Media Tuesday: Outback Bowl

Below are partial transcriptions of Zoom press conferences with Indiana defensive coordinator Kane Wommack, co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Grant Heard and safeties coach Jason Jones on Tuesday, Dec. 22.

Defensive Coordinator Kane Wommack
On the Ole Miss offense…
WOMMACK: I think they have got a number of things. Offensive weapons, their tempo. I think what Coach Lane Kiffin and [offensive coordinator] Jeff Lebby do offensively is cutting edge, and I think they are ahead of the game right now in terms of offensive fire power, and they are explosive. They are dedicated to it, which I think is a big part of creating explosives on offense. They are just simply dedicated to it. They go about things schematically and they push the ball down field. I think they have got a very explosive quarterback. There are times when you have got to be able to find some ways to create some confusion for him, but at the same time when he gets going, he is pretty good and he has got a lot of weapons around him that they can utilize. I think they do a great job of finding ways to get their playmakers the ball, and they have got a number of them.

Q. On preparing for a bowl game while preparing for a new job…
WOMMACK: It is unique to be able to have that right, and to have a resource in Kalen DeBoer and of course we talked about those things a lot last year and had talked last week as well. Certainly, there are some things that have to be juggled. I think Tom Allen has been great about that and there were a lot of things I was able to do last week as I got down to Mobile to get to secure a lot of staff members that we did yesterday. Certainly, coordinators in Corey Batoon and Major Applewhite. That was great to be able to knock that out and have those guys on board. And then you are trying ti make sure that you are taking care of those players down there and still doing right by our players here, and making sure that we finish well. This is a group of guys here at Indiana that I care deeply for, and I think as I get older and I have spent my longest tenure at a program with these players and seen most of them coming in from true freshmen, it means something really special to be able to finish well with these guys. So, certainly there are long hours and a little less sleep, but there is a lot of excitement both for our program and obviously personally, so excited to work.

Q. On bowl prep time and heading back south…
WOMMACK: I guess there is some truth to that as well. I think certainly what we do here and what we have done here played a big role in the opportunity that I got at South, and certainly the momentum that that carries for our program at South moving forward and what we are doing here right now is an exciting thing. So, from that standpoint when you think of positive momentum, that can carry weight on both ends. You think about the time that you normally have. You have about double the time to prepare fir a bowl game. I think two weeks is good. It is enough time. You feel like it is like a bye week without the other opponent having an extra game to play. So, obviously equal opportunity from that standpoint, but very excited to kind of get going. My dad taught me this a long time ago. You get lulled into that, I have got a month or I have got two weeks before the game plan. I am treating this week like a full on in-season game plan, because you want to make sure that you are as prepared as possible, and then as you get into next week, then it is about clean up. And I think what we have always been in our defensive system probably a lot of credit to my dad and the way he has always operated in bowl games, we have always been very well prepared and I think it is because we maximize our time particularly on the front end so that we can find those little details in the days right before the game that can make the difference in winning and losing.

Co-Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers Coach Grant Heard
On recruiting Ty Fryfogle…
HEARD: I knew he had the ability. I had to play him as a true freshman, which for him was not the best thing that happened, but because of injuries he had to play. Knowing where he comes from, knowing his work ethic, there was something in him that I really liked. I was going to take him at Ole Miss before I left and because of our relationship he followed me up here to Indiana. The hard work that he has put in has worked out for him, but I always thought he had the potential to be a very special player.

Q. On his ties to the Ole Miss football program…
HEARD: I was fortunate enough to get to play football at Ole Miss and even more fortunate to have been able to go back and coach. My brother still lives there with his family, I met my wife there and have many friends still there, so there are a lot of great memories and I would not change it for the world. I am excited to get the chance to go out there and play another football game. It just so happens to be against Ole Miss.

Q. On the Ole Miss defense…
HEARD: We started breaking them down this week, so we are still trying to figure out a game plan that we really love. They are athletic and I have been in that league. To play in that league you have to have something about you. In a normal year they would be 8-5 as they would have probably won their four non-conference games. I know they lost at least two games by only one possession, so they are a great team. I have been in that league, played in that league, coached in that league and wins are hard to come by. For them to be a play here or a play there short, shows they are a good team and have a good defense. I know the stats might not say that, but they cause a lot of disruption, they get after the passes and get after the quarterback pretty well.

Safeties Coach Jason Jones
Q. On the sense of urgency in practice…
JONES: There is definitely a sense of urgency. Once we got out there and got to practicing and guys started moving around. They are getting back in a normal routine of practicing, position meetings, things like that, and focusing on their next opponent. We had a good day today. The energy was good. Guys were flying around, so you can definitely sense urgency.

Q. On the team having 17 interceptions…
JONES: I think the philosophy was already in place by coach Tom Allen and coach Kane Wommack. Takeaways was one of the things that we put an emphasis on defensively. I think that the guys that I am coaching, last year they were young and this season being older and more mature. Those guys have played in some big-time games and have a lot of snaps underneath their belts. I think it is just understanding the importance of takeaways, and we stress it. We stress it in practice when the ball is in the air. We stress going up and attacking it. If you drop a pass in practice, you have a chance to get an interception, and you drop it in practice there is a penalty and things like that. Sort of like a punishment or a reminder. Those interceptions are precious. They are hard to get. So, when we have an opportunity to get them, we have to take advantage of it. In just a scheme that we run, one of the things that coach Wommack has done a great job of is a scheme that we run that allows the guys to have vision. Guys can see the ball and we can match routes. It allows us to be aggressive and go attack it. So, just a combination of things

Q. On working with Ole Miss Head Coach Lane Kiffin last season…
JONES: We did work together last year. And it is funny or weird when you think about it. I learned a lot from him as far as just the football side. All those years he spent at Alabama with coach Nick Saban, a lot of the things that he learned there to structure a program in the way that practice is structured. Meetings he had implemented those things at FAU, I am sure he is implementing them there at Ole Miss. He is a sharp football coach. He is detailed, but he is going to give you a formation. He is going to run an offensive play, and he is going to have plans A, B, C, and D. If the defensive does this, we are going do this. One of the things as a coach and getting prepared to play is that he is not going to leave any stone unturned and he is going to be detailed about the game plan and things like that. So, it forces you as a defensive coach to be even more detailed and pay attention so that on game day your guys will be in the best position possible to win the game.

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