.

Defensive line coach Mark Hagen noticed.

"Get set! Do you want an invitation?" he shouted with a tone that suggested no invitation was coming.

Allen saw a couple of defensive players not make plays.

"That's not good enough!" he shouted.

Offensive line coach Darren Hiller educated his guys on pushing the pace before each snap.

"Hurry up! What the hell are you waiting on?"

And so the clock ticked toward a nationally televised opener that would, in almost every way, set a tone for the season.

As it turned out, not in the way the Hoosiers had hoped.

EDITOR'S NOTE: To purchase a copy of The Quest for Indiana University Football Glory, go to this link via Indiana University Press: https://bit.ly/2kvZXjH

The Quest for Indiana University Football Glory – And So It Begins

Players Mentioned

Peyton Ramsey

Reese Taylor

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