Indiana University Athletics
Media Thursday: Michigan
11/5/2020 12:45:00 PM | Football
Below is a partial transcription of the Zoom press conference with Indiana head coach Tom Allen on Thursday, Nov. 5.
Head Coach Tom Allen
Q: On the energy around the program this week…
ALLEN: I think it is been more back to normal. I feel good about the guys mindset that they have right now. We have talked about some things that we need to be able to do and my expectations for how you prepare and put yourself in this position and then how you perform as a team. It is about achieving your goals one game at a time. We talked about those goals that we have, that we put those out there for our team, and then you pursue the achievement of those goals on a daily basis. The process that you go through to achieve them has not changed. We have picked a one word, elevate, this week because I think it is very appropriate for what I want to see our team do in terms of their preparation. That to me is the key. It is always about what are we doing today, what are we doing right now during this moment to prepare ourselves to be our very, very best on game day.
Q: On the offensive line…
ALLEN: First of all, I do expect the offensive line to grow and develop and improve each week, just like other areas of our team. I think we saw that in some key things on Saturday at Rutgers and need that to continue against a very talented front seven for Michigan. That is part of our expectation and the progress that we have to make each and every week. Then in regards to Matthew Bedford, he has been with us all week. He is fine. He is expected to play. But Luke Haggard did a good job, and I have a lot of confidence in him. I am glad he got a chance to get in there. He is the guy that we have been very impressed with in his development here since he came this past January. He has worked extremely hard. I feel very comfortable and I expect him to play. We want to have three tackles here that we can move around and all three guys can play, just like you have three guards that you think can play, and then you got guys behind them that have to step up. You just never know in this situation that we are in with COVID-19 and all that creates with your depth and guys staying healthy for a variety of reasons. We are going to have to have depth on that offensive line. There are going to be many more guys that are going to have to play at the tackle position as well. Aidan Rafferty has done a great job of improving. Britt Beery got a chance to get in there as well. Those guys have to rise up and they have to make plays when they are called upon. They have to do a great job of being ready at all times.
Q: On playing aggressive but minimizing mistakes…
ALLEN: That is the challenge. You do not want to lose your intensity, you do not want to lose your toughness, and how physical we play. So, here is what we did: instead of just saying 'do not do this' or 'do not do that', we did some drills that specifically worked on how you attack the passer while staying off of the blows to the head when you are trying to get your hands up, rake down through and affect his vision. You just cannot hit [the quarterback] in the head with your hands. That is really a point of emphasis to protect quarterbacks, and I respect that. We want it called both ways and want our quarterback protected as well. We did some drills on that, very specific drills from a technical perspective. So, we are not just talking about it, we are instilling drills to get it corrected.
Q: On getting over the hump against Penn State helping heading into the Michigan game…
ALLEN: I think it helps. Anytime you can experience something that experience will be valuable the next time. We play such a challenging schedule. I think it was voted as the most difficult or second-most difficult schedule this season in the Big Ten. We knew what we were getting into before it started and the opportunities that that would create for our program. Obviously, going into the Penn State game with the certain mindset and focus that we had and then you get that outcome. You learn how to handle that. Then you go on the road, in a tough situation, to be able to do it again, after potential opportunities for distractions. We were able to accomplish that. Now you go back to at home against the team that, we know the history. The bottom line is, I think there is no question that previous experience will help. It is about us continuing to move this program where we want it to be. That to me, is what this is all about. The definition of elevate is to raise to a higher level. That is very appropriate for what we are trying to do here. Whether it is this game or the next game, to me it does not really matter who we are playing. It just happens to be the Michigan Wolverines, who we know has had a ton of success in this conference and in this country, for many, many years. That creates an opportunity for us to be able to continue to build what we are trying to do. It is going to be a tremendous challenge. It is going to be very challenging to be able to play for four quarters with the football that we know we have to play, but that is the expectation. If you want to get where we want to be, that is what you have to do. That is why we have to be able to take advantage of opportunities like this. As hard as they are physically and mentally, all those different things going into it. It is about one game at a time, one focus. What can we do to help elevate this program?
Q: On staying level during a big game like this…
ALLEN: To be quite honest, I do a lot of praying. That is what I do. That is how I function. That keeps me calm. I have memorized scripture, and that keeps me calm. I keep my head on straight by being able to focus on the task at hand, that works for me. I exercise a lot, that keeps me calm by burning up the energy. We do mock games, and I go through situations a lot. I have to be able to keep the fire that I always want to coach with, but I also want to be able to be thinking ahead of situations. I think time and experience has helped me with that as head coach, and not calling the defense has helped in that regard in terms of the whole situation as far as special teams, offense and defense. It is just about your mind and being able to stay locked in and focused. There is the emotion, the passion of the game, and things go a certain way or do not go a certain way and you respond to those things. It is just about staying under control. It is that controlled rage kind of thing we talked about a lot with our players. To be able to have a high level of focus, a ton of passion, intensity and fire, but also to be able to stay mentally locked in. I am trying to model what I want our kids to do. That is how I approach it. There is no question, every game I get the same nerves, butterflies, and all that stuff that you get because it is the reality that every game is a big game. This one, obviously, has historically gone a certain way, but to me that process does not change. That is what we are trying to get with our guys, I approach it the same way. I spent just as much time doing the certain things that I do leading up to it against this team as we do no matter who the opponent is. We have to make sure that I lead by example in that regard.
Head Coach Tom Allen
Q: On the energy around the program this week…
ALLEN: I think it is been more back to normal. I feel good about the guys mindset that they have right now. We have talked about some things that we need to be able to do and my expectations for how you prepare and put yourself in this position and then how you perform as a team. It is about achieving your goals one game at a time. We talked about those goals that we have, that we put those out there for our team, and then you pursue the achievement of those goals on a daily basis. The process that you go through to achieve them has not changed. We have picked a one word, elevate, this week because I think it is very appropriate for what I want to see our team do in terms of their preparation. That to me is the key. It is always about what are we doing today, what are we doing right now during this moment to prepare ourselves to be our very, very best on game day.
Q: On the offensive line…
ALLEN: First of all, I do expect the offensive line to grow and develop and improve each week, just like other areas of our team. I think we saw that in some key things on Saturday at Rutgers and need that to continue against a very talented front seven for Michigan. That is part of our expectation and the progress that we have to make each and every week. Then in regards to Matthew Bedford, he has been with us all week. He is fine. He is expected to play. But Luke Haggard did a good job, and I have a lot of confidence in him. I am glad he got a chance to get in there. He is the guy that we have been very impressed with in his development here since he came this past January. He has worked extremely hard. I feel very comfortable and I expect him to play. We want to have three tackles here that we can move around and all three guys can play, just like you have three guards that you think can play, and then you got guys behind them that have to step up. You just never know in this situation that we are in with COVID-19 and all that creates with your depth and guys staying healthy for a variety of reasons. We are going to have to have depth on that offensive line. There are going to be many more guys that are going to have to play at the tackle position as well. Aidan Rafferty has done a great job of improving. Britt Beery got a chance to get in there as well. Those guys have to rise up and they have to make plays when they are called upon. They have to do a great job of being ready at all times.
Q: On playing aggressive but minimizing mistakes…
ALLEN: That is the challenge. You do not want to lose your intensity, you do not want to lose your toughness, and how physical we play. So, here is what we did: instead of just saying 'do not do this' or 'do not do that', we did some drills that specifically worked on how you attack the passer while staying off of the blows to the head when you are trying to get your hands up, rake down through and affect his vision. You just cannot hit [the quarterback] in the head with your hands. That is really a point of emphasis to protect quarterbacks, and I respect that. We want it called both ways and want our quarterback protected as well. We did some drills on that, very specific drills from a technical perspective. So, we are not just talking about it, we are instilling drills to get it corrected.
Q: On getting over the hump against Penn State helping heading into the Michigan game…
ALLEN: I think it helps. Anytime you can experience something that experience will be valuable the next time. We play such a challenging schedule. I think it was voted as the most difficult or second-most difficult schedule this season in the Big Ten. We knew what we were getting into before it started and the opportunities that that would create for our program. Obviously, going into the Penn State game with the certain mindset and focus that we had and then you get that outcome. You learn how to handle that. Then you go on the road, in a tough situation, to be able to do it again, after potential opportunities for distractions. We were able to accomplish that. Now you go back to at home against the team that, we know the history. The bottom line is, I think there is no question that previous experience will help. It is about us continuing to move this program where we want it to be. That to me, is what this is all about. The definition of elevate is to raise to a higher level. That is very appropriate for what we are trying to do here. Whether it is this game or the next game, to me it does not really matter who we are playing. It just happens to be the Michigan Wolverines, who we know has had a ton of success in this conference and in this country, for many, many years. That creates an opportunity for us to be able to continue to build what we are trying to do. It is going to be a tremendous challenge. It is going to be very challenging to be able to play for four quarters with the football that we know we have to play, but that is the expectation. If you want to get where we want to be, that is what you have to do. That is why we have to be able to take advantage of opportunities like this. As hard as they are physically and mentally, all those different things going into it. It is about one game at a time, one focus. What can we do to help elevate this program?
Q: On staying level during a big game like this…
ALLEN: To be quite honest, I do a lot of praying. That is what I do. That is how I function. That keeps me calm. I have memorized scripture, and that keeps me calm. I keep my head on straight by being able to focus on the task at hand, that works for me. I exercise a lot, that keeps me calm by burning up the energy. We do mock games, and I go through situations a lot. I have to be able to keep the fire that I always want to coach with, but I also want to be able to be thinking ahead of situations. I think time and experience has helped me with that as head coach, and not calling the defense has helped in that regard in terms of the whole situation as far as special teams, offense and defense. It is just about your mind and being able to stay locked in and focused. There is the emotion, the passion of the game, and things go a certain way or do not go a certain way and you respond to those things. It is just about staying under control. It is that controlled rage kind of thing we talked about a lot with our players. To be able to have a high level of focus, a ton of passion, intensity and fire, but also to be able to stay mentally locked in. I am trying to model what I want our kids to do. That is how I approach it. There is no question, every game I get the same nerves, butterflies, and all that stuff that you get because it is the reality that every game is a big game. This one, obviously, has historically gone a certain way, but to me that process does not change. That is what we are trying to get with our guys, I approach it the same way. I spent just as much time doing the certain things that I do leading up to it against this team as we do no matter who the opponent is. We have to make sure that I lead by example in that regard.
Players Mentioned
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