IU Defense Looking to Next Fall. And the Next. And the Next …
4/10/2019 12:23:00 PM | Football
By Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana football defensive coordinator Kane Wommack had pretty much all his regulars available for practice Tuesday.
So he'll likely see them on the field Friday night for the 7 p.m. Cream & Crimson Game that annually concludes spring practice.
And he's naturally counting on seeing them on the field next fall.
And almost all of them the fall after that.
And the majority of them the fall after that.
(And yes, for some, even four falls hence.)
Because Wommack is not only seeing progressively more speed and athleticism overall, he's seeing it from players already in his No. 1 and No. 2 units who have two, three or four years of eligibility remaining.
Wommack, after praising the play of several upperclassmen so far this spring, added this when meeting with the media after practice: "The meat of our team are redshirt sophomores, true sophomores and redshirt freshmen.
"And when the 1s go out, there are a bunch of those guys out there, and you say, 'Dang, man, these kids can really do it.' And then the 2s go out and you're like, 'And these kids can do it.' And that's when we get excited.
"Because we're starting to build depth the way that you have to have it in this league to weather the adversity, if you know what I mean, and go the long haul."
Here are just some candidates for the defensive playing rotation not just next fall, but two or three or four autumns from now:
Those are guys still around for 2020 and beyond, mind you. And that's not everybody, either.
It's not even counting the incoming freshmen representing the best class, on paper, Indiana has ever recruited.
And there is versatility. Jamar Johnson, for example, could play pretty much any secondary position. More than one of the linebackers could play either spot in that unit.
And then there is Cam Jones.
The 6-foot-3, 218-pound bundle of talent from Memphis played mainly Husky as a true freshman last fall, but has also practiced at linebacker and safety.
"I believe it is my responsibility, as a coach, to take the athletes we have and utilize their full skill-set," Wommack said. "So if I just made Cam Jones a one-dimensional linebacker, or a Cover 2 safety and that's all he does, I'm not utilizing that kid's full skill-set.
"We brought him here to showcase what he can do, to both help us and help him. So it's my responsibility, as the play-caller, to be able to utilize his full skill-set.
"He's special, just in terms of athleticism, but where I've been (as) impressed is just his natural instincts. He just loves to play a violent and fierce style of game. And that's where you're just, 'Golly, man, you can just use this kid in a lot of different ways.'"
Jones played in 11 games last season but many of his classmates were able to avail themselves of the new NCAA rule allowing newcomers to play as many as four games while retaining redshirt status.
That was just another welcome factor in helping IU's defense build its youthful depth.
"For us, that was huge," Wommack acknowledged. "Because when you build a team and you say, 'Those guys are redshirt freshmen,' they already have had four games of experience.
"And I'll be honest, it doesn't matter if it's just special teams or getting in on defense – just getting into a game, feeling the speed of it and that pressure, it just makes you different. It makes you more confident, because at least you've seen it. You've at least been out there on the field."
Wommack tries to keep things simple for his young guys, especially those such as Jones trying to master multiple positions.
"We have executed just our base sets – base run fits, base coverage adjustments, all those things – better," Wommack said of this spring's work. "Tweaked a little bit of our blitz system. We're doing all the same things, but just in a way to keep it a little bit simpler. A little more efficient.
"For you Netflix watchers, we inputted the 'Marie Kondo Method.' You know what I mean? In terms of systems, if it doesn't 'spark joy,' we don't call it. We're just keeping things efficient and simple. And, you know, our guys are playing really fast because of it."
And the foundation for the future is forming fast.
"I keep focused on what we have to do and what we have to build right now. Okay? With them," Wommack said. "But ... Tom (Allen, the Hoosier head coach) didn't come here just to build it one-and-done and then go out and move to the next place. He's made it very clear we're building this system for the long haul.
"Now, have we taken some lumps in the first couple of years because of that? Sure. But we're building this thing for the long haul. Now, we're hopeful to see the fruit from some of that labor … these players are very talented football players and we've just got to keep bringing them along as we go."
And IU autumns might start looking different. Soon. And perhaps on successive subsequent falls.
QB FOR SPRING GAME
A current short-term illness will have no long-term impact on redshirt freshman transfer quarterback Jack Tuttle, but he won't play in Friday's Cream & Crimson Game.
Returning QB starter Peyton Ramsey is good to go, though, and Hoosier fans could get to see more of redshirt freshman Michael Penix Jr. than they might have expected, given Penix's ACL knee injury last Oct. 20.
"He won't be doing anything where there's a team setting, but we'll certainly have him out there," IU offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer said Tuesday of Penix. "We've been trying the last five practices to ramp up the reps he's getting.
"He's getting considerably more reps than any of the other quarterbacks in the 7-on-7 sessions. It's at least 16-8 in favor of him, as far as the reps he's getting. He's done a really nice job. You can tell that while we've gone through the spring that he's been paying attention to the details."
IU tentatively plans to work in some 7-on-7 sets, with Penix at QB, into Friday's format.
DeBoer indicated fans would've likely liked what they saw Friday from Tuttle had not illness intervened.
"First of all, the guy's a go-getter," DeBoer said of Tuttle. "He's going to be 30 minutes early for a meeting, literally. He's going to put a lot of work into knowing his plays, knowing his reads. There's no way you can question any of the effort he ever puts in, and I love those (kinds of) guys. You win a lot of football games with those types of guys.
"Secondly, he's got a big arm. I think he understands the game and I think there are some things that instinctually happen for him pretty naturally. There's still a lot going through his mind as he's learning the offense, but there were times he had a good feel for the concepts, good feel for what he was seeing happening in front of him where he went out and … made plays and made throws to get guys open. Things that sometime you can't really even coach until after it's happened."
RIGHT MOVE?
Caleb Jones played in 11 games primarily at left tackle last fall. But the 6-foot-8, 360-pound redshirt-sophomore has worked mostly at right tackle this spring. And has seemingly fit right in.
"Even today, I tried to put him into some spots in the screen game to where I could see if he can get out and run and move," DeBoer said of Jones, "and I thought he did a really nice job.
"It was our first day with a certain screen that we put in. I specifically put it in the way we did to see what he was capable of doing (from right tackle). To me, that's part of installing the offense. It's finding out what our guys can do. I think he's done a really nice job. Steady improvement from where we started early in the spring and he's fit in nicely."
DeBoer has liked what he's seen from the offensive line, generally.
"I think we've improved in the run game, especially," he said. "Our defense does a great job with their blitzes, so they put a lot of pressure on you. Overall, we've done a better job every day of communication, both in the run game and in our protections.
"I know that they have a lot of ownership. You can tell that there are a few upperclassmen who have put a lot of time into this program and it means a lot. I'll certainly be riding their emotions and their desires that they have to make sure that we get this thing right."
GREAT SCOTT
Stevie Scott remains key to the running game, too, of course.
Scott, the 6-2, 233, sophomore who set IU true freshman records with 1,137 rushing yards on 228 attempts (5.0 per carry), 10 rushing TDs and six 100-yard games.
After carrying so much of the load last fall, Scott was purposefully limited during spring work by the coaching staff, but DeBoer has seen enough to have an idea of what he has in Scott.
"You can still see times when he's younger and he's going through one of his first spring balls," DeBoer said, "but overall you just see what the potential is for him when he gets the ball in his hands to go make some plays.
"We're trying not to grind him too hard. We're making sure we don't wear him out. But we're also making sure he feels comfortable with the offense."
That goes for pretty much every offensive player trying to learn a new system and new verbiage, but DeBoer has seen progress that should set his men up for a good summer or productive player-led 7-on-7 work.
"I think, right now, we're getting close to having the tools available for our offense to be able to run what we want to run," he said. "It doesn't mean we're great at it yet, but I think that guys understand that if we need to have something where we can max protect, we can do it.
"We can get five guys out, we can go empty, we have play-action shots on the field, we have quick play action, so I think they understand what the capabilities are of our offensive system. Now it's just continuing to refine it and understand the coaching points, the details and be in sync and make it theirs.
"I think that's the big thing going into this summer for them when they're working on things on their own for them to do. Then we get a chance in the fall to re-install it. We'll do it a couple times leading into games. There will hopefully be a lot of recall of what we've done through the first 13 practices."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana football defensive coordinator Kane Wommack had pretty much all his regulars available for practice Tuesday.
So he'll likely see them on the field Friday night for the 7 p.m. Cream & Crimson Game that annually concludes spring practice.
And he's naturally counting on seeing them on the field next fall.
And almost all of them the fall after that.
And the majority of them the fall after that.
(And yes, for some, even four falls hence.)
Because Wommack is not only seeing progressively more speed and athleticism overall, he's seeing it from players already in his No. 1 and No. 2 units who have two, three or four years of eligibility remaining.
Wommack, after praising the play of several upperclassmen so far this spring, added this when meeting with the media after practice: "The meat of our team are redshirt sophomores, true sophomores and redshirt freshmen.
"And when the 1s go out, there are a bunch of those guys out there, and you say, 'Dang, man, these kids can really do it.' And then the 2s go out and you're like, 'And these kids can do it.' And that's when we get excited.
"Because we're starting to build depth the way that you have to have it in this league to weather the adversity, if you know what I mean, and go the long haul."
Here are just some candidates for the defensive playing rotation not just next fall, but two or three or four autumns from now:
- Defensive Line: Jerome Johnson, Juan Harris, Shamar Jones, Jonathan King, James Head Jr., Michael Ziemba, Alfred Bryant, Madison Norris, Gavin McCabe, Tramar Reece.
- Linebackers: James Miller, Micah McFadden, Aaron Casey, Thomas Allen.
- Defensive Backs: Marcelino Ball, Cam Jones, Raheem Layne, Jaylin Williams, Reese Taylor, Bryant Fitzgerald, Juwan Burgess, Devon "Monster" Matthews, Jamar Johnson, Noah Pierre.
Those are guys still around for 2020 and beyond, mind you. And that's not everybody, either.
It's not even counting the incoming freshmen representing the best class, on paper, Indiana has ever recruited.
And there is versatility. Jamar Johnson, for example, could play pretty much any secondary position. More than one of the linebackers could play either spot in that unit.
And then there is Cam Jones.
The 6-foot-3, 218-pound bundle of talent from Memphis played mainly Husky as a true freshman last fall, but has also practiced at linebacker and safety.
"I believe it is my responsibility, as a coach, to take the athletes we have and utilize their full skill-set," Wommack said. "So if I just made Cam Jones a one-dimensional linebacker, or a Cover 2 safety and that's all he does, I'm not utilizing that kid's full skill-set.
"We brought him here to showcase what he can do, to both help us and help him. So it's my responsibility, as the play-caller, to be able to utilize his full skill-set.
"He's special, just in terms of athleticism, but where I've been (as) impressed is just his natural instincts. He just loves to play a violent and fierce style of game. And that's where you're just, 'Golly, man, you can just use this kid in a lot of different ways.'"
Jones played in 11 games last season but many of his classmates were able to avail themselves of the new NCAA rule allowing newcomers to play as many as four games while retaining redshirt status.
That was just another welcome factor in helping IU's defense build its youthful depth.
"For us, that was huge," Wommack acknowledged. "Because when you build a team and you say, 'Those guys are redshirt freshmen,' they already have had four games of experience.
"And I'll be honest, it doesn't matter if it's just special teams or getting in on defense – just getting into a game, feeling the speed of it and that pressure, it just makes you different. It makes you more confident, because at least you've seen it. You've at least been out there on the field."
Wommack tries to keep things simple for his young guys, especially those such as Jones trying to master multiple positions.
"We have executed just our base sets – base run fits, base coverage adjustments, all those things – better," Wommack said of this spring's work. "Tweaked a little bit of our blitz system. We're doing all the same things, but just in a way to keep it a little bit simpler. A little more efficient.
"For you Netflix watchers, we inputted the 'Marie Kondo Method.' You know what I mean? In terms of systems, if it doesn't 'spark joy,' we don't call it. We're just keeping things efficient and simple. And, you know, our guys are playing really fast because of it."
And the foundation for the future is forming fast.
"I keep focused on what we have to do and what we have to build right now. Okay? With them," Wommack said. "But ... Tom (Allen, the Hoosier head coach) didn't come here just to build it one-and-done and then go out and move to the next place. He's made it very clear we're building this system for the long haul.
"Now, have we taken some lumps in the first couple of years because of that? Sure. But we're building this thing for the long haul. Now, we're hopeful to see the fruit from some of that labor … these players are very talented football players and we've just got to keep bringing them along as we go."
And IU autumns might start looking different. Soon. And perhaps on successive subsequent falls.
QB FOR SPRING GAME
A current short-term illness will have no long-term impact on redshirt freshman transfer quarterback Jack Tuttle, but he won't play in Friday's Cream & Crimson Game.
Returning QB starter Peyton Ramsey is good to go, though, and Hoosier fans could get to see more of redshirt freshman Michael Penix Jr. than they might have expected, given Penix's ACL knee injury last Oct. 20.
"He won't be doing anything where there's a team setting, but we'll certainly have him out there," IU offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer said Tuesday of Penix. "We've been trying the last five practices to ramp up the reps he's getting.
"He's getting considerably more reps than any of the other quarterbacks in the 7-on-7 sessions. It's at least 16-8 in favor of him, as far as the reps he's getting. He's done a really nice job. You can tell that while we've gone through the spring that he's been paying attention to the details."
IU tentatively plans to work in some 7-on-7 sets, with Penix at QB, into Friday's format.
DeBoer indicated fans would've likely liked what they saw Friday from Tuttle had not illness intervened.
"First of all, the guy's a go-getter," DeBoer said of Tuttle. "He's going to be 30 minutes early for a meeting, literally. He's going to put a lot of work into knowing his plays, knowing his reads. There's no way you can question any of the effort he ever puts in, and I love those (kinds of) guys. You win a lot of football games with those types of guys.
"Secondly, he's got a big arm. I think he understands the game and I think there are some things that instinctually happen for him pretty naturally. There's still a lot going through his mind as he's learning the offense, but there were times he had a good feel for the concepts, good feel for what he was seeing happening in front of him where he went out and … made plays and made throws to get guys open. Things that sometime you can't really even coach until after it's happened."
RIGHT MOVE?
Caleb Jones played in 11 games primarily at left tackle last fall. But the 6-foot-8, 360-pound redshirt-sophomore has worked mostly at right tackle this spring. And has seemingly fit right in.
"Even today, I tried to put him into some spots in the screen game to where I could see if he can get out and run and move," DeBoer said of Jones, "and I thought he did a really nice job.
"It was our first day with a certain screen that we put in. I specifically put it in the way we did to see what he was capable of doing (from right tackle). To me, that's part of installing the offense. It's finding out what our guys can do. I think he's done a really nice job. Steady improvement from where we started early in the spring and he's fit in nicely."
DeBoer has liked what he's seen from the offensive line, generally.
"I think we've improved in the run game, especially," he said. "Our defense does a great job with their blitzes, so they put a lot of pressure on you. Overall, we've done a better job every day of communication, both in the run game and in our protections.
"I know that they have a lot of ownership. You can tell that there are a few upperclassmen who have put a lot of time into this program and it means a lot. I'll certainly be riding their emotions and their desires that they have to make sure that we get this thing right."
GREAT SCOTT
Stevie Scott remains key to the running game, too, of course.
Scott, the 6-2, 233, sophomore who set IU true freshman records with 1,137 rushing yards on 228 attempts (5.0 per carry), 10 rushing TDs and six 100-yard games.
After carrying so much of the load last fall, Scott was purposefully limited during spring work by the coaching staff, but DeBoer has seen enough to have an idea of what he has in Scott.
"You can still see times when he's younger and he's going through one of his first spring balls," DeBoer said, "but overall you just see what the potential is for him when he gets the ball in his hands to go make some plays.
"We're trying not to grind him too hard. We're making sure we don't wear him out. But we're also making sure he feels comfortable with the offense."
That goes for pretty much every offensive player trying to learn a new system and new verbiage, but DeBoer has seen progress that should set his men up for a good summer or productive player-led 7-on-7 work.
"I think, right now, we're getting close to having the tools available for our offense to be able to run what we want to run," he said. "It doesn't mean we're great at it yet, but I think that guys understand that if we need to have something where we can max protect, we can do it.
"We can get five guys out, we can go empty, we have play-action shots on the field, we have quick play action, so I think they understand what the capabilities are of our offensive system. Now it's just continuing to refine it and understand the coaching points, the details and be in sync and make it theirs.
"I think that's the big thing going into this summer for them when they're working on things on their own for them to do. Then we get a chance in the fall to re-install it. We'll do it a couple times leading into games. There will hopefully be a lot of recall of what we've done through the first 13 practices."
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