Indiana University Athletics
DIPRIMIO NOTEBOOK – Youthful Hoosier James Head Leaves ‘Em Talking
3/28/2019 8:29:00 AM | Football
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - James Head has Kane Wommack talking … well … talking.
"He has a freaky body," Wommack says.
That's a compliment, by the way, but to understand it requires perspective.
Wommack is Indiana's first-year defensive coordinator. Head is a 6-5, 264-pound sophomore defensive lineman with a world of potential.
Once potential matches experience, Wommack says, look out.
"He's still figuring it out. There are time where this guy pulls the trigger and it's like 'Dang, this guy can roll.' And then there are times where he looks like a baby deer."
For the record, you don't want baby deer on a Big Ten football team, and Head doesn't figure to fit that description much longer.
"He's only going to get better with his development in the weight room because he's got such a big frame that it takes a longer time to develop that," Wommack says. "You see the flashes already. He is going to continue to grow."
Head, a Florida native, could have gone to Mississippi State, Michigan State or Oregon, but chose to be a Hoosier.
As a true freshman last season, he totaled 17 tackles (including 4 at Ohio State and 3 at Michigan) and three quarterback hurries in 11 games.
Coaches demand more from him this season, head coach Tom Allen says, because Head can deliver it.
"We are on him hard because we have high expectations for him. (Defensive line coach Mark) Hagen coaches him really hard, and he's responded.
"It's about continuing the want to and effort, which has always been good for him. It's about taking that next step. We want him to realize that he is the guy we want to dominate and expect to dominate. He's got good size and length. We want him to continue to get stronger even though he's still young. He works hard in that weight room and it transfers onto the field, which is what you want to see."
Head is far more than a player who can push around a lot of weight.
"He brings athleticism," Allen says. "For us to do some things schematically, you have to be able to run. You have to run with running backs. We put our defensive ends in situations where they have to have some of those responsibilities and run with tight ends sometimes.
"If you ask a kid to do something he can't physically do, then that is on us as coaches. We try to recruit guys who can do the things that give us more flexibility.
"Anytime you can hide who is going to take certain guys, who is going to eliminate or add people in pressure or drop guys out of the pressure because of their athleticism, that really helps."
Allen wants defensive linemen who can rush the quarterback, cover receivers and tackle running backs.
"We are going to do some things to be more multiple and versatile," he says. "Those are the kind of qualities we are looking for."
COACHING HARD
Sometimes, even in these politically correct times, you can't coach nice.
You have to demand, insist, irritate, motivate.
So Allen turned up the coaching heat in Tuesday's practice, and the defense turned nasty at the end.
That's a very good thing.
"Early in practice I was getting after them," Allen said." I'm on that megaphone putting some digs in and getting on the coaches and players because I thought the offense was doing a lot of good things and making plays, getting some chunk plays.
"When the second half of practice started, the defense responded, which is what you want."
What Allen wants is a defense that dominates. He wants to see it now so that, when spring practice turns to fall games, he gets the necessary results.
"It's like anything else, you feed off that momentum and energy," he says. "We started making plays. We're starting to get some takeaways, starting to get some sacks, some pressures, some breakups.
"It becomes a feeding frenzy. I'm a high-energy guy. I want us to be a high-energy defense. I want our guys to coach that way and we do. We have a coaching staff that believes in that.
"The guys are going to play to our personality and we want to be that kind of unit. We want to have a swagger about it. We want to have a confidence about it.
"When we step on that field, I want our guys to expect to take the ball from the offense. I want us to expect to be big on third down. I want us to expect to be a Top-25 defense and that's where you carry that. It doesn't just happen, it has to be developed. It has to be created and it happens over time."
When you play in the ultra-competitive Big Ten East, as the Hoosiers do, you need every edge you can get. After consecutive 5-7 seasons, that edge can't come soon enough.
"We had a really young group last year that now is a much more experienced group," Allen said. "I think you saw the benefits of that (in Tuesday's practice) where you saw a slow (defensive) start, the offense was doing a lot of good things, and the defense responded.
"Itjust kind of kept building and they dominated the last half of practice in some key ways. That's good. That's what you want to see and then you want to see the offense come back and respond."
That defensive response had Wommack pumped.
"Coach Allen creates adverse situations so we can deal with them now, so by the time we get to September, we're ready to handle it.
"This was probably the best example of defense that I thought got their butts whooped on the inside run in some of the early periods, and then just hammered through, stayed at it, brought some swagger to it and all of a sudden turned it around. That was really encouraging to see."
HUNGRY HITTER
Need a hug?
Stay away from James Miller on a football field.
The freshman linebacker isn't there to tap into anybody's softer side ... or tap at all.
"He's such a hungry individual," Wommack says. "When I recruited him, he said, 'I like to hit people.' That's what he likes."
Wommack shares Miller's smack-the-other-guy affection.
"It doesn't matter if it's on the sideline or in the middle of the box, he wants to establish dominance, and he does that by the way he strikes you."
Striking is one thing. Being fundamentally sound while doing it is something else.
"His footwork is getting cleaner," Wommack says. "His communication on the field is better. He already has a natural feel for the ball. He's a physical kid. We just have to keep giving him the tools."
Those tools flashed in limited action last season as a freshman out of Florida. He played in three games, including a start at Michigan, before being redshirted. He earned three team scout-player-of-the-week honors.
He was good then, Allen says. He's better now.
"He's maybe the most improved linebacker from fall to now. A lot of it is with his footwork and understanding the defense.
"It's hard for a freshman to come in here, who is not a mid-year guy, which he was not, to learn a defense in one summer. A lot of things were thrown at him and his head was spinning a lot in fall camp. He's had a whole year to learn and get stronger and move better.
"He has always been physical. He's a violent guy. That was obvious the first time I watched him play in high school. The violence is still there. He finishes really strong. I like how he is learning how to get his run fits. He's able to stand guys up in a hole and knock them back. You saw that against Michigan in the few reps he played. In that game he showed up in a big way and I think it gives you a snapshot of how talented he really is."
That talent, by the way, is shared by many of the young linebackers (including Thomas Allen and Micah McFadden) who are vying to replace departed veteran Dameon Willis Jr.
"They're violent dudes, first and foremost," Wommack says. "They have a natural feel for tracking the ball carrier and getting the back. I can work with everything else after that. So they're doing a better job of being vocal.
"They want it. They are vocal leaders. We're getting some other guys work in at the Mike linebacker on third down and some two-minute situations. So just trying to get some of that speed on the field. I think we have a lot of violent, downfield poppers and guys that can really run."
SPEED BURST
Defensive youth took a toll on IU's performance last season, but the benefits are starting to surface.
Take, for instance, Madison Norris, a 6-5, 206-pound redshirt freshman defensive lineman out of Indianapolis.
Yes, that's not the weight you want from a defensive lineman. Yes, he is working on it.
Norris played in one game last season, on special teams against Maryland.
"He's got a burst," Wommack says. "He obviously needs to get his weight up. He's a guy that we knew was a developmental player that we can use situationally until he got to the size that we need for an every down defensive end.
"To his credit, he's put more weight on every day. He puts a different burst on the edge for us right now. It's another one of those young guys that is starting to play with more and more confidence where he goes 'Oh, I can pass rush at this level.'"
Then there's Bryant Fitzgerald, a redshirt sophomore defensive back.
Last season he had a team-leading three interceptions, forced two fumbles and recovered a fumble. He added 31 tackles.
Figure those numbers to jump now that he's faster, Wommack says. Much faster. Fitzgerald's speed for the first 20 yards ranks in the team's Top 10.
"He's always had a natural knack for finding the ball. If you watch him on the field, he can track the ball so well. But now, his speed has increased. You can really see him burst to the ball because he anticipates things so well."
Fitzgerald's versatility figures to put him at linebacker as well as defensive back
"He's the first one (to the ball) more often than not," Wommack says, "so I'm pretty excited for him, because he's a violent kid that will show up and strike you whenever he gets there."
The ability of multiple players to play multiple positions bodes well for IU's depth as well as performance. Sophomores Cam Jones, Jamar Johnson and Juwan Burgess have significant secondary versatility that should lessen the loss of four-year starter Jonathan Crawford.
"Any time we can start to build those bodies where there's crossover work where you can do different things," Wommack says, "it creates more depth in our defense. We might not be three deep across the board, but we're building two-and-a-half deep. That's an exciting piece when you get better athletes in the game."
Replacing Crawford, an honorable mention All-Big Ten defensive back in each of his final three seasons, and one of just two Hoosiers to ever start 50 games, won't be easy.
"J.C. took his reps with him, and you can't get those back," Wommack says. "You just have to build on them.
"The nice thing is these young guys we pushed through the fires last year -- Juwan, Fitz, Jamar and Cam -- are playing at a really high level.
"Athletically, they are as good as we've seen here in quite a while. You've got to keep it simple. Don't try to over-reach them. When they start to get that confidence, we can build into what we're trying to accomplish in September. We've got the bodies to do it. The speed is starting to show up. We just have to keep them confident."
As for the overall defensive speed, Wommack credits director of athletic performance David Ballou and athletic performance coach Dr. Matt Rhea for taking players to a new level.
"I like where we are going right now. You don't want to get over excited about our team speed, but it's the fruit of our labor. What Dave Ballou and Matt Rhea have been doing in the weight room, the way we've been recruiting, player confidence in what we are doing defensively, it's all starting to come together.
"We're playing at a really fast tempo, and when that tempo comes, they start to build more and more confidence so now they got a little swagger about them. That's exciting."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - James Head has Kane Wommack talking … well … talking.
"He has a freaky body," Wommack says.
That's a compliment, by the way, but to understand it requires perspective.
Wommack is Indiana's first-year defensive coordinator. Head is a 6-5, 264-pound sophomore defensive lineman with a world of potential.
Once potential matches experience, Wommack says, look out.
"He's still figuring it out. There are time where this guy pulls the trigger and it's like 'Dang, this guy can roll.' And then there are times where he looks like a baby deer."
For the record, you don't want baby deer on a Big Ten football team, and Head doesn't figure to fit that description much longer.
"He's only going to get better with his development in the weight room because he's got such a big frame that it takes a longer time to develop that," Wommack says. "You see the flashes already. He is going to continue to grow."
Head, a Florida native, could have gone to Mississippi State, Michigan State or Oregon, but chose to be a Hoosier.
As a true freshman last season, he totaled 17 tackles (including 4 at Ohio State and 3 at Michigan) and three quarterback hurries in 11 games.
Coaches demand more from him this season, head coach Tom Allen says, because Head can deliver it.
"We are on him hard because we have high expectations for him. (Defensive line coach Mark) Hagen coaches him really hard, and he's responded.
"It's about continuing the want to and effort, which has always been good for him. It's about taking that next step. We want him to realize that he is the guy we want to dominate and expect to dominate. He's got good size and length. We want him to continue to get stronger even though he's still young. He works hard in that weight room and it transfers onto the field, which is what you want to see."
Head is far more than a player who can push around a lot of weight.
"He brings athleticism," Allen says. "For us to do some things schematically, you have to be able to run. You have to run with running backs. We put our defensive ends in situations where they have to have some of those responsibilities and run with tight ends sometimes.
"If you ask a kid to do something he can't physically do, then that is on us as coaches. We try to recruit guys who can do the things that give us more flexibility.
"Anytime you can hide who is going to take certain guys, who is going to eliminate or add people in pressure or drop guys out of the pressure because of their athleticism, that really helps."
Allen wants defensive linemen who can rush the quarterback, cover receivers and tackle running backs.
"We are going to do some things to be more multiple and versatile," he says. "Those are the kind of qualities we are looking for."
COACHING HARD
Sometimes, even in these politically correct times, you can't coach nice.
You have to demand, insist, irritate, motivate.
So Allen turned up the coaching heat in Tuesday's practice, and the defense turned nasty at the end.
That's a very good thing.
"Early in practice I was getting after them," Allen said." I'm on that megaphone putting some digs in and getting on the coaches and players because I thought the offense was doing a lot of good things and making plays, getting some chunk plays.
"When the second half of practice started, the defense responded, which is what you want."
What Allen wants is a defense that dominates. He wants to see it now so that, when spring practice turns to fall games, he gets the necessary results.
"It's like anything else, you feed off that momentum and energy," he says. "We started making plays. We're starting to get some takeaways, starting to get some sacks, some pressures, some breakups.
"It becomes a feeding frenzy. I'm a high-energy guy. I want us to be a high-energy defense. I want our guys to coach that way and we do. We have a coaching staff that believes in that.
"The guys are going to play to our personality and we want to be that kind of unit. We want to have a swagger about it. We want to have a confidence about it.
"When we step on that field, I want our guys to expect to take the ball from the offense. I want us to expect to be big on third down. I want us to expect to be a Top-25 defense and that's where you carry that. It doesn't just happen, it has to be developed. It has to be created and it happens over time."
When you play in the ultra-competitive Big Ten East, as the Hoosiers do, you need every edge you can get. After consecutive 5-7 seasons, that edge can't come soon enough.
"We had a really young group last year that now is a much more experienced group," Allen said. "I think you saw the benefits of that (in Tuesday's practice) where you saw a slow (defensive) start, the offense was doing a lot of good things, and the defense responded.
"Itjust kind of kept building and they dominated the last half of practice in some key ways. That's good. That's what you want to see and then you want to see the offense come back and respond."
That defensive response had Wommack pumped.
"Coach Allen creates adverse situations so we can deal with them now, so by the time we get to September, we're ready to handle it.
"This was probably the best example of defense that I thought got their butts whooped on the inside run in some of the early periods, and then just hammered through, stayed at it, brought some swagger to it and all of a sudden turned it around. That was really encouraging to see."
HUNGRY HITTER
Need a hug?
Stay away from James Miller on a football field.
The freshman linebacker isn't there to tap into anybody's softer side ... or tap at all.
"He's such a hungry individual," Wommack says. "When I recruited him, he said, 'I like to hit people.' That's what he likes."
Wommack shares Miller's smack-the-other-guy affection.
"It doesn't matter if it's on the sideline or in the middle of the box, he wants to establish dominance, and he does that by the way he strikes you."
Striking is one thing. Being fundamentally sound while doing it is something else.
"His footwork is getting cleaner," Wommack says. "His communication on the field is better. He already has a natural feel for the ball. He's a physical kid. We just have to keep giving him the tools."
Those tools flashed in limited action last season as a freshman out of Florida. He played in three games, including a start at Michigan, before being redshirted. He earned three team scout-player-of-the-week honors.
He was good then, Allen says. He's better now.
"He's maybe the most improved linebacker from fall to now. A lot of it is with his footwork and understanding the defense.
"It's hard for a freshman to come in here, who is not a mid-year guy, which he was not, to learn a defense in one summer. A lot of things were thrown at him and his head was spinning a lot in fall camp. He's had a whole year to learn and get stronger and move better.
"He has always been physical. He's a violent guy. That was obvious the first time I watched him play in high school. The violence is still there. He finishes really strong. I like how he is learning how to get his run fits. He's able to stand guys up in a hole and knock them back. You saw that against Michigan in the few reps he played. In that game he showed up in a big way and I think it gives you a snapshot of how talented he really is."
That talent, by the way, is shared by many of the young linebackers (including Thomas Allen and Micah McFadden) who are vying to replace departed veteran Dameon Willis Jr.
"They're violent dudes, first and foremost," Wommack says. "They have a natural feel for tracking the ball carrier and getting the back. I can work with everything else after that. So they're doing a better job of being vocal.
"They want it. They are vocal leaders. We're getting some other guys work in at the Mike linebacker on third down and some two-minute situations. So just trying to get some of that speed on the field. I think we have a lot of violent, downfield poppers and guys that can really run."
SPEED BURST
Defensive youth took a toll on IU's performance last season, but the benefits are starting to surface.
Take, for instance, Madison Norris, a 6-5, 206-pound redshirt freshman defensive lineman out of Indianapolis.
Yes, that's not the weight you want from a defensive lineman. Yes, he is working on it.
Norris played in one game last season, on special teams against Maryland.
"He's got a burst," Wommack says. "He obviously needs to get his weight up. He's a guy that we knew was a developmental player that we can use situationally until he got to the size that we need for an every down defensive end.
"To his credit, he's put more weight on every day. He puts a different burst on the edge for us right now. It's another one of those young guys that is starting to play with more and more confidence where he goes 'Oh, I can pass rush at this level.'"
Then there's Bryant Fitzgerald, a redshirt sophomore defensive back.
Last season he had a team-leading three interceptions, forced two fumbles and recovered a fumble. He added 31 tackles.
Figure those numbers to jump now that he's faster, Wommack says. Much faster. Fitzgerald's speed for the first 20 yards ranks in the team's Top 10.
"He's always had a natural knack for finding the ball. If you watch him on the field, he can track the ball so well. But now, his speed has increased. You can really see him burst to the ball because he anticipates things so well."
Fitzgerald's versatility figures to put him at linebacker as well as defensive back
"He's the first one (to the ball) more often than not," Wommack says, "so I'm pretty excited for him, because he's a violent kid that will show up and strike you whenever he gets there."
The ability of multiple players to play multiple positions bodes well for IU's depth as well as performance. Sophomores Cam Jones, Jamar Johnson and Juwan Burgess have significant secondary versatility that should lessen the loss of four-year starter Jonathan Crawford.
"Any time we can start to build those bodies where there's crossover work where you can do different things," Wommack says, "it creates more depth in our defense. We might not be three deep across the board, but we're building two-and-a-half deep. That's an exciting piece when you get better athletes in the game."
Replacing Crawford, an honorable mention All-Big Ten defensive back in each of his final three seasons, and one of just two Hoosiers to ever start 50 games, won't be easy.
"J.C. took his reps with him, and you can't get those back," Wommack says. "You just have to build on them.
"The nice thing is these young guys we pushed through the fires last year -- Juwan, Fitz, Jamar and Cam -- are playing at a really high level.
"Athletically, they are as good as we've seen here in quite a while. You've got to keep it simple. Don't try to over-reach them. When they start to get that confidence, we can build into what we're trying to accomplish in September. We've got the bodies to do it. The speed is starting to show up. We just have to keep them confident."
As for the overall defensive speed, Wommack credits director of athletic performance David Ballou and athletic performance coach Dr. Matt Rhea for taking players to a new level.
"I like where we are going right now. You don't want to get over excited about our team speed, but it's the fruit of our labor. What Dave Ballou and Matt Rhea have been doing in the weight room, the way we've been recruiting, player confidence in what we are doing defensively, it's all starting to come together.
"We're playing at a really fast tempo, and when that tempo comes, they start to build more and more confidence so now they got a little swagger about them. That's exciting."
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