Indiana University Athletics
Media Thursday: Maryland
11/26/2020 1:13:00 PM | Football
Below is a partial transcription of a Zoom press conference with Indiana head football coach Tom Allen on Thursday, Nov. 26.
Head Coach Tom Allen
Q: On what Luke Haggard has shown…
ALLEN: First of all, his development has changed. The fact that this year is different than most in regards to eligibility in terms of him gaining an extra year. He does need to continue to get bigger and stronger. He will. He works extremely hard in the weight room. He had the opportunity with Caleb Jones unable to go. That gave him an opportunity and he took advantage of it. His best football is ahead of him. He does not have a long history of playing offensive tackle or offensive line at all. I do believe that he is going to be a really good football player. He has already done a very, very good job for us. I expect him to keep improving as he gets stronger, bigger and understands the position better. His athleticism is one of his strengths, that is for sure. He is a really tough kid. He cares a bunch and he works extremely hard. I talked to our strength staff and since the first day that he got here, they have loved him in the weight room and the way he approaches everything that he does. When you get guys that are long and lean like he is, it is the kind of body type that we are looking for to put good weight on. I am really pleased with him and he needs to keep developing.
Q: On Thanksgiving this year with the team…
ALLEN: It feels different. We are used to playing Purdue this weekend so that is already a change. The fact that we have several games left in the regular season is different. Obviously, the pandemic situation with our players. Nobody is leaving. We are all going to be here together. We are doing a meal here in a little bit with our whole team up in the Henke Hall of Champions. A big Thanksgiving meal for all of our coaches and players. We will have a really hearty meal together, which will be a lot of fun. They are looking forward to that. It is neat and I think it will be neat to be with our football family. Players are not allowed to leave, usually in the past, we have allowed them to do that for the guys that live within a two-hour radius of campus. Other guys would go home with their teammates or go to the coaches homes. We are just going to do all of that together. We have already had a few families that have come in for the game this weekend. We will be together this afternoon. We had a really good practice this morning that we needed to have, and I think our guys have done a really good job of staying locked in and focused. But it is kind of a weird feel. Even last week, we found it hard to believe that this week is Thanksgiving. Everything is out of sync in regards to the flow of a regular season. But that is what we are going to do with our guys and then we will come back tomorrow and do our walk-throughs like we always do on a Friday. We will be ready to go.
Q. On coming off a loss with the students not having classes this week…
ALLEN: Yeah, it definitely has a different feel to it. No class this week. Everything is online anyways, but not having the actual classes themselves, the academic time, it's more just guys getting caught up and getting ahead and working hard academically with our academic staff. That has not changed, but I like to look at our guys eyes on Monday, which is important. We have that first meeting and the way they have responded this week in practice. And yeah, you go through and a season has its ebbs and flows and you have to be able to respond to those in the right way whether you get a big win or you have a tough loss and especially a game like that, it took so much energy and effort to be able to come back and give ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter. But at the same time there is also the growth that you see in a football team when you realize hey man, this team has got a chance to be really special. And I think that is what we saw, even a week ago, so being able to recognize that and our one word for this week is response. And I'm anxious to see, excited to see our team respond. That is what this is about. That is what life is about and how we respond to the things that we are presented, both the good and the bad. And so, to me that is what great teams do, they respond. And so, I am looking forward to seeing our players do that on Saturday. And that is why this week has been very, very important even though it is a different kind of week and we are in Thanksgiving and the holiday part of the year. But much to be thankful for and we talked about that even today with our team and we will again when we have our meal together. So excited for this team to be able to respond at a high level on game day.
Q. On how Maryland has given the IU defense trouble in the past…
ALLEN: What you just stated. They do a tremendous job with recruiting really good athletes. They got a lot of speed. They always have ever since we played them. Yeah, as you mentioned, they put them in space. They put them in different positions to get them the football, even on special teams, all their speed that they have had and they still have and have had every year we have played them. And so, I think guys got to rally to the football. Guys got to make plays in space and I think it just puts stress on you. Creates more one-on-one situations because of the ability to spread you out and get those guys to the ball in those positions. And I think that has been a big part of it. I think back and go through it has been a one-possession game every time I have been here, so every time we played them since I have been here. So, it is just going to be a great football game on Saturday and they are a very well coached football team. Coach Locksley has done an excellent job there building that program and I know it means a lot to him to be there and he has recruited well. And they have a lot of good football players and they're playing with a ton of confidence right now, playing their best football than they have in a long time and we expect to see that on game day.
Q. On Michael Penix Jr. responding after the loss…
ALLEN: I think he has had a great week of preparation. I love the way he is maturing in that area and the way he handles himself, the way he has practiced, which really to me that is the strongest thing you can do as a leader on your team, is that your actions show the way to respond and the way that you are locked in. In the meetings where you are locked in, during practice where you are locked in, during walk-throughs, and that is what leaders have to do. I just see him continually growing in regards to calling guys out, lining guys up, telling them what to do. Bigger than just his job, receivers, running backs, O-line, and that is part of, that is part of being the leader of the offense. I feel like that he has done a really good job of that this week. And setbacks are a part of life and you have to learn how to respond the right way when things do not go your way even if you play for the most part. He played at a really high level on Saturday but still we as a football team did not play four quarters of our best football, and that is what we have to do. And that to me is when leaders like Michael Penix and Harry Crider on offense and Micah McFadden and Cam Jones on defense and even Marcelino Ball, who is not playing right now. But those are our five captains and those guys are even though Lino is not on the field, he is still behind the scenes being a leader and doing a great job in that role and getting his body back right and putting himself in position to impact this team in whatever role he has been given because that is what role he has right now. Michael Penix is one of those guys and that is what we expect from our captains. That is what we expect from our leadership.
Head Coach Tom Allen
Q: On what Luke Haggard has shown…
ALLEN: First of all, his development has changed. The fact that this year is different than most in regards to eligibility in terms of him gaining an extra year. He does need to continue to get bigger and stronger. He will. He works extremely hard in the weight room. He had the opportunity with Caleb Jones unable to go. That gave him an opportunity and he took advantage of it. His best football is ahead of him. He does not have a long history of playing offensive tackle or offensive line at all. I do believe that he is going to be a really good football player. He has already done a very, very good job for us. I expect him to keep improving as he gets stronger, bigger and understands the position better. His athleticism is one of his strengths, that is for sure. He is a really tough kid. He cares a bunch and he works extremely hard. I talked to our strength staff and since the first day that he got here, they have loved him in the weight room and the way he approaches everything that he does. When you get guys that are long and lean like he is, it is the kind of body type that we are looking for to put good weight on. I am really pleased with him and he needs to keep developing.
Q: On Thanksgiving this year with the team…
ALLEN: It feels different. We are used to playing Purdue this weekend so that is already a change. The fact that we have several games left in the regular season is different. Obviously, the pandemic situation with our players. Nobody is leaving. We are all going to be here together. We are doing a meal here in a little bit with our whole team up in the Henke Hall of Champions. A big Thanksgiving meal for all of our coaches and players. We will have a really hearty meal together, which will be a lot of fun. They are looking forward to that. It is neat and I think it will be neat to be with our football family. Players are not allowed to leave, usually in the past, we have allowed them to do that for the guys that live within a two-hour radius of campus. Other guys would go home with their teammates or go to the coaches homes. We are just going to do all of that together. We have already had a few families that have come in for the game this weekend. We will be together this afternoon. We had a really good practice this morning that we needed to have, and I think our guys have done a really good job of staying locked in and focused. But it is kind of a weird feel. Even last week, we found it hard to believe that this week is Thanksgiving. Everything is out of sync in regards to the flow of a regular season. But that is what we are going to do with our guys and then we will come back tomorrow and do our walk-throughs like we always do on a Friday. We will be ready to go.
Q. On coming off a loss with the students not having classes this week…
ALLEN: Yeah, it definitely has a different feel to it. No class this week. Everything is online anyways, but not having the actual classes themselves, the academic time, it's more just guys getting caught up and getting ahead and working hard academically with our academic staff. That has not changed, but I like to look at our guys eyes on Monday, which is important. We have that first meeting and the way they have responded this week in practice. And yeah, you go through and a season has its ebbs and flows and you have to be able to respond to those in the right way whether you get a big win or you have a tough loss and especially a game like that, it took so much energy and effort to be able to come back and give ourselves a chance in the fourth quarter. But at the same time there is also the growth that you see in a football team when you realize hey man, this team has got a chance to be really special. And I think that is what we saw, even a week ago, so being able to recognize that and our one word for this week is response. And I'm anxious to see, excited to see our team respond. That is what this is about. That is what life is about and how we respond to the things that we are presented, both the good and the bad. And so, to me that is what great teams do, they respond. And so, I am looking forward to seeing our players do that on Saturday. And that is why this week has been very, very important even though it is a different kind of week and we are in Thanksgiving and the holiday part of the year. But much to be thankful for and we talked about that even today with our team and we will again when we have our meal together. So excited for this team to be able to respond at a high level on game day.
Q. On how Maryland has given the IU defense trouble in the past…
ALLEN: What you just stated. They do a tremendous job with recruiting really good athletes. They got a lot of speed. They always have ever since we played them. Yeah, as you mentioned, they put them in space. They put them in different positions to get them the football, even on special teams, all their speed that they have had and they still have and have had every year we have played them. And so, I think guys got to rally to the football. Guys got to make plays in space and I think it just puts stress on you. Creates more one-on-one situations because of the ability to spread you out and get those guys to the ball in those positions. And I think that has been a big part of it. I think back and go through it has been a one-possession game every time I have been here, so every time we played them since I have been here. So, it is just going to be a great football game on Saturday and they are a very well coached football team. Coach Locksley has done an excellent job there building that program and I know it means a lot to him to be there and he has recruited well. And they have a lot of good football players and they're playing with a ton of confidence right now, playing their best football than they have in a long time and we expect to see that on game day.
Q. On Michael Penix Jr. responding after the loss…
ALLEN: I think he has had a great week of preparation. I love the way he is maturing in that area and the way he handles himself, the way he has practiced, which really to me that is the strongest thing you can do as a leader on your team, is that your actions show the way to respond and the way that you are locked in. In the meetings where you are locked in, during practice where you are locked in, during walk-throughs, and that is what leaders have to do. I just see him continually growing in regards to calling guys out, lining guys up, telling them what to do. Bigger than just his job, receivers, running backs, O-line, and that is part of, that is part of being the leader of the offense. I feel like that he has done a really good job of that this week. And setbacks are a part of life and you have to learn how to respond the right way when things do not go your way even if you play for the most part. He played at a really high level on Saturday but still we as a football team did not play four quarters of our best football, and that is what we have to do. And that to me is when leaders like Michael Penix and Harry Crider on offense and Micah McFadden and Cam Jones on defense and even Marcelino Ball, who is not playing right now. But those are our five captains and those guys are even though Lino is not on the field, he is still behind the scenes being a leader and doing a great job in that role and getting his body back right and putting himself in position to impact this team in whatever role he has been given because that is what role he has right now. Michael Penix is one of those guys and that is what we expect from our captains. That is what we expect from our leadership.
Players Mentioned
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