For Raheem Layne, Why Not Make IU Football History?
8/19/2021 9:10:00 AM | Football
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – History was there for the taking, and Raheem Layne took it.
Indiana's redshirt senior safety saw opportunity where some saw, well, nothing.
For the record, it's not nothing.
It's zero – as in the uniform number.
"I wanted to be the first person in IU program history to wear the number zero on the field," Layne says.
He'll likely get that honor, but not by much given true freshman quarterback Donaven McCulley also wears No. 0.
How big a deal is zero?
For starters, there's a superhero TV series called "Zero."
Imagine Dragons turned "Zero" into a hit song.
Or, if dictionaries rock your world, zero is the "absence of a measurable quantity."
For Layne, it's a chance to go where no Hoosier has gone before, with coach Tom Allen's blessing.
For more than 100 years, the NCAA ruled that zero was not a legal number. But in this era of change zero finally got its shot.
Layne is taking full advantage.
"When I saw the news (that the NCAA had made zero a legal number), I thought it was fake at first. Then I had a talk with Coach Allen, and he said, 'That is a number you deserve.'
"He helped make that come true. On Sept. 4, we are going to put it on."
In case you've forgotten, Sept. 4 is the season opener at Iowa.
Even without the uniform number, Layne is set to have a difference-making season. He has transitioned from cornerback to safety, which means finesse gives way to physicality given safeties have bigger run-support responsibilities.
Layne says he's ready for it.
"I take pride in being a physical player, so when it comes to the running game, that is me anyway. I love doing that."
The 6-1, 200-pound Layne didn't play last season because of injury, although the move to safety had already begun. Plenty of experience (82 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, 1 forced fumble, 37 career games) and success (IU's 2019 special teams player of the year; the program's 2017 defensive newcomer of the year) eased the transition. So did the fact safeties and cornerbacks practice together.
"I had a smooth transition," Layne says. "The coaching staff helped me a lot.
"The corners and safeties are really like one unit. There's a lot of cross over.
"A couple of things changed. I need to be more vocal since I am the safety, and I am the quarterback out there in the secondary. I need to be more vocal, which is the biggest difference between corner and safety."
Adds senior safety Devon Matthews: "Raheem adjusted very well. The cornerbacks and safeties work together, so that really wasn't a hard switch for him.
"We just have to keep practicing our stuff, and we will be good."
Layne has made significant strides since the spring, safeties coach Jason Jones says.
"He has grown and matured at becoming a safety. He's more vocal. That was a challenge when we left spring was for him to be more vocal, line up, and communicate to the guys that are on his side of the field. He has done that.
"He was a physical corner, so we moved him to safety. He's still coming down and being physical, but he brings the cover schemes. The skills he had as a cover guy at corner, now we have that at safety.
"We have to continue to focus on the man technique in the times we ask him to play man-to-man.
"The one thing he's still working on is when he's at safety, you're involved in the run a lot more. Now it's about getting his run keys and knowing where to fit. He's working hard. He's studying film and coming in extra. He's doing a good job."
Layne and Matthews are part of a deep safety group that gives Jones plenty of options.
"We're always evaluating," Jones says. "Having the depth and the competition is always good. Having the competition makes everyone better.
"The depth charts are not set. We have moved some guys around, trying to get the best guys on the field. If a guy is performing well with one group, we'll reward him and move him up to the next group to see how he handles it. Nothing is set in stone. There's still competition and the guys are competing."
What are the Hoosiers -- ranked No. 17 in both major preseason polls -- competing for? You don't have to ask, Matthews says.
"You already know that answer. It's a Big Ten championship. That is our goal. That is what we have in our minds and it is going to stay that way."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – History was there for the taking, and Raheem Layne took it.
Indiana's redshirt senior safety saw opportunity where some saw, well, nothing.
For the record, it's not nothing.
It's zero – as in the uniform number.
"I wanted to be the first person in IU program history to wear the number zero on the field," Layne says.
He'll likely get that honor, but not by much given true freshman quarterback Donaven McCulley also wears No. 0.
How big a deal is zero?
For starters, there's a superhero TV series called "Zero."
Imagine Dragons turned "Zero" into a hit song.
Or, if dictionaries rock your world, zero is the "absence of a measurable quantity."
For Layne, it's a chance to go where no Hoosier has gone before, with coach Tom Allen's blessing.
For more than 100 years, the NCAA ruled that zero was not a legal number. But in this era of change zero finally got its shot.
Layne is taking full advantage.
"When I saw the news (that the NCAA had made zero a legal number), I thought it was fake at first. Then I had a talk with Coach Allen, and he said, 'That is a number you deserve.'
"He helped make that come true. On Sept. 4, we are going to put it on."
In case you've forgotten, Sept. 4 is the season opener at Iowa.
Even without the uniform number, Layne is set to have a difference-making season. He has transitioned from cornerback to safety, which means finesse gives way to physicality given safeties have bigger run-support responsibilities.
Layne says he's ready for it.
"I take pride in being a physical player, so when it comes to the running game, that is me anyway. I love doing that."
The 6-1, 200-pound Layne didn't play last season because of injury, although the move to safety had already begun. Plenty of experience (82 tackles, 1 fumble recovery, 1 forced fumble, 37 career games) and success (IU's 2019 special teams player of the year; the program's 2017 defensive newcomer of the year) eased the transition. So did the fact safeties and cornerbacks practice together.
"I had a smooth transition," Layne says. "The coaching staff helped me a lot.
"The corners and safeties are really like one unit. There's a lot of cross over.
"A couple of things changed. I need to be more vocal since I am the safety, and I am the quarterback out there in the secondary. I need to be more vocal, which is the biggest difference between corner and safety."
Adds senior safety Devon Matthews: "Raheem adjusted very well. The cornerbacks and safeties work together, so that really wasn't a hard switch for him.
"We just have to keep practicing our stuff, and we will be good."
Layne has made significant strides since the spring, safeties coach Jason Jones says.
"He has grown and matured at becoming a safety. He's more vocal. That was a challenge when we left spring was for him to be more vocal, line up, and communicate to the guys that are on his side of the field. He has done that.
"He was a physical corner, so we moved him to safety. He's still coming down and being physical, but he brings the cover schemes. The skills he had as a cover guy at corner, now we have that at safety.
"We have to continue to focus on the man technique in the times we ask him to play man-to-man.
"The one thing he's still working on is when he's at safety, you're involved in the run a lot more. Now it's about getting his run keys and knowing where to fit. He's working hard. He's studying film and coming in extra. He's doing a good job."
Layne and Matthews are part of a deep safety group that gives Jones plenty of options.
"We're always evaluating," Jones says. "Having the depth and the competition is always good. Having the competition makes everyone better.
"The depth charts are not set. We have moved some guys around, trying to get the best guys on the field. If a guy is performing well with one group, we'll reward him and move him up to the next group to see how he handles it. Nothing is set in stone. There's still competition and the guys are competing."
What are the Hoosiers -- ranked No. 17 in both major preseason polls -- competing for? You don't have to ask, Matthews says.
"You already know that answer. It's a Big Ten championship. That is our goal. That is what we have in our minds and it is going to stay that way."
Players Mentioned
FB: Fernando Mendoza - Illinois Postgame Press Conference (09/20/25)
Sunday, September 21
FB: D’Angelo Ponds - Illinois Postgame Press Conference (09/20/25)
Sunday, September 21
FB: Week 4 (vs. Illinois) - Curt Cignett Post Game Press Conference
Saturday, September 20
FB: Inside IU Football with Curt Cignetti - Week 4 (Illinois)
Thursday, September 18