‘Block Destruction’ -- Wilt Pushes Conversation Over Dictatorship
4/6/2022 10:30:00 AM | Football
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Chad Wilt is at Indiana doing what he's always done, and what he never has.
That might make all the difference.
Wilt's responsibility as new defensive coordinator includes coaching linebackers, a big change given he's only coached defensive line.
Oh, he's also never been a defensive coordinator before.
Is that a problem?
Not a chance.
"I am not in a place where I am a fish out of water, so to speak," he says. "I am not coaching the receivers. That would be a very different role. I am still staying in the front seven."
For those unfamiliar with football terminology, the front seven is defensive linemen and linebackers.
Ultimately, according to Wilt, it comes down to "block destructions." It's about blowing up blocks, which blows up offenses, which gets the defense off the field and IU's offense back on it.
"You talk about run fits and understanding those concepts," Wilt says. "You talk about block destructions, which is tackling with your hands, elbows in and thumbs up, getting your shock to lock-outs, clearing off of blocks. Guys understand that. They understand blocking scheme and how they fit."
If that seems confusing, well, the players get it.
"He brings a lot of terminology I have never heard," says linebacker Jared Casey, a Kentucky transfer. "I have learned a lot from him."
Adds University of Miami transfer Bradley Jennings Jr: "He is very intense and very passionate. He comes with that passion every day."
Welcome to head coach coach Tom Allen's restore-the-winning plan, which includes returning the defense to its takeaway-and-attack roots. Both were missing last season.
Allen will resume calling defensive plays as he did when he was the defensive coordinator. He will take on a larger defensive coaching role, but not all of it.
Enter Wilt, whose two decades of defensive coaching include stops at Virginia, Ball State, Cincinnati, Maryland, and Minnesota.
Allen says he and Wilt are "really aligned in the motivational and leadership piece." They are on the same page as far as "cultural expectations, with how we practice and the things we emphasize with takeaways, tackling, and effort. That doesn't change, but the organizational part of that is where Chad comes into play."
Wilt devises tackling drills and takeaway drills and all the practice details Allen doesn't have time for.
"He has added some really good things to those," Allen says. "Scripting everything is a big part of his role."
Wilt will blend returning starting linebacker Cam Jones with transfers Casey and Jennings Jr. and more.
"I think we are making some great progress and we have good older kids and good leadership," Wilt says. "Guys that have been around a bunch."
With Jennings Jr., he adds that, "He played real football at Miami. They understand football."
Wilt understands that my-way-or-the-highway coaching doesn't work with 21st Century players.
"I never felt walking into the meeting room that it was a lecture and that I was the dictator. I have always believed that you walk into that meeting room, and it is conversations. That is how guys really learn today.
"The attention span is so much shorter that you have to involve them in the conversations. To have those older guys that have played a lot of football, we can have some great conversations: 'What did you see here?' or 'Why did you play it that way?' Really talk through things more than just lecturing at them."
That fits Jennings Jr. and Casey, who figure to have prominent roles next season.
In 39 games at Miami, including 11 starts, Jennings had 68 tackles three sacks, one fumble recovery, and one pass breakup.
In two seasons at Kentucky, Casey had 29 tackles.
"Those guys walked into the room, and they have been humble," Wilt says. "They haven't attempted to prove anything; they have just said 'Let's go to work. Be hungry and go to work.'"
Attitude, in so many ways at this level, often supersedes talent.
"You look at (Jennings) and (Casey)," Wilt says, "they come in with the right mindset and right approach.
"When you are hungry, you can go to work and work on improving. You don't think you know it all. Both those guys come in with that perspective."
Beyond that, Wilt says, "They bring experience. They can take things they've seen; they can take things that they've been taught or coached, and we can blend it all together to make it the best for where we are."
Wilt mentions a February film session when Casey pointed out how Kentucky taught something a different way, and when Jennings used a phrase about a blocking scheme off a tight end that Wilt had never heard before.
"It's going back to conversations and dialogues," he says. "They bring different perspectives. We put it all together and make it ours. We make it the best we need it to be."
This is exactly what Casey signed up for.
"(The transition) hasn't been too difficult because I'm not coming in as a freshman. I have (college experience) under my belt.
"It's good being coached by a new coach. It can be good to have a change of scenery, and a change of everything. It brings an extra chip on your shoulder. It's motivating."
As for what it will all mean for the defense, Allen says, "I like where it is. Chad is doing a great job and has great energy. We have a standard of how we want to practice and how we want to play, and he is doing a great job of helping us get it back to where I know it needs to be."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Chad Wilt is at Indiana doing what he's always done, and what he never has.
That might make all the difference.
Wilt's responsibility as new defensive coordinator includes coaching linebackers, a big change given he's only coached defensive line.
Oh, he's also never been a defensive coordinator before.
Is that a problem?
Not a chance.
"I am not in a place where I am a fish out of water, so to speak," he says. "I am not coaching the receivers. That would be a very different role. I am still staying in the front seven."
For those unfamiliar with football terminology, the front seven is defensive linemen and linebackers.
Ultimately, according to Wilt, it comes down to "block destructions." It's about blowing up blocks, which blows up offenses, which gets the defense off the field and IU's offense back on it.
"You talk about run fits and understanding those concepts," Wilt says. "You talk about block destructions, which is tackling with your hands, elbows in and thumbs up, getting your shock to lock-outs, clearing off of blocks. Guys understand that. They understand blocking scheme and how they fit."
If that seems confusing, well, the players get it.
"He brings a lot of terminology I have never heard," says linebacker Jared Casey, a Kentucky transfer. "I have learned a lot from him."
Adds University of Miami transfer Bradley Jennings Jr: "He is very intense and very passionate. He comes with that passion every day."
Welcome to head coach coach Tom Allen's restore-the-winning plan, which includes returning the defense to its takeaway-and-attack roots. Both were missing last season.
Allen will resume calling defensive plays as he did when he was the defensive coordinator. He will take on a larger defensive coaching role, but not all of it.
Enter Wilt, whose two decades of defensive coaching include stops at Virginia, Ball State, Cincinnati, Maryland, and Minnesota.
Allen says he and Wilt are "really aligned in the motivational and leadership piece." They are on the same page as far as "cultural expectations, with how we practice and the things we emphasize with takeaways, tackling, and effort. That doesn't change, but the organizational part of that is where Chad comes into play."
Wilt devises tackling drills and takeaway drills and all the practice details Allen doesn't have time for.
"He has added some really good things to those," Allen says. "Scripting everything is a big part of his role."
Wilt will blend returning starting linebacker Cam Jones with transfers Casey and Jennings Jr. and more.
"I think we are making some great progress and we have good older kids and good leadership," Wilt says. "Guys that have been around a bunch."
With Jennings Jr., he adds that, "He played real football at Miami. They understand football."
Wilt understands that my-way-or-the-highway coaching doesn't work with 21st Century players.
"I never felt walking into the meeting room that it was a lecture and that I was the dictator. I have always believed that you walk into that meeting room, and it is conversations. That is how guys really learn today.
"The attention span is so much shorter that you have to involve them in the conversations. To have those older guys that have played a lot of football, we can have some great conversations: 'What did you see here?' or 'Why did you play it that way?' Really talk through things more than just lecturing at them."
That fits Jennings Jr. and Casey, who figure to have prominent roles next season.
In 39 games at Miami, including 11 starts, Jennings had 68 tackles three sacks, one fumble recovery, and one pass breakup.
In two seasons at Kentucky, Casey had 29 tackles.
"Those guys walked into the room, and they have been humble," Wilt says. "They haven't attempted to prove anything; they have just said 'Let's go to work. Be hungry and go to work.'"
Attitude, in so many ways at this level, often supersedes talent.
"You look at (Jennings) and (Casey)," Wilt says, "they come in with the right mindset and right approach.
"When you are hungry, you can go to work and work on improving. You don't think you know it all. Both those guys come in with that perspective."
Beyond that, Wilt says, "They bring experience. They can take things they've seen; they can take things that they've been taught or coached, and we can blend it all together to make it the best for where we are."
Wilt mentions a February film session when Casey pointed out how Kentucky taught something a different way, and when Jennings used a phrase about a blocking scheme off a tight end that Wilt had never heard before.
"It's going back to conversations and dialogues," he says. "They bring different perspectives. We put it all together and make it ours. We make it the best we need it to be."
This is exactly what Casey signed up for.
"(The transition) hasn't been too difficult because I'm not coming in as a freshman. I have (college experience) under my belt.
"It's good being coached by a new coach. It can be good to have a change of scenery, and a change of everything. It brings an extra chip on your shoulder. It's motivating."
As for what it will all mean for the defense, Allen says, "I like where it is. Chad is doing a great job and has great energy. We have a standard of how we want to practice and how we want to play, and he is doing a great job of helping us get it back to where I know it needs to be."
Players Mentioned
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