Media Monday: Outback Bowl

Below are partial transcriptions of Zoom press conferences with Indiana head coach Tom Allen, offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan, defensive coordinator Kane Wommack, wide receiver Ty Fryfogle and linebacker Micah McFadden on Monday, Dec. 28.

Head Coach Tom Allen
ALLEN: We were excited to get back on the field today. Our guys did a great job. We were not out there very long. We got a good lift in; it went along with our normal Monday routine. It was good to get our guys back. Got the majority of our guys back with us at this point. There are still a few that will be squared away in the next couple of days. But good focus, good effort and good attention to detail. I wanted to also congratulate Ty Fryfogle and Micah McFadden on being named to the AP All-American team today. It just came out a little bit ago. That is a tremendous honor for those two young men and for our program. We are excited for them and just continue to be recognized for what this team has accomplished and what we continue to do together, so proud of those guys. Questions.

On the routine and differences in the bowl trip this season…
ALLEN: It will be a little different. It is not the same as a normal bowl week. Usually, you are down there longer. We are going to leave on Wednesday afternoon. We will practice here so we will get a normal Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday practices in on campus. Then we will break the practice film down with our guys and then depart for Indianapolis about 3 p.m. on Wednesday and we will fly down to Tampa, get in there Wednesday night, and then we will practice on Thursday at the bowl site practice that they have for each team. Then we will do our walk-through on Friday, go over to the stadium and take our pictures and stuff like that that you do in the morning. There are no bowl activities. Usually, you have the activities with the other team and different things in the community and different things per where the location is. But we will have a special thing we will do on Thursday night there at the hotel. Kind of like a taste of Florida type deal for the players that we will put on for them so they can enjoy the Florida food many of our guys really like from down there. That will be fun and just things kind of around the hotel. So, because of COVID-19 you will not have the events or go to any amusement parks or anything like that, or go to beach or things you usually do around the game at this location. But you still get a chance to go down there a couple of days early, so it is not like a true road game. We will go down like I said on Wednesday and we usually do not go down until Friday. So, a couple of days before normal and have a Thursday practice down there at a high school facility. We are looking forward to that part and our kids are excited to get on that plane and head south.

On Jack Tuttle…
ALLEN: I think that it was great to have that game where he was the starter and had a chance to prepare for that all week long. Obviously came in the previous game against Maryland and played well in an impromptu situation there. But I think it was very beneficial for his confidence and just the experience of having that game under his belt. But then obviously you have the delay and then the two cancellations and a chance now to, you know use the extra week for bowl prep. So, it has been good. I think you would like to have him obviously, the more you play the better it is, but cannot control any of that, cannot change any of that stuff that happened in the past. But I do think that you can just see more high-level confidence. He always throws the ball well, but as he has been in that role and being the guy, I think it is always a great thing to be able to have your last experience of playing and being the starter like it was there up in Wisconsin and the way we played, and were able to finish out that game and get the big road win against a ranked opponent. So, it was huge for him, huge for his confidence and I think that he will carry that into the bowl game.

On the long layoff and state of the roster…
ALLEN: Anytime you have that much of a time period where you do not play, there is no question, you had seven-straight weeks, nobody leaves, no breaks, no anything. Seven-straight Big Ten games were challenging physically and mentally, so the mental break was a blessing. Did not want to have those circumstances and everything but when you look back on it and get a chance to get some guys healed up, but then having all those guys that tested positive so they have been out for all that time, the challenge now is to get back and have a great week of practice as we said we tried to get. The whole groups not back yet, but we are getting closer. We may have them all back tomorrow. We do not know yet. But definitely getting closer to that. You would like to get them all back at least by Wednesday so you can have a chance to get a full practice in before we head out of here. But ideally you get them back tomorrow and you got two practice in pads. Bottom line is that is still yet to be determined but definitely have a lot more guys back than we had before. Able to practice now and have the numbers to be able to get the proper look. That has been a challenge and you just got to stay sharp, that is why we have done some ones versus ones even last week to try to keep our guys sharp going against each other and not doing as much scout work. Just trying to simulate game situations and keep our guys focused and locked in for that. I think anytime you have a delay you are concerned about it but once again just like anything else as this year has shown, we just have to adapt and find creative ways to keep our guys ready to play, so hen we do play on January 2 we are at our best.

On keeping the players in town over the holidays…
ALLEN: Absolutely, I mean they follow the advice of our medical professionals and they were adamant about it and I agreed and our players understood, as well, even though it is tough. We would love to be able to have everybody go home for Christmas. This is the first time we have not been able to do that, but I just think that just the thought of having guys go get on a plane and go wherever they are from and spend a few days there and have to travel back and all that exposure to all the different individuals along the way, just creates a lot of potential issues. So, went ahead and came back, tested yesterday, tested today and continued to be good signs of the trajectory of our team's health. Tough decision to make for sure and I know our guys had to make a big sacrifice for that, but it has kind of been indicative of this whole experience this whole fall. These guys have been awesome and continue to just show so much character and just so much discipline, and it has been hard for sure, and I am just so proud of them and I think it was the right thing to do. The tough thing to do.

On comfort level heading into the game…
ALLEN: I think you always feel like, yeah you always feel like man if we just had a little more time, but we are trying to maximize it and you do not start too early on an opponent. You do not want it to get stale. We have been in these situations several times in the past and just trying to create a different outcome for us here. Last couple times we have played bowl games here since I have been the head coach and so I feel good about where we are. I guess you never know for sure until you go out and start playing the game, but to be able to go through and now get into the normal week, which really starts tomorrow in regards to do we not really do as much usually on a Monday. We did a little more today because of not playing this past Saturday. And so, I look at this as a normal Tuesday coming up here and then a normal Wednesday and then a normal Thursday down there as far as what we usually do and then you get to a walk-through and everything we do on Friday. So, I feel good about where we are. We need to have a great week. You got to have that high level of attention to detail, great focus. We got to have our, as I challenged our guys today as we left the field, we need to have our best Tuesday. Tomorrow we get our best Wednesday on Wednesday. So that is the mindset and our guys have bought into that. And they have worked hard. They have trained well. Just got to keep preparing. We have a big saying around this place, just keep coaching until kickoff. And it is just that mindset that no matter what is going on we just keep preparing, keep preparing, keep preparing. This is what we do.

Offensive Coordinator Nick Sheridan
On recruiting Donaven McCulley…
SHERIDAN: Always when you are evaluating players, sometimes the physical things jump out to you initially that make you want to recruit him. When he was a young player, he threw the ball very well, very naturally. He is a big strong kind, very athletic. Those were all things that we were initially definitely interested in. As his career has evolved, you have seen his whole program improve. I think that speaks to the type of leader and competitor he is. He really has elevated the program. He has made the players around him and his entire team better, which is always a great trait to have when you are playing quarterback. On top of that, when you look at the moments he has had in basketball. I think that speaks to the type of competitor he is. They had a great team last year, and I know they have a very good team again this year. There were moments in the playoffs before everything got shut down and stopped, he was making game-winning shots, shots late in the game to give them an edge. I think that speaks to the type of competitor he is. He is a player who likes to be in big moments and playing against great competition. He always seems to rise to that occasion. We are excited about him for sure.

Q. On the Ole Miss defense…
SHERIDAN: When you look at their defense, they have played a lot of players. The reasons for that you do not know, especially this year as far as the availability of players. Guys having to rotate and play different positions. That can be a challenge for sure. I have a lot of respect for the coaches on their staff, defensively, I cannot say that I know them well, but I do know them. Coach D.J. Durkin, coach Chris Partridge, those are guys that I have familiarity with obviously having coached in their conference and even prior to that. I remember when Coach Partridge was a high school coach in New Jersey. There are coaches on the staff that I know are excellent coaches. I think they have gone against some of the best offenses in the country. If you watch the SEC championship game between Alabama and Florida, neither one of those teams stopped each other either. I think they have gone against some really high-end offenses. But they have our attention without a doubt. I think if you watch enough film, you can see enough plays where guys are flashing, getting off blocks, making tackles, being strong in the backend and making plays on the ball. I know they would say there have been moments where they have not played as well as they should have or have liked, but there is plenty to grab our attention. We know we are going to have to play our best and that is how we feel every game and certainly this one is no different. It will be a great challenge for us. I have mentioned this before, but every league and every team have had different challenges this year. I do not think any two teams have been the same, so it is hard to speak on what they have had to go through with their players and their staff. They had new staff coming in, no spring practice, no fall, so I cannot speak to things they have had to go through, I just know the challenge that will be ahead for us and we are going to have to play well.

Q. On the comfort within the preparation…
SHERIDAN: We are always trying to fine tune and get ready. We will definitely use this week to prepare. I think we have made great progress. I think we are trending in the right direction. Tomorrow will be another big day to prep and get ready. It has been a process, but I think Coach Allen has put together a great plan for us to kind of gradually build toward kickoff, but there is still work to be done. There are still things that we need to tighten up and continue to rep and execute to be ready for the game. I think our kids have done a nice job, and we are trending in the right direction. We coach through kickoff here. We do not ever stop and say the hay is in the barn or we are ready to go. This week will be important and our kids have had a good attitude and a good work ethic to prepare themselves to play well on Saturday

Defensive Coordinator Kane Wommack
On Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral…
WOMMACK: I think Matt Corral is phenomenal. He does a great job of extending plays and drives. His ability to look defenders off and make deep throws down field is about as good as I have seen. He is very well coached in that and they do a very good job schematically pushing the ball down field. He executes it very well and I think what makes him so dynamic is his ability to make plays and to extend drives by getting first downs. He had a zone read game where he keeps it off the run where he has the ability to keep it and get first downs. Those things can be very frustrating for the defense so we have to do a good job of making sure we limit his explosives, certainly in the passing game, but just as importantly what he does in terms of his ability with his feet. You look at some of their receivers and they have a number of guys that they can get the ball to and do a great job. Elijah Moore is as explosive of a player as we have seen this season and glad that we are not going up against him, but they are not at a loss of explosive playmakers.

Q. On Tom Allen and his improvements in delegation…
WOMMACK: I have talked about it before but the first year that I was here I was getting adapted to how we do things and Tom turned the reigns over to me defensively about a year ago. I found the blend of what I envisioned and what Tom envisioned for the defense. There we some things in the early part of the 2019 season that we really had to work through and have tough conversations back and forth, this is what we see and going back and forth, so it was really good and we were really close. It is has brought us closer together going through those things and truly building a system that we both felt very comfortable about. That 'ah-ha' moment for me was how do I be the defensive coordinator for this Tom Allen program he envisioned and not the one I envisioned myself. That is important and a great lesson to learn as I move into being a head coach. Something that I can communicate and work through with my coordinators and assistant coaches is that ultimately as the head coach, there is a vision that needs to be cast from top to bottom and everybody has to buy into that vision. Not that everybody will not put their own spin and creativity upon that, that is what makes it unique to individuals and the team, but at the same time understanding that vision all has to be seen from the top down and everybody has to execute that vision in their role. That is one of the things I have learned most in my time here at Indiana.

Q. On the Ole Miss offense…
WOMMACK: I think it is a great challenge. It speaks to Matt Corral and how talented he is. He is the guy that makes it go at the end of the day. They have explosive playmakers on the outside with or without Elijah Moore. Obviously, I am sure they all would love to have him, but they have some others guys that they can get the ball to. It speaks to the creativity that Coach Lane Kiffin and Coach Jeff Lebby both have. They have found a great blend of what both of those guys have done in the past and their backgrounds. They have found ways to maximize their personnel or whoever is on the field. The LSU game is a great example of not having a tight end and a wide receiver that are both explosive and can makes plays for you all season and they found a way to feature other players. They will do the same in this game and we have to find a way to adjust and stop it.

LB Micah McFadden
Q. On being named an All-American…
MCFADDEN: I was really glad to get that honor. I am so honored. I want to thank all my teammates, coaches and family for pushing me and encouraging me. They have all really helped me through this difficult, weird season. I am glad for the momentum that this team has and really excited for this bowl game coming up.

Q. On the thought of being an All-American…
MCFADDEN: I am not going to lie and say that I expected this, that this was one of my biggest goals, or that I really saw it happening this season. I am really excited that it came and that the success that I had and the defense had created momentum for this team, the season that we are having, and this upcoming bowl game. I am really excited, really glad, and really happy for Ty Fryfogle as well.

Q. On heading back to Tampa…
MCFADDEN: I have been to Raymond James a few times for the few Tampa Bay Buccaneer games I have been to. I actually went to the Bucs game when John Lynch was inducted into the Ring of Honor. My brother was actually able to play a high school game there, but I was not able to. It is going to mean a lot. I have a lot of family coming, I think it will be close to 45 people that will be at the game. It will be really exciting. I cannot wait to play in front of a big crowd for once this season.

WR Ty Fryfogle
Q. On being named an All-American…
FRYFOGLE: It is a really big honor. I am very thankful to receive this honor. It has been a blessing, but I just want to finish off the season the right way with this football team and get the win.

Q. On calling a fade a jump ball…
FRYFOGLE: That is just what we did in high school. Our quarterback would just throw it up there as a jump ball. I did not really know the college term was a fade. I did not know that until I got to college, which is funny.

Q. On Ole Miss ties being from Mississippi…
FRYFOGLE: I grew up watching Ole Miss a lot. My family supports Ole Miss. They watch Ole Miss a lot, and I have been to a couple games. It is nice out there.

Players Mentioned

Ty Fryfogle

Donaven McCulley

Micah McFadden

Jack Tuttle

Related Videos