Indiana University Athletics
So It Begins – Indiana Opens Camp Ready to Roll
8/2/2019 8:53:00 AM | Football
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By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Tom Allen is pumped.
Can you blame him?
Two years of building a football program -- three if you count his one-year stint as just a defensive coordinator -- has Indiana's head coach ready to get things rolling.
"I love the opportunity we have," Allen said during Thursday's Media Day at Memorial Stadium. "We're going to have a very, very competitive fall camp that's going to -- as we always say, iron sharpens iron, so we're going to sharpen each other every day and make each other better and get the product we want."
In other words, achieve a winning record and a bowl game.
There's talent and depth everywhere you look, which should foster brutal August camp competition – and potentially rock-the-Big-Ten-world victories -- starting on Friday.
There's new offensive and defensive coordinators with Kalen DeBoer and Kane Wommack, with resulting different approaches to implement, although when it comes to aggressive defense, one thing remains unchanged:
"I work for Tom Allen," Wommack said, "so I'll play pretty aggressively defensively, or I won't have my job. We've made no bones about it, we are an aggressive, attacking defense."
Much of the fall-camp attention will focus on the three-quarterback competition. Returning starter Peyton Ramsey once again faces a no-guarantee challenge, this time from a pair of redshirt freshmen - Michael Penix Jr. and Utah transfer Jack Tuttle.
Allen has made it clear there will be one starter, no quarterback rotation. He's also emphasized that better quarterback play is crucial.
"In order for us to take the next step we want to take as a program and as an offense, and if you go to everybody's fall camp and the NFL and every level, the person that plays (quarterback) is the key element to your team."
Still, for IU, the No. 1 key remains the development of the offensive and defensive lines.
As far as the offensive line, big rules. Consider that of the 10 players listed as starters or backups, only one, fifth-year senior DaVondre Love, weighs less than 300 pounds, and he's at 292.
The biggest is 6-8, 358-pound Caleb Jones.
"You want seven or eight guys you feel are really good," Allen said. "The perfect scenario is you've got 10. You've got a No. 2 behind (the starters). It doesn't always work like that. We always say we're going to play our best five. You kind of shuffle the deck sometimes when that happens."
Senior offensive linemen Coy Cronk, Hunter Littlejohn and Simon Stepaniak lead the way, with junior Harry Crider and Jones, a redshirt sophomore, projecting as the other starters.
Allen wants to create more depth at center and guard. He wants bigger guys because, especially on the line, mass matters.
"We look at it from more of a mass perspective. That's going to be a big part of it, and you'll see different combinations of groups in there, not necessarily because of injuries, but just because we're trying to get more guys ready.
"We know that a guy like Matt Bedford, even though he's a true freshman, was here in the spring, so he has a different level of rep base and experience than a guy like Tim Weaver who just got here doesn't have.
"At the same time, we've got to get these guys ready, and we've got some redshirt freshmen that have had a whole off-season to really develop and a full spring under their belt now, and so those guys need to rise up.
"We're going to emphasize getting those guys lots of reps during camp. We know what Coy can do; we know what Simon can do and Hunter as well. Those guys have established themselves as anchors on that O-line, which is exciting, but got to bring those other guys along."
Doing that means tweaking some of the ways IU handles camp practices.
"It's going to continue to be a focal point in terms of getting proper reps," Allen said. "One thing we're doing is modifying our schedule in regards to practice time and reps to create more depth."
IU will give more reps to players listed at No. 3 and No. 4 on the depth chart, and provide more individual and team attention, "Which I think will help us get more technique work to get these young guys brought along faster," Allen said, "and then just play football."
This follows an intense summer development program designed to maximize power, size and speed.
While that was true of all positions, an even greater emphasis was given to offensive and defensive linemen.
"That's been a huge focus," Allen said. "I specifically singled those guys out to our coaching staff, our strength staff and to the team itself that the offensive and defensive lines really had to have a great summer, to be able to put on good weight, to get stronger. We had goals for every one of those guys over the summer, and to keep them on track from a technical perspective, things they're going to work on fundamentally. Those carry into fall camp."
Allen was at nearly every summer workout, only missing those around last month's Big Ten football kickoff event in Chicago.
"I've watched them. I've been in there. That was by design. I wanted to be around our team as much as possible, and I love being around them and just watching them work, seeing them move and seeing these young guys get developed and watching our guys train together.
"We're definitely a more powerful, more explosive team with better speed and more confidence, which that's an outgrowth of. I think that's where you get your confidence. That's one of the biggest benefits of having a great strength staff that the players believe in, and they really believe that those guys are going to make them more explosive players."
Allen hired director of athletic performance David Ballou and athletic performance coach Dr. Matt Rhea to boost that explosiveness and power. In training, IU no longer worries about 40-yard dash times or how much a player can lift once.
"It's miles per hour and speed and different ways, whether it's 10 yards, 20 yards, 30 yards, different segments of that, and then their power numbers, which to me that's football," Allen said. "And then we can always talk about how it transfers from the weight room to the field.
"That's what I think our guys do as (well) as anybody in the country."
In other words, improve a player's ability to change direction, tackle, block and run.
While IU has about the same number of "high-end" players in terms of strength and power, Allen said the numbers for the "middle group has shifted up."
"They're all stronger, more explosive. I feel great about their condition."
Still to come – feeling great about Hoosier winning.
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Tom Allen is pumped.
Can you blame him?
Two years of building a football program -- three if you count his one-year stint as just a defensive coordinator -- has Indiana's head coach ready to get things rolling.
"I love the opportunity we have," Allen said during Thursday's Media Day at Memorial Stadium. "We're going to have a very, very competitive fall camp that's going to -- as we always say, iron sharpens iron, so we're going to sharpen each other every day and make each other better and get the product we want."
In other words, achieve a winning record and a bowl game.
There's talent and depth everywhere you look, which should foster brutal August camp competition – and potentially rock-the-Big-Ten-world victories -- starting on Friday.
There's new offensive and defensive coordinators with Kalen DeBoer and Kane Wommack, with resulting different approaches to implement, although when it comes to aggressive defense, one thing remains unchanged:
"I work for Tom Allen," Wommack said, "so I'll play pretty aggressively defensively, or I won't have my job. We've made no bones about it, we are an aggressive, attacking defense."
Much of the fall-camp attention will focus on the three-quarterback competition. Returning starter Peyton Ramsey once again faces a no-guarantee challenge, this time from a pair of redshirt freshmen - Michael Penix Jr. and Utah transfer Jack Tuttle.
Allen has made it clear there will be one starter, no quarterback rotation. He's also emphasized that better quarterback play is crucial.
"In order for us to take the next step we want to take as a program and as an offense, and if you go to everybody's fall camp and the NFL and every level, the person that plays (quarterback) is the key element to your team."
Still, for IU, the No. 1 key remains the development of the offensive and defensive lines.
As far as the offensive line, big rules. Consider that of the 10 players listed as starters or backups, only one, fifth-year senior DaVondre Love, weighs less than 300 pounds, and he's at 292.
The biggest is 6-8, 358-pound Caleb Jones.
"You want seven or eight guys you feel are really good," Allen said. "The perfect scenario is you've got 10. You've got a No. 2 behind (the starters). It doesn't always work like that. We always say we're going to play our best five. You kind of shuffle the deck sometimes when that happens."
Senior offensive linemen Coy Cronk, Hunter Littlejohn and Simon Stepaniak lead the way, with junior Harry Crider and Jones, a redshirt sophomore, projecting as the other starters.
Allen wants to create more depth at center and guard. He wants bigger guys because, especially on the line, mass matters.
"We look at it from more of a mass perspective. That's going to be a big part of it, and you'll see different combinations of groups in there, not necessarily because of injuries, but just because we're trying to get more guys ready.
"We know that a guy like Matt Bedford, even though he's a true freshman, was here in the spring, so he has a different level of rep base and experience than a guy like Tim Weaver who just got here doesn't have.
"At the same time, we've got to get these guys ready, and we've got some redshirt freshmen that have had a whole off-season to really develop and a full spring under their belt now, and so those guys need to rise up.
"We're going to emphasize getting those guys lots of reps during camp. We know what Coy can do; we know what Simon can do and Hunter as well. Those guys have established themselves as anchors on that O-line, which is exciting, but got to bring those other guys along."
Doing that means tweaking some of the ways IU handles camp practices.
"It's going to continue to be a focal point in terms of getting proper reps," Allen said. "One thing we're doing is modifying our schedule in regards to practice time and reps to create more depth."
IU will give more reps to players listed at No. 3 and No. 4 on the depth chart, and provide more individual and team attention, "Which I think will help us get more technique work to get these young guys brought along faster," Allen said, "and then just play football."
This follows an intense summer development program designed to maximize power, size and speed.
While that was true of all positions, an even greater emphasis was given to offensive and defensive linemen.
"That's been a huge focus," Allen said. "I specifically singled those guys out to our coaching staff, our strength staff and to the team itself that the offensive and defensive lines really had to have a great summer, to be able to put on good weight, to get stronger. We had goals for every one of those guys over the summer, and to keep them on track from a technical perspective, things they're going to work on fundamentally. Those carry into fall camp."
Allen was at nearly every summer workout, only missing those around last month's Big Ten football kickoff event in Chicago.
"I've watched them. I've been in there. That was by design. I wanted to be around our team as much as possible, and I love being around them and just watching them work, seeing them move and seeing these young guys get developed and watching our guys train together.
"We're definitely a more powerful, more explosive team with better speed and more confidence, which that's an outgrowth of. I think that's where you get your confidence. That's one of the biggest benefits of having a great strength staff that the players believe in, and they really believe that those guys are going to make them more explosive players."
Allen hired director of athletic performance David Ballou and athletic performance coach Dr. Matt Rhea to boost that explosiveness and power. In training, IU no longer worries about 40-yard dash times or how much a player can lift once.
"It's miles per hour and speed and different ways, whether it's 10 yards, 20 yards, 30 yards, different segments of that, and then their power numbers, which to me that's football," Allen said. "And then we can always talk about how it transfers from the weight room to the field.
"That's what I think our guys do as (well) as anybody in the country."
In other words, improve a player's ability to change direction, tackle, block and run.
While IU has about the same number of "high-end" players in terms of strength and power, Allen said the numbers for the "middle group has shifted up."
"They're all stronger, more explosive. I feel great about their condition."
Still to come – feeling great about Hoosier winning.
Players Mentioned
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