Indiana University Athletics
Media Wednesday: Ohio State
11/18/2020 1:30:00 PM | Football
Below are partial transcriptions of Zoom press conferences with Indiana co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Grant Heard, safeties coach Jason Jones, center Harry Crider and defensive tackle Jerome Johnson on Wednesday, Nov. 18.
Co-Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers Coach Grant Heard
Q. On the younger players in the WR room…
HEARD: Every day is still a work in progress, but they are getting better. Especially Javon Swinton and Jacolby Hewitt. The biggest thing is getting them caught up with the speed of the game, because practice is hard and it is tough, but the speed of the game is always different on Saturday. The guys we are going against know exactly what they are doing. We are trying to get scout team guys assimilated, but the speed is always different. But they are doing an awesome job understanding what we are trying to get done.
Q. On Ty Fryfogle…
HEARD: He is making more of the 50/50 catches. I will say that Michael Penix Jr. is playing at a high level and he is getting the ball to us fast and early, and so it is helping us. I think just as a group, we are playing with so much confidence right now, which is a big part of who we are. I think that he is so confident right now that whereever that ball is, he believes he can make a play. We are going to need him to do the same thing Saturday.
Q. On Miles Marshall…
HEARD: He is big. He and Fry, and Jacolby, Swinton, they are long guys and so that is the thing we harp on a lot during the camp. If Mike gives us the opportunity to catch the ball, he has got to believe and trust in us that we will come down with it and make a play for him. He has done a great job and the guys have gone up and competed for the ball and made their plays. As a coach I think we probably have not made enough, but they have made some good plays and we just have to keep improving on that each week.
Safeties Coach Jason Jones
Q. On Jamar Johnson…
JONES: Jamar has done a great job as far as just transitioning from the husky position to the free safety. At first it was a little bit of a learning curve for him, but it has actually helped him because the way our defense is set up it helps him to better understand the entire defense and understand exactly what we are doing scheme-wise. Now he is one of those guys that, we can get into a game and if something happens, we can line him up at husky, we can put him at free safety, we can put him at the rover, just because of the different positions that he has played. It gives us a little bit of versatility where we can play him at multiple positions, and you see him on game day lining up at different positions and things like that.
Q. On the defensive communication…
JONES: That is one of the things that we stress every day in position meetings and when we get out there on the field. It is just every single snap we have to communicate with the other 10 guys on the field just to make sure everybody is on the same page, because when we line up in the secondary as a safety nobody is behind you. We are the last line of defense, and so it is our job to make everybody right, so if there is a break down, if something is not right, we have to problem solve and make everybody right. The communication has gotten better. We are in the meeting room and guys communicate with each other to make a change like we do in practice, and we will do a lot of individual work with the corners and the huskies. That is some that we are constantly talking about every single day, and it has gotten better.
Q. On the versatility of the secondary…
JONES: That is one of the things that Coach Kane Wommack loves about being the defensive coordinator. The more positions I guess that you can line some of your best players, you can put them at, that they can play, you are able to do more things, and it also says a lot about Tiawan Mullen and Jamar Johnson. Tiawan being able to play corner and husky, Jamar being able to play corner and husky, it says a lot about those two guys and their ability to learn and understand exactly what is going on. But it gives us more; we are allowed to be me more multiple, and we do a lot of different things with those guys.
OL Harry Crider
Q. On Luke Haggard…
CRIDER: We have been confident in Luke since he got here. He came in with great physical tools and has built upon that. He has put on some weight. It is really the mental aspect of it that he has had to catch up on. Throughout camp and our first few games he has really studied hard. That is why when he had to step in, we did not hesitate. We knew he would get the job done. We are happy with Luke.
Q. On the continuity of the offensive line…
CRIDER: A big aspect of that has been communication. That is a huge thing that that we have worked on preseason and the first few games. As long as that communication is there, the chemistry is there. As long as everybody is on the same page, it does not matter who is stepping in there. We are confident in that.
Q. On coming in with a chip on his shoulder for Ohio State…
CRIDER: Re-watching last year's game this week is pretty ugly. It is kind of hard to watch the offensive line. It was definitely not our best performance last year. It is something to improve on. It gives us even more encouragement to improve on the details. They do not do a whole lot on defense. They are who they are. They play a lot of strong, powerful guys. As long as we do what I know we can do and make sure that we are communicating and everyone is on the same page, I feel confident in our ability.
DL Jerome Johnson
Q. On limiting the explosive runs…
JOHNSON: I think we have played a major role. With Coach Kevin Peoples coming in we have learned some new techniques that have defiantly helped us get pressure and keep things steady in our gaps.
Q. On the depth of the defensive line…
JOHNSON: Having that competitive spirit helps me to get better as a person and as a player getting to know the guys. Competing against them for the spot helps us all get better. As far as playing, having people we can depend on when somebody might go down also helps.
Q. On the improvements of the defensive line…
JOHNSON: I think guys just buying in and focusing on our technique and making sure we do our job instead of trying to just make plays. I think focusing more on what you need to do in order to help plays a huge role.
Co-Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers Coach Grant Heard
Q. On the younger players in the WR room…
HEARD: Every day is still a work in progress, but they are getting better. Especially Javon Swinton and Jacolby Hewitt. The biggest thing is getting them caught up with the speed of the game, because practice is hard and it is tough, but the speed of the game is always different on Saturday. The guys we are going against know exactly what they are doing. We are trying to get scout team guys assimilated, but the speed is always different. But they are doing an awesome job understanding what we are trying to get done.
Q. On Ty Fryfogle…
HEARD: He is making more of the 50/50 catches. I will say that Michael Penix Jr. is playing at a high level and he is getting the ball to us fast and early, and so it is helping us. I think just as a group, we are playing with so much confidence right now, which is a big part of who we are. I think that he is so confident right now that whereever that ball is, he believes he can make a play. We are going to need him to do the same thing Saturday.
Q. On Miles Marshall…
HEARD: He is big. He and Fry, and Jacolby, Swinton, they are long guys and so that is the thing we harp on a lot during the camp. If Mike gives us the opportunity to catch the ball, he has got to believe and trust in us that we will come down with it and make a play for him. He has done a great job and the guys have gone up and competed for the ball and made their plays. As a coach I think we probably have not made enough, but they have made some good plays and we just have to keep improving on that each week.
Safeties Coach Jason Jones
Q. On Jamar Johnson…
JONES: Jamar has done a great job as far as just transitioning from the husky position to the free safety. At first it was a little bit of a learning curve for him, but it has actually helped him because the way our defense is set up it helps him to better understand the entire defense and understand exactly what we are doing scheme-wise. Now he is one of those guys that, we can get into a game and if something happens, we can line him up at husky, we can put him at free safety, we can put him at the rover, just because of the different positions that he has played. It gives us a little bit of versatility where we can play him at multiple positions, and you see him on game day lining up at different positions and things like that.
Q. On the defensive communication…
JONES: That is one of the things that we stress every day in position meetings and when we get out there on the field. It is just every single snap we have to communicate with the other 10 guys on the field just to make sure everybody is on the same page, because when we line up in the secondary as a safety nobody is behind you. We are the last line of defense, and so it is our job to make everybody right, so if there is a break down, if something is not right, we have to problem solve and make everybody right. The communication has gotten better. We are in the meeting room and guys communicate with each other to make a change like we do in practice, and we will do a lot of individual work with the corners and the huskies. That is some that we are constantly talking about every single day, and it has gotten better.
Q. On the versatility of the secondary…
JONES: That is one of the things that Coach Kane Wommack loves about being the defensive coordinator. The more positions I guess that you can line some of your best players, you can put them at, that they can play, you are able to do more things, and it also says a lot about Tiawan Mullen and Jamar Johnson. Tiawan being able to play corner and husky, Jamar being able to play corner and husky, it says a lot about those two guys and their ability to learn and understand exactly what is going on. But it gives us more; we are allowed to be me more multiple, and we do a lot of different things with those guys.
OL Harry Crider
Q. On Luke Haggard…
CRIDER: We have been confident in Luke since he got here. He came in with great physical tools and has built upon that. He has put on some weight. It is really the mental aspect of it that he has had to catch up on. Throughout camp and our first few games he has really studied hard. That is why when he had to step in, we did not hesitate. We knew he would get the job done. We are happy with Luke.
Q. On the continuity of the offensive line…
CRIDER: A big aspect of that has been communication. That is a huge thing that that we have worked on preseason and the first few games. As long as that communication is there, the chemistry is there. As long as everybody is on the same page, it does not matter who is stepping in there. We are confident in that.
Q. On coming in with a chip on his shoulder for Ohio State…
CRIDER: Re-watching last year's game this week is pretty ugly. It is kind of hard to watch the offensive line. It was definitely not our best performance last year. It is something to improve on. It gives us even more encouragement to improve on the details. They do not do a whole lot on defense. They are who they are. They play a lot of strong, powerful guys. As long as we do what I know we can do and make sure that we are communicating and everyone is on the same page, I feel confident in our ability.
DL Jerome Johnson
Q. On limiting the explosive runs…
JOHNSON: I think we have played a major role. With Coach Kevin Peoples coming in we have learned some new techniques that have defiantly helped us get pressure and keep things steady in our gaps.
Q. On the depth of the defensive line…
JOHNSON: Having that competitive spirit helps me to get better as a person and as a player getting to know the guys. Competing against them for the spot helps us all get better. As far as playing, having people we can depend on when somebody might go down also helps.
Q. On the improvements of the defensive line…
JOHNSON: I think guys just buying in and focusing on our technique and making sure we do our job instead of trying to just make plays. I think focusing more on what you need to do in order to help plays a huge role.
Players Mentioned
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