Indiana University Athletics
Quoted: Preseason Camp – Oct. 2
10/2/2020 1:48:00 PM | Football
Below is a partial transcription of Zoom press conferences with defensive coordinator Kane Wommack, LB Cam Jones and LB Micah McFadden on Friday, Oct. 2.
Defensive Coordinator Kane Wommack
Q. On the husky position…
Wommack: I think we have to ask the question of do we have someone that can fill the position in a similar way to how Marcelino Ball did? There are certain packages that we will tweak and certain packages that will stay. I think that Bryant Fitzgerald is doing a really good job, so far, at husky. He has experience back there; he played free safety and is now doing things at that position. To me, that is a position that we have featured more in some years and featured them less in others. We've done a lot of different things. Certainly, when we get into third downs I think that we can get into some sub-packages and do some things that if we want a better cover guy on the field, a better blitzer on the field because Marcelino gave us something as a pass rusher on third down, but we have some other options that we are excited about. We lose guys like that and it is a tough deal. We hate to lose Marcelino. I hate it for him and I hate it for us. Same deal with Raheem Layne. He is another guy that was doing a really good job there in the backend. We will move forward without those guys. Now, as much as ever between the worry of who we might have on game day based off a test that might pop at the end of the week versus a guy to an injury, the team that can practice the smartest, operate in and out of the building with wisdom, those will be the teams that will be most successful at the end of the season. I think that will be the key for us.
Q. On the depth along the defensive line…
Wommack: We have guys like Jerome Johnson that has always been a very good football player, but I have always thought that there is more that Jerome has to give. I think we are starting to see that from him. We have experienced guys like him, Sio Nofoagatoto'a has done some really good things, along with Demarcus Elliott. Those guys have already played and I think they have taken their game to a different level. We have some exciting guys in Jonathan King and Jeramy Passmore, who have stepped their game to a different level and have given us something out there on the perimeter that we are really excited with. Michael Ziemba has become a more physical player across the board. James Head Jr. is doing some really good things on the outside. Those guys along the perimeter to go along with some youthful depth like C.J. Person… you guys probably did not notice it, but in overtime against Purdue, there was C.J. as a true freshman using one of his four games and played and executed on a critical down in overtime. He made a nice play in the backfield that got us to make them kick a field goal and we won the game. Those guys taking a more central role in our defense, we are excited about them.
Q. On Jovan Swann.…
Wommack: He is such a powerful guy. He is a strong guy that at Stanford was running more of an odd front, 3-4 system, and we are more of a four-down system. I think there has been a little bit of an adjustment period for him with that change. He has that strength and physicality that will allow him to be somebody that we utilize.
LB Micah McFadden
Q. On the challenges of improving during the offseason…
McFADDEN: It was definitely difficult. It really came down to Coach Aaron Wellman and his staff really having a detailed plan for us. It was still really challenging despite having a guy like Coach Wellman that knows what the NFL is doing, how that is going to work out and how we should work out. I think he did a great job of making sure we feel good and are healthy but still getting the work in and making sure we are gaining on what we have done in the past. Overall, it has been challenging and it was chopped up, but I think that we have done a really good job. Our coaches have done a really good job of maintaining the strength and the speed.
Q. On the leadership from the linebacker group…
McFADDEN: Last year, the majority of us in that room were younger guys on the team and were learning how to take a bigger role in the defense, leading on the field and making plays. Settling into that role took a little bit of time last year. This year, now that we are honed in on exactly what is going on with the defense, it is much easier to get everyone lined up, to communicate loudly out there and to be confident in what we are doing. Overall, as a full group, we are getting more guys into that role and being able to communicate loudly and be a leader on the field. I would say it does not really matter at this point. We have five dudes that can really play out there and can all play together. It looks good in that room and we are really getting prepared.
Q. On Wommack's coaching style…
McFADDEN: He is a really detailed worker. Everything that he teaches us, he wants us to know it like he would know it. He wants us to call the defense with the verbiage that he would want, almost like it is himself calling it to his players on the field. He is really detailed, but he is also strict and vocal when he needs to be that way. He can get on your tail and explain that we are wrong in a certain situation, but he is also good at building guys up, get right back up and flush players of a previous play to focus on what we have coming up next. He has done a really good job with that.
LB Cam Jones
Q. On Ty Wise…
JONES: I believe that he is a smart football player. He has caught on quickly. I know that he has been here for a while, but he is one of the freshmen that has caught on quickly. I know that he is going to have a successful career here. He is a smart football player and he knows where the ball is going to be, when it is going to get there and what his responsibility is. He still has to keep growing and coming along.
Q. On the leadership from the linebacker group…
JONES: We all came in together, me, Micah McFadden, James Miller, Aaron Casey and Thomas Allen, we all came in together as young linebackers. But now, we are the leaders of the pack. Coach Allen and Coach Wommack put the pressure on us as linebackers. They told us what needed to get done, so we stepped our game up a little bit. We knew that we needed to fix ourselves first before we could fix anything else. We made that our number one priority. Once that got going, we got everybody else going with us. We just have to continue to go every single day.
Q. On replacing Marcelino Ball…
JONES: Marcelino was a great leader for our defense. We hate that he had the injury, but we have guys like Bryant Fitzgerald and D.K. Bonhomme that are stepping up. Bryant has been in our defense, played all over our defense, so it is good to have him in that spot. He knows what everyone else is going to do, so he knows his job. D.K. is playing behind him and he is a ball player. He is a ball hawk, he gets to the ball. He was playing linebacker and there is a lot of carryover from playing linebacker to husky. He has been picking it up well. Fitz has been playing well. We have to hope they continue to grow in that position.
Defensive Coordinator Kane Wommack
Q. On the husky position…
Wommack: I think we have to ask the question of do we have someone that can fill the position in a similar way to how Marcelino Ball did? There are certain packages that we will tweak and certain packages that will stay. I think that Bryant Fitzgerald is doing a really good job, so far, at husky. He has experience back there; he played free safety and is now doing things at that position. To me, that is a position that we have featured more in some years and featured them less in others. We've done a lot of different things. Certainly, when we get into third downs I think that we can get into some sub-packages and do some things that if we want a better cover guy on the field, a better blitzer on the field because Marcelino gave us something as a pass rusher on third down, but we have some other options that we are excited about. We lose guys like that and it is a tough deal. We hate to lose Marcelino. I hate it for him and I hate it for us. Same deal with Raheem Layne. He is another guy that was doing a really good job there in the backend. We will move forward without those guys. Now, as much as ever between the worry of who we might have on game day based off a test that might pop at the end of the week versus a guy to an injury, the team that can practice the smartest, operate in and out of the building with wisdom, those will be the teams that will be most successful at the end of the season. I think that will be the key for us.
Q. On the depth along the defensive line…
Wommack: We have guys like Jerome Johnson that has always been a very good football player, but I have always thought that there is more that Jerome has to give. I think we are starting to see that from him. We have experienced guys like him, Sio Nofoagatoto'a has done some really good things, along with Demarcus Elliott. Those guys have already played and I think they have taken their game to a different level. We have some exciting guys in Jonathan King and Jeramy Passmore, who have stepped their game to a different level and have given us something out there on the perimeter that we are really excited with. Michael Ziemba has become a more physical player across the board. James Head Jr. is doing some really good things on the outside. Those guys along the perimeter to go along with some youthful depth like C.J. Person… you guys probably did not notice it, but in overtime against Purdue, there was C.J. as a true freshman using one of his four games and played and executed on a critical down in overtime. He made a nice play in the backfield that got us to make them kick a field goal and we won the game. Those guys taking a more central role in our defense, we are excited about them.
Q. On Jovan Swann.…
Wommack: He is such a powerful guy. He is a strong guy that at Stanford was running more of an odd front, 3-4 system, and we are more of a four-down system. I think there has been a little bit of an adjustment period for him with that change. He has that strength and physicality that will allow him to be somebody that we utilize.
LB Micah McFadden
Q. On the challenges of improving during the offseason…
McFADDEN: It was definitely difficult. It really came down to Coach Aaron Wellman and his staff really having a detailed plan for us. It was still really challenging despite having a guy like Coach Wellman that knows what the NFL is doing, how that is going to work out and how we should work out. I think he did a great job of making sure we feel good and are healthy but still getting the work in and making sure we are gaining on what we have done in the past. Overall, it has been challenging and it was chopped up, but I think that we have done a really good job. Our coaches have done a really good job of maintaining the strength and the speed.
Q. On the leadership from the linebacker group…
McFADDEN: Last year, the majority of us in that room were younger guys on the team and were learning how to take a bigger role in the defense, leading on the field and making plays. Settling into that role took a little bit of time last year. This year, now that we are honed in on exactly what is going on with the defense, it is much easier to get everyone lined up, to communicate loudly out there and to be confident in what we are doing. Overall, as a full group, we are getting more guys into that role and being able to communicate loudly and be a leader on the field. I would say it does not really matter at this point. We have five dudes that can really play out there and can all play together. It looks good in that room and we are really getting prepared.
Q. On Wommack's coaching style…
McFADDEN: He is a really detailed worker. Everything that he teaches us, he wants us to know it like he would know it. He wants us to call the defense with the verbiage that he would want, almost like it is himself calling it to his players on the field. He is really detailed, but he is also strict and vocal when he needs to be that way. He can get on your tail and explain that we are wrong in a certain situation, but he is also good at building guys up, get right back up and flush players of a previous play to focus on what we have coming up next. He has done a really good job with that.
LB Cam Jones
Q. On Ty Wise…
JONES: I believe that he is a smart football player. He has caught on quickly. I know that he has been here for a while, but he is one of the freshmen that has caught on quickly. I know that he is going to have a successful career here. He is a smart football player and he knows where the ball is going to be, when it is going to get there and what his responsibility is. He still has to keep growing and coming along.
Q. On the leadership from the linebacker group…
JONES: We all came in together, me, Micah McFadden, James Miller, Aaron Casey and Thomas Allen, we all came in together as young linebackers. But now, we are the leaders of the pack. Coach Allen and Coach Wommack put the pressure on us as linebackers. They told us what needed to get done, so we stepped our game up a little bit. We knew that we needed to fix ourselves first before we could fix anything else. We made that our number one priority. Once that got going, we got everybody else going with us. We just have to continue to go every single day.
Q. On replacing Marcelino Ball…
JONES: Marcelino was a great leader for our defense. We hate that he had the injury, but we have guys like Bryant Fitzgerald and D.K. Bonhomme that are stepping up. Bryant has been in our defense, played all over our defense, so it is good to have him in that spot. He knows what everyone else is going to do, so he knows his job. D.K. is playing behind him and he is a ball player. He is a ball hawk, he gets to the ball. He was playing linebacker and there is a lot of carryover from playing linebacker to husky. He has been picking it up well. Fitz has been playing well. We have to hope they continue to grow in that position.
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