Tom Allen Spring Practice No. 10 Update

Opening Statement:
"We had a really good day today and we had our first big scrimmage on Saturday, so we had a lot of good evaluation on our guys and came today with a good practice. I thought we had a lot of good execution and reps trying to get these guys brought along and get better. I like the progress and I like the effort and energy. I think this team step by step is getting better every single day."

Takeaways from last week's scrimmage:
"I thought the defense won the day. I thought they did a good job of eliminating big plays and keeping them out of the end zone. I thought the energy in pursuit of football, the speed was evident and just a good number of hats to the football. When you freeze the frame at a certain point when you are watching film there was a lot of good execution. A lot of young linemen are getting reps and I think Matthew Bedford is the guy who stuck out to me, showed some good signs of figuring things out as a new guy, but it's one thing to do some things in weight room, it's another thing to do it on the field when guys are coming at you full speed. Miles Marshall is another guy who can make plays for us that I'm encouraged by and he needs to step up and do some great things for us. Defensive line-wise, I think Madison Norris and Jonathan King did some things well. I also think Cam Jones really popped to me as well. We have played him at several different spots. He's playing weak-side linebacker now and we spend half the time getting him trained at free safety and the other half is spent getting him trained at outside linebacker and he's doing some really great things. I thought Kristian Pechac ran the ball really hard and some good stuff up front. The quarterbacks are continuing to develop and move along the way we want them to so it's a process and you can talk about a lot of different guys, but I think learning a new offensive system and I think giving our young defense a chance to keep growing has been encouraging."

On Cam Jones:
"I think we will zero in on what position he'll play as we get closer to the season. The goal was to play this whole last season at husky and I felt like we needed to get him a lot of reps at free safety then we wanted to get him his final reps at weak-side linebacker. Seeing how things flush out with our roster, he's proven to be a very valuable guy when we get him on the field so the more he can do, the more positions he'll master and the more versatile he'll be for us. Wherever we put him he shows up and makes plays, so he's a special player."

On the production of Jack Tuttle:
"Today I saw some really strong arm throws where he was able to throw through some tight windows that are hard to defend. He is a guy who works extremely hard and we were impressed initially by his weight room work ethic. Coach Ballou has a pretty good feel for guys mental toughness, to have a certain type of mindset, and preparation and he has showed that. Coming into spring ball there's no doubt that it's hard to learn a new system and it's a lot to throw on, but you just see flashes of his arm talent, his decision making, and then he's got the ability to escape and get out of the pocket and make guys miss to extend the play. Those are the kind of things that have stuck out to me and the more he learns the system the more comfortable he gets and the better he'll be."

Follow up to the production of Jack Tuttle:
"To me, as I would always say it's about extending plays, are you able to make a guy miss while he's pursuing you in the pass rush? Are you able to step up and get out of the pocket to get a first down to extend the drive, and he can do all of those things. He's more athletic than I thought he was by just watching his film, but at the same time he ran track in high school, so I knew he was a guy who had some of that in him."

On the progress of Michael Penix Jr.:
"We did some things today to get him more involved, we did some skelly reps today, so doing more of the things he can do at this point without compromising his knee. His progress has been excellent, so we are trying to get him engaged as much as possible."

On Jack Tuttle's eligibility:
"You know, you can control what you can control. This is one where I have zero control. There is a timetable that I would hope to have an answer really soon. Once again, that is not my decision."

Peyton Ramsey's progression:
"I just think that the poise, understanding the game, and he's so competitive. He also makes such good decisions. Now he's learning the new system, too. So that part of it is equal for all of the guys. You can just tell he has been there and done that in a lot of ways. He's bigger and stronger. He works so hard in the offseason and does everything right, and that has always been the case. I think he is growing in his leadership and being more verbal. He has more of an ability to confront guys and be the guy that holds guys accountable for the little things and not just taking care of yourself as older guys should do. That part has been great. He is a tough kid, makes a lot of good plays, and runs our offense."

Bryant Fitzgerald's change from last year to this spring:
"I think he has a better burst. Part of that is having more confidence, being year two in the system and development. I think his body has responded really well to what we're doing in the weight room. He has always been a hard worker. I just feel like he has gained some really good weight. When you look at the film you can see his burst to the football and his quickness has improved. He is covering more ground and to me that's a big deal. He plays a position that's a space position that is a big part of his job. I just think that when you play with more confidence you anticipate better because of reps and experience. I think you do play faster, but I think he is physically and noticeably quicker. He knows what we're doing and he's running the defense. Instead of last year where he was listening a lot to the other guys and doing his job and making plays. Now he is leading and is a very, very valuable part of our team. Now I think he is a better football player than he has been since he's been here."

On Mathew Bedford:
"It's weight and strength in the weight room. Most high school guys who come into college that's the biggest thing. He was 17 years old when he got here. We did an activity last year where you weren't allowed to do it if you weren't 18. He was the only guy on the team that wasn't allowed to do it. It's something we did with compliance. You realize really quickly how young he is, but man he is going to be a really good football player. He is just so athletic, he has the things that you can't coach, and he's just a great kid. He is so locked in. His head is spinning for sure and that's part of it, but the things he can control like his effort and toughness. He's just got to get bigger and stronger. The good news is we have the whole month of May and the rest of April here. Then we get into June and July, so we have several months before we get into fall camp. Then once we get into fall camp we have another month before our first game. He is a guy that we are going to push extremely hard during all of those times of the year in getting him bigger and stronger."

Talking about the offensive line and what he's learned:
"We're trying to get several guys in the mix. DaVondre Love has taken a lot of reps as a number two tackle. We're trying to create depth for our guys. I think we kind of know what we've got in some of our older guys. We know that we have Coy (Cronk), who is extremely motivated right now to work hard and get better so that he can play his best football of his career for his senior year. The same goes for Simon (Stepaniak) and Hunter (Littlejohn). Those guys have been steady guys, so we're trying to get a lot of our young guys in a lot of different rotations and a lot of different positions. We're trying to get them comfortable. An emphasis has been on Michael Katic. We've had him at center, but it's kind of hard to snap and learn a new system. We're going to kind of get him seasoned at guard first, and then he has a chance to be a guy in our center rotation as well. There's a bunch of different guys. Even Charlie O'Connor, who came here as a walk-on, has been our number two center for most of the spring. He does a lot of good things. He's a big guy with broad shoulders and is strong and works extremely hard. There's a bunch of guys that I think we just need to have a great next three months in our offensive line room and defensive line room because all of those young guys have got to grow up. They have to get bigger and stronger, and it's going to show up in the fall. We're going to need them all. It's a long season. I just think that getting as many guys as we can as many reps as we can and we'll just keep coaching them up everyday."

On the offensive line getting more physical:
"We did our inside run today and you probably heard me barking constantly about being physical, toughness, coming off the football. That confidence is gained in the weight room. It gives you more weight to push. It gives you more strength to be able to move the line of scrimmage so we can get what we are looking for on that side of the ball. That's the key. We have some good running backs. They just need a crease. But it all starts up front. That's a developmental group that you really have to coach hard and stay on top of every little detail with their footwork and hand placement. But at the end of the day, they have to be big and strong and that's where we are trying to get them to."

On Ronnie Walker Jr. taking a hit at the end of practice:
"I don't know his status. He took a shot there on a very physical tackle by James Miller, which is what he does. We want to make sure our guys are always keeping their heads up and tackling through people. He was on his feet, so that part of it is what you want. We also have to make sure we keep our heads up. But that was physical football right there. Ronnie ran hard today. I challenged him early in practice and I thought he responded to that. It's a physical game."

On IU's Pro Day:
"Today is a huge day. We have a lot of guys that put a lot of work into today. All of the extra time. Most of the guys have stayed here to train, a few went to some other spots. You just want to see them rewarded for all of their hard work. They have given so much to our program. They have invested and sacrificed. They have worked extremely hard and made plays for us on gameday and took care of business in the classroom, so now they are getting rewarded with the opportunity to have most teams in the NFL with scouts here and showcase what they got. A couple of the guys had a chance at the NFL Combine and the rest will have a chance here. It's real exciting, a big day for our program."

Indiana University Athletics

Related News

Players Mentioned

Matthew Bedford

Bryant Fitzgerald

Cam Jones

Jonathan King

DaVondre Love

Miles Marshall

James Miller

Madison Norris

Charlie O'Connor

Michael Penix Jr.

Peyton Ramsey

Jack Tuttle

Ronnie Walker Jr.

Related Videos