Spring Practice Report 4/1/21 – Kasey Teegardin & Charles Campbell

Below are partial transcriptions of Zoom press conferences with Indiana special teams coordinator/outside linebackers coach Kasey Teegardin and kicker Charles Campbell on Thursday, April 1.

Special Teams Coordinator/Outside Linbackers Kasey Teegardin
Q. On James Evans and D.J. Matthews…
TEEGARDIN: James is doing a great job. He is taking everything day by day right now. It's interesting when you get a guy like that. The first time he ever wore pads was practice three. You kind of take it for granted. The dude is out there, taking his helmet off before he even gets off the field. You have to tell him, that is a penalty. He is very raw. He is new to a lot of this. We are having to take him day by day, step by step. He is learning a ton. This spring is so important and valuable to get him to mid-year is a huge deal. You don't have a lot of time, if he is going to be the guy day one at Iowa. You can't take time to, hey man you can't take your helmet off before you are off the field. He is tying his shoe and coach is calling an emergency put. I love when Coach Allen does that, to keep everyone on their heels in the flow of the game and James is out there tying his shoe. You don't have time to tie your shoe. The play clock is running. It has been a learning curve for him, but he has taken everything in stride. He is a tremendous young man. He is mature for his age. He is 19. He comes in and has a big leg and we expect a lot out of him. D.J. has been phenomenal. I think we had two really good punt returners last year, too. We had Reese and Whop kind of battle it out. Reese won the job and was All-Big Ten and did a good job for us. D.J. has a wealth of experience and it is great to have those two battle it out. I think D.J. can help us at gunner as well with crimson watch, our punt unit, running down the field, very similar to what Whop did versus Wisconsin. You get a guy that has good ball skills and you can get a goal punt to hang up there and on the one that is a game changing type of play for us. These guys are going to bring a ton of, more so experience from D.J.'s perspective, but James will bring us another leg and weapon, and it's a big one.

On what can be improved on for special teams…
TEEGARDIN: Development. It is development, development, development. We are very heavy fundamentals and technique right now and that is across the board. I think our punt team was one of the best in the country. Efficiency wise we were very good. We want to build off that. I want to develop depth. I've taken the 1s at times and made them the look team and made them work against the 2s and 3s, and coaching up other players. Iron sharpens iron. That has been the main focus for us. The other part of it is our kick return game. We didn't have a lot of opportunities last year. Technically, statistically we were a little better than we were two years ago. We returned six or seven kicks last year, that was it, opportunity wise. You get Dave back. He is a little different back there, the vision he has, comfortability and scheme makes a difference. The techniques and fundamentals, a few scheme adjustments here and there, especially on crimson watch and kickoff return and punt and kickoff return. Not much. It's getting the depth of the players, the younger guys, bringing them along and executing at a higher level.

Q. On coaching the bull position…
TEEGARDIN: It is a lot of meeting time amongst the coaches and the staff. We do a good job, I'll always get with Coach Peoples and talk about individual. We have a phenomenal defensive GA, Ben Black, and I have the most trust in him and I can give him the bulls and he can work some techniques with those guys. I think he does a phenomenal job. We had to do that in the season last year when I started coaching those guys. Between us, we will divvy that stuff up between the three of us. Also, I'm very comfortable, I'll take the huskies and send them with Coach Jones. He has been in this defense and he knows what the huskies are supposed to do. I could give him the huskies at times and focus on the bulls or I'll give the bulls to Coach Peoples or Coach Black and focus on the huskies. It is a lot of meeting time and we will divvy up the individual that way. I think where I struggle the most is practice because they are on the opposite sides of the field. It is very similar how Coach Shelby, Coach Shelby has one corner on one side of the field and one corner on the other. It is hard to see both. You are trying to keep your eyes and focus based on what the call is, if it's scripted, where you think the point of attack is going to be. The key thing is getting those guys coached up off the field if you can't get it on the field. There is a lot of coaching going on every single play. The bulls have been awesome and taking everything in stride. It is exciting to see the development of them and within the scheme of the defense we are doing.

K Charles Campbell
Q: On introducing James Evans to America and what that has been like…
CAMPBELL: I think James is transitioning very well. All of the specialists have really taken him in and kind of put him under our wing a little bit. We try to show him around campus. He is doing really well in practice, so I am proud of him.

Q: On what you have been working on in spring practice…
CAMPBELL: Personally, I have been working on my field-goal height and accuracy from distance. But I feel the most important piece that I have been working on in spring ball is breaking in our new holder Chase Wyatt. I have been getting a lot of reps with him trying to get that togetherness down.

Q: On what the biggest adjustment is for you with a new holder …
CAMPBELL: The biggest transition would probably be timing. Chase and I are roommates, so we are very close. We normally work a lot together over the summer, so it is just getting in those live reps and getting under pressure with Chase to see if he does well, which he has done really well. That is probably about it. Everything is going very smoothly.

Spring Practice Report 4/1/21 – Kasey Teegardin & Charles Campbell

Players Mentioned

Charles Campbell

James Evans

D.J. Matthews Jr.

Chase Wyatt

Indiana University Athletics