Indiana University Athletics
Tom Allen Zoom Press Conference Transcript & Video
8/20/2020 3:30:00 PM | Football
Below is a partial transcript of Zoom press conference with Indiana head football coach Tom Allen on Thursday, Aug. 20.
Head Coach Tom Allen
Q. On the potential of a winter or spring season…
ALLEN: This is not truly an offseason mentality, but this is just a unique time period that we have not had in the past. There are obviously conversations going on about the possibilities of what the future would look like. There are still, as you mentioned, a lot of things that are very fluid and a lot of things that we do not know. That is why I tried not to get into that game with our players. There are obviously a lot of things that can change between now and a month from now. That is definitely going to have a variable effect on what happens moving forward. I think from our players perspective, and as I have met with our guys, met with our players, coaches and everyone that is a part of our program, it is what do we know and what can we control? As you look at all of the different plans that are out there, obviously there is playing anywhere from January to February, March, April, or however that may look. That window of time obviously has a lot of different pros and cons to it. People in the Big Ten are going to be making those decisions, bur from our players perspective, they have no control over that. I know I keep saying that, but it is so very true. There have been some questions, because obviously the future effects certain players on our team with guys that are in their final year of eligibility and the variables involved with that. The NCAA is in the process but has not gotten those things finalized yet. They are in the process of going through and evaluating what that looks like. We will know more about that probably in the next week or so. The bottom line is, we can all benefit from these next several months of developing our bodies, getting our minds sharper and getting our skills sharper so we can be a better football team when we take the field.
Q. On the importance of the weight room over the next few months…
ALLEN: This is a very, very important period. So, 12 hours is the number they [the NCAA] have given us for conferences that are not playing in the fall. That includes weight training, conditioning, running, meeting time and some skill work. We have some parameters we can work with and certain things we cannot do, but there are several things we can do that is more than a normal offseason. Everything has to work within that 12 hours per week. We have two off days, which will usually be Saturday and Sunday. We really feel very good about the plan. We were not exactly sure how the hours were going to be assigned, but we got some clarity on that yesterday and how that is going to look. The bottom line is, there will be a heavy emphasis on the weight room for us with sprinkled in skill development, technique development and film study to be able to keep the program moving forward and to keep our guys growing and developing each and every week.
Q. On a return-to-play plan that makes the most sense…
ALLEN: I try to work off of principles and think there are three things that need to be accomplished in order for us to make a certain decision, it does not matter what it is. The three things that I have set up that I think are critical is number one: it has to be, no matter what time it is, is it safe for our players to come back and play? What has changed? What standards are we able to meet now that we have not met in the past that kept us from playing? From a health and safety perspective, we have to make sure that we have all of those things answered from a testing perspective, contact tracing and all of the different issues that were brought up to cause us to be delayed. Number two, there has to be a quality experience for our guys. Whatever window we feel is best, we need to have a quality season that can be a quality experience and allow our players to feel that this is a great thing to do and be a part of. Number three, I do not want to see us negatively impact the 2021 season. I think that is a big variable involved to make sure we are not putting too much of a workload on the body. That is where the later this goes, the less I feel good about it. We have to make sure we do not do anything to… I have seen some people talk about having a shortened spring and a shortened fall of 2021 and I would not be in favor of that. I want to see us keep 2021 secure and do the best we can within the other parameters to create a good scenario for this winter or spring.
Q. On what the 12 hours means…
ALLEN: That is a great question. So, basically if we were playing a normal season right now, we would be under the 20-hour rule. Within a week's time period, you have literally 20 hours that your players can be with you in the facility in meetings, in practices, walk-throughs, lifting weights, running, film study and all of those different things have to equate to 20 hours or less in a given week. You also cannot go over four hours in a given day. That is pretty standard procedure across the year. So now, the teams that are not in competition, they [the NCAA] gave us 12 hours to work with. Within that 12 hours, we have everything I just mentioned. We will not have our normal two-to-three-hour practices mixed in there and even the games count. Usually when it is a lesser week like that in the offseason, we have eight hours in a traditional offseason week with two days off. Now with the 12 hours, it is still two days off that you have to have, but in a five-day window we can have 12 hours with our team doing football-related activities.
Head Coach Tom Allen
Q. On the potential of a winter or spring season…
ALLEN: This is not truly an offseason mentality, but this is just a unique time period that we have not had in the past. There are obviously conversations going on about the possibilities of what the future would look like. There are still, as you mentioned, a lot of things that are very fluid and a lot of things that we do not know. That is why I tried not to get into that game with our players. There are obviously a lot of things that can change between now and a month from now. That is definitely going to have a variable effect on what happens moving forward. I think from our players perspective, and as I have met with our guys, met with our players, coaches and everyone that is a part of our program, it is what do we know and what can we control? As you look at all of the different plans that are out there, obviously there is playing anywhere from January to February, March, April, or however that may look. That window of time obviously has a lot of different pros and cons to it. People in the Big Ten are going to be making those decisions, bur from our players perspective, they have no control over that. I know I keep saying that, but it is so very true. There have been some questions, because obviously the future effects certain players on our team with guys that are in their final year of eligibility and the variables involved with that. The NCAA is in the process but has not gotten those things finalized yet. They are in the process of going through and evaluating what that looks like. We will know more about that probably in the next week or so. The bottom line is, we can all benefit from these next several months of developing our bodies, getting our minds sharper and getting our skills sharper so we can be a better football team when we take the field.
Q. On the importance of the weight room over the next few months…
ALLEN: This is a very, very important period. So, 12 hours is the number they [the NCAA] have given us for conferences that are not playing in the fall. That includes weight training, conditioning, running, meeting time and some skill work. We have some parameters we can work with and certain things we cannot do, but there are several things we can do that is more than a normal offseason. Everything has to work within that 12 hours per week. We have two off days, which will usually be Saturday and Sunday. We really feel very good about the plan. We were not exactly sure how the hours were going to be assigned, but we got some clarity on that yesterday and how that is going to look. The bottom line is, there will be a heavy emphasis on the weight room for us with sprinkled in skill development, technique development and film study to be able to keep the program moving forward and to keep our guys growing and developing each and every week.
Q. On a return-to-play plan that makes the most sense…
ALLEN: I try to work off of principles and think there are three things that need to be accomplished in order for us to make a certain decision, it does not matter what it is. The three things that I have set up that I think are critical is number one: it has to be, no matter what time it is, is it safe for our players to come back and play? What has changed? What standards are we able to meet now that we have not met in the past that kept us from playing? From a health and safety perspective, we have to make sure that we have all of those things answered from a testing perspective, contact tracing and all of the different issues that were brought up to cause us to be delayed. Number two, there has to be a quality experience for our guys. Whatever window we feel is best, we need to have a quality season that can be a quality experience and allow our players to feel that this is a great thing to do and be a part of. Number three, I do not want to see us negatively impact the 2021 season. I think that is a big variable involved to make sure we are not putting too much of a workload on the body. That is where the later this goes, the less I feel good about it. We have to make sure we do not do anything to… I have seen some people talk about having a shortened spring and a shortened fall of 2021 and I would not be in favor of that. I want to see us keep 2021 secure and do the best we can within the other parameters to create a good scenario for this winter or spring.
Q. On what the 12 hours means…
ALLEN: That is a great question. So, basically if we were playing a normal season right now, we would be under the 20-hour rule. Within a week's time period, you have literally 20 hours that your players can be with you in the facility in meetings, in practices, walk-throughs, lifting weights, running, film study and all of those different things have to equate to 20 hours or less in a given week. You also cannot go over four hours in a given day. That is pretty standard procedure across the year. So now, the teams that are not in competition, they [the NCAA] gave us 12 hours to work with. Within that 12 hours, we have everything I just mentioned. We will not have our normal two-to-three-hour practices mixed in there and even the games count. Usually when it is a lesser week like that in the offseason, we have eight hours in a traditional offseason week with two days off. Now with the 12 hours, it is still two days off that you have to have, but in a five-day window we can have 12 hours with our team doing football-related activities.
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