DIPRIMIO NOTEBOOK: Team Matters

By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – NFL scouts and officials arrived at the Mellencamp Pavilion and Tom Allen had something to share.

Yes, ex-Hoosiers Henry Crider, Jamar Johnson, Jerome Johnson, Whop Philyor, Stevie Scott III, Jovan Swann, and Haydon Whitehead were ready to rock Indiana's Pro Day, but Allen had a bigger-picture point to make.

Last season's 6-2 record is a gift that keeps on giving.

"These guys came here, and they believed in the vision for what we could become at Indiana," Allen says. "They helped create that vision on the field. It's a really special group of guys."

Every NFL team sent a representative to IU's recent Pro Day. That once would never have happened. It reflected elevated recruiting, player development, and program reputation.

"That was awesome," Allen says. "Just a great day for our guys. They came in well prepared."

Lifting, running, and jumping with a pro opportunity -- it's no cliché to call it a lifetime dream -- at stake ratcheted up the pressure. You get one day, a few hours, to impress.

Impress these ex-Hoosiers did.

"The way you perform in that moment, there's so much that goes into it," Allen says. "People sometimes don't quite get how much stress those guys feel on that day to perform."

They made their physical cases for NFL worthiness, and their efforts delivered impressive numbers.

Crider, a center, bench pressed 225 pounds 31 times. Swann, a defensive tackle, did it 34 times ("Maybe more than some might have thought," Allen says). Johnson, a safety, had a 35-inch vertical jump. Scott, a running back, and Philyor, a receiver, made their marks.

"I wasn't surprised by that at all," Allen says. "Stevie is a big, strong guy and he showed that. Jamar showed that. And Whop. He's not a big guy, but even a couple scouts commented to me about his fitness was different than they anticipated."

The pandemic, which limited in-person recruiting for college coaches, also impacted NFL scouting. Teams weren't able to visit prospects or schools. Many didn't realize how good IU players were.

They do now.

"You got to think, they haven't seen our guys," Allen says. "They haven't had the chance to see our guys develop."

The 40-yard dash is the gold standard of speed tests. Scouts love them, but they don't always show true football speed as well as drills do, Allen suggests.

"Everybody makes such a big deal about the 40 times. It's big. I understand all that. But there's a football speed that a lot of our guys have.

"We don't have a guy that just sticks out as a high-end burner. We have football players. (Our guys) looked so much quicker when they were doing their drill work. (Scouts) felt the 40-time didn't reflect that.

"It's called football speed. And that's a critical thing that our guys have. The ability to react quickly and make plays in space, create space for yourself offensively."
Beyond numbers, appearance matters. Rarely does greatness come by looking bad. These Hoosiers looked the part.

"Stevie is a big back and he's lean," Allen says. "I thought he looked great physically. You can see how hard he worked. They all did. I thought they all looked really good and gained some good, lean muscle mass between the end of the season until now."

Allen praises the routes Philyor ran, the pass breakups Johnson made, and the fundamentals Crider and Swann displayed.

"As a group, they did a lot of good things and helped their stock," Allen says. "They were able to show who they are."

That's especially important, Allen adds, because the NFL Combine has been canceled due to the pandemic.

"It was really critical they had a chance to do that. It was a good day for our guys and a great way to showcase a very talented group of guys."

*****

"Making the most of spring practice has been big. Duplicating that until fall camp begins might be even bigger," Allen says.

"It is a critical time for us and we have to maximize it. The 2021 football team will be indicative of how well we maximize this current time."

Allen and his staff have devised a plan. Because coaches will have limited off-season access per NCAA rules, players and the strength staff will share the burden.

"What does the rest of April, May, June, and July look like?" Allen asks. "It will define what this team becomes.

"You think about all the time you spend together during spring practices, all the work, all the drills, and they have to take those things and apply them when we cannot work with them. Our strength staff will be with them a lot and we can be with them some.

"As the team develops, as the team grows, as the leadership component gets put into hyper-drive, we will have workouts that are senior led. The guys will have to take ownership of that part of it during these different periods. Player-led practices that you can do over the summer when coaches cannot be there, basically, as the rules go, the coaches cannot be there. We follow whatever those rules are."

Allen is fine with that because it develops player accountability and leadership.

"It allows players to own and personalize all of the things that we are doing. We have strong leadership on this team and we need to see that leadership continue to grow and develop."

Allen likes the progress he's seen this spring, just as he did during the eight-week winter conditioning phase.

"We talk about the cumulative effect of our physical and mental preparation, which ultimately leads to the cumulative effect of our physical and mental toughness throughout a game. We are building that right now. We will be building that through the next several months."

*****

Allen also mentions former Hoosier player Chris Beaty, who was tragically killed last summer. Beaty's impact on the program, and his hometown of Indianapolis, is honored by a new Beaty Walk-On Player of the Year award.

"He loved Indiana," Allen says. "He loved Indiana football. He loved people. He was a very caring, passionate person toward the things that he valued in his life.

"He was so selfless. I have said it before and I will say it again, he lived out LEO (Love Each Other) as a person."

Allen coached against Beaty in high school, when Allen was the defensive coordinator at Ben Davis, and Beaty starred at Indianapolis Cathedral.

"He is a special person to the program and to the University," Allen says. "I wanted to honor him with an award named after him. He came here as a walk-on, earned his opportunity here, earned his respect, and continued to grow as he graduated from Indiana and then became an unbelievable supporter of our program from Indianapolis and everything he did for that community. I do not ever want him to be forgotten. He is a special, special person that we always want to honor."

Players Mentioned

Jamar Johnson

Jerome Johnson

Whop Philyor

Stevie Scott III

Jovan Swann

Haydon Whitehead

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