Indiana University Athletics
Media Monday: Illinois
8/29/2022 3:00:00 PM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The first game week has arrived, as Illinois is slated to come to Memorial Stadium for an 8 p.m. kickoff on FS1 Friday (September 2). Indiana football head coach Tom Allen, coordinators Walt Bell and Chad Wilt, and director of athletics Scott Dolson each addressed the media inside Henke Hall of Champions on Monday (August 29).
Below is a transcript of the Tom Allen and Scott Dolson press conferences, while video of the full media sessions can be found on the right sidebar at IUHoosiers.com.
Tom Allen | Head Coach
Opening Statement
TA: Good afternoon. We're back. Another season is here. We do have a unique opportunity to open our season with a team that has played and we did not, so last weekend got to see Illinois play, like everybody else did, but just impressed with what Coach Bielema has done there in the short time he's been there, immediate impact, even last season, and they had seven games that were one-possession games, so many close opportunities there.
Just physical football, what kind of sticks out to me, the way they play defense, the way they run the football offensively and a lot of respect and the job he's done there and the team he has.
Have a chance to welcome them here to Bloomington to open our season and open up Big Ten play. When I think about their offense, obviously their running back Chase Brown is special. Great season last year and showed it again on Saturday. Big, physical offensive line, and new quarterback in Tommy DeVito that really seems to be a great fit for what they're doing schematically, and Isaiah Williams is a very, very talented receiver. I really like their tight ends. And they had a lot of receivers, a bunch of guys who caught the ball Saturday, so that gives you a lot of things to defend.
New system that they obviously didn't have to show a lot on Saturday, but we'll have to be prepared for a lot of things that we don't know about yet.
Then defensively, Coach Walter has done a tremendous job turning the defense a year ago and has continued. A lot of guys back from that group, good length in the secondary. Just really impressed. The Brown twins, one on offense, one on defense, really good football players, physical, athletic, and very, very active.
So just impressed with their linebackers, physical D-line. They make it tough on you up front and try to keep the ball in front of them. Good system on both sides of the ball. Good special teams, as well. They got a new punter, had a really talented one a year ago and got another good one and started the game with a big kickoff return. Strong on special teams, as well.
Big Ten football, it's what you expect. Really good football teams every single week, and a tremendous challenge, great opportunity. Excited for our players to open our season.
Tired of hitting each other. It's been a long fall camp, a little bit longer than normal because of the new format, but guys have been busting their tails and doing a tremendous job of buying in and got some new faces and excited to see these guys come together and play and doing it in front of our fans opening night on September 2nd.
Questions?
On how he has dealt with the uncertainties of the season entering game one…
TA: Yeah, I would say probably the highest number of new faces, without question, that will be playing opening night with such a high-caliber opponent and not having any preseason games or anything other than our scrimmages. So yeah, a lot of unknowns.
I think that that can be exciting but also can be challenging. But I think that's what you've got to do, and that's where we're at, and that's in front of us. Yeah, I'm excited. I'm excited for our kids to play.
But yeah, there's things you don't know for sure. A lot of different positions, some new faces there, and I'm excited for those guys that will be in those roles, and anxious to be able to see our guys go out there and compete and play in front of our home fans and our home stadium.
I just think it definitely creates a lot more anxiety for the coaches, but at the same time a lot of excitement, and I can't wait. I wish we were playing tomorrow.
On injuries during fall camp and the starting quarterback reps…
TA: Yeah, I would say first part, relatively healthy. I'm not going to say we're going to have every single person that we hoped to have, but I would say it's going to be a high percent. Different than a year ago for sure. That's been a real focus, that balance of being physical and being able to prepare ourselves, but also keep our guys healthy.
Today was a very physical practice, full pads, a workday, Tuesday for us on our game week prep mode, and so full pads and really physical today, which is awesome. I love that, but also you try to balance the two guys of that, as well. I feel good about the health of our team at this point.
So, we've had a chance to be able to last week have practices with our -- the starting quarterback in place, and then obviously again today, and we will the rest of the week. It's been really super positive. It's been great to be able to have those kinds of reps and have that kind of flow.
I'm anxious to see those guys go out there and compete on Friday night.
On opening with a Big Ten opponent…
TA: Yeah, you know, I would say that -- the one part there is probably the biggest piece, and we've got no control over it. I'm one of those guys I try not to dwell on the things I can't change.
But I think just from being in this profession for 30 years, you always feel a little better if you have a preseason game to go through, whether it's a preseason scrimmage which we used to always have in high school, or when I was at the smaller levels in college, we always had a scrimmage that we would go and play against another team. It felt like a real game, but it just didn't count. We always had those and that was always nice, and you felt a whole lot better going into week one with that.
There's no question, there's always kind of a desire, if you could just pick a perfect scenario you'd like to just continue to grow with your group. But that's not how it is. You just look back and you don't focus on that. We really, truly don't. I'm being very transparent with you.
But I think there are definitely advantages to opening with such a high-caliber opponent and a conference opponent. There's no doubt that that creates so much positivity towards your program in so many different ways.
So that's what I really like, and that's what we embrace and that's what we focus on. You've just got to just work through those kinks in the first quarter and second quarter rather than working through them in the previous week.
On if he approaches a Big Ten game differently than he would a non-conference season opener…
TA: You know what, I don't know other than the fact that we've really been working hard to create the preseason feel in practices, the game-like feel. When I say preseason, I'm talking about a preseason game.
Even in today's practice, just the physicality of it all, you're just trying to simulate those things that you get from a game situation, and going into the stadium and being under the lights like we did last Friday night, which was really, really important to do. Just going through all that to me to try and just kind of create that situation for your team and from a mental perspective, from a physical perspective.
As a matter of fact, we did some mock games with our staff just to be able to simulate the time and the decision making and the data that we collect because we've got new faces, new guys in different spots. Even as simple as -- I know people don't think about this, but we've got four brand-new GAs, because all four of our guys from last year's staff all got full-time jobs, which is awesome for them, but new faces for us, so those guys are guys on game day that we count on heavily.
Just the guys in the press box and working through all that, we've done that. Yeah, I think there's no question you try to do all those different things, but nothing is like playing a real game. I get that. But you do everything possible to get as close as you can.
On when he knew he had a special person in Cam Jones…
TA: Well, there's no question. I always think back on -- you do this long enough, you know a lot of young men that you coach, and gosh, I don't know if I've ever been around a more genuine individual that just cares about people, cares about his teammates, cares about his family, wears that heavily on himself. He's just selfless.
I guess to me, it's just -- the first person that noticed it, brought it up to me was Coach Wellman, so this was even a year ago.
In between our special teams work and different drill work, but he's obviously part of all that stuff, he's getting all the equipment off the field to help the managers. Most players are either getting water or totally just focused on something totally different, and we're talking like the real big heavy bags, things that take effort.
It's just like -- I never paid attention to it because I was getting ready for something else, too, but it was just like -- he's just so selfless. It doesn't matter what it is, something so small like that that nobody would ever notice and the way he leads this team and how much he cares and all the times we've spent together. He's just an other-focus person.
He's a tremendously talented athlete, but he's going to be great in whatever he does, in football, outside of football. I'm just so proud of him and so excited for him to be a guy that he's going to be voted I'm sure here a three-time captain, which hasn't happened here very often. It's pretty special, and he's a special young man.
On if anyone jumped up the depth chart during fall camp…
TA: Yeah, I think there are some guys that have come along. I think Brylan Lanier is a young man that has really stepped up, and he comes here new and doesn't have a chance to have a spring with us and so gets thrown into a lot of things in a short amount of time, and I think he's really elevated his play in a huge way, which is really important for us.
I think Josh Sanguinetti is another one who just continues to get better. Even today, just thinking about watching him out there moving around and finishing tackles and being able to be in position to do that. He's a guy who's obviously been with us, but he needs to step up, needs to elevate himself.
I think in the receivers room, Andison Coby is another one that continues to just really flash for us, and excited for him and his opportunity he's been given in our program, and I think also James Bomba is a guy that continues -- thought even today some things he did from a physical perspective were impressive. I know he cares so much and has a tremendous work ethic and toughness.
Guys like that to me have really elevated themselves.
I think Kahlil Benson is another one that has really started to come on. I think he needed to have a tremendous summer; he had a phenomenal summer. It's always amazing how that's usually a precursor to a great fall camp, the way they approach the summer and the mindset that he had and the workouts and the way he was doing things like that, and that's a guy we needed on the offensive line to really step up and help us and be the kind of player we knew he could be.
Several others, but those are the ones that jump out to me at first.
On if he has a feel for the character of the team this season…
TA: Yeah, I think from all the years doing this, I think it probably manifests itself more clearly as the season unfolds, but I think -- because you can't ever simulate the highs and lows of a season and how they're going to respond to that. But you have clues. Yeah, we brought a guest speaker in, he said something that kind of stuck with me. He said, "greatness leaves clues." So you get signs of a team's character and the qualities and the little things that they do.
There's a lot of things about this team that excites me in those areas to where I feel like we have a strong group of leaders that care a whole lot and are going to make sure things are done the right way, and that little things are attended to, and Cam Jones is a massive part of that and his passion that he has for this program and it's infectious for the guys around you, and multiple guys -- I would say Monster is that way and Tiawan Mullen and J-Will, Jaylin Williams, and James Head and Matt Bedford on offense, and AJ Barner has elevated himself and all the guys on that side of the football that I feel like have just really, really busted their tails.
I know how hard Jack has worked, and you bring a guy in here like Connor and what he's brought into our program, and then Shaun Shivers, who has not been here that long, just is highly respected and just works so hard and just brings such an energy to everything he does.
Those are things that you really like seeing, and I think that's super positive for our guys, but at the end of the day, to answer your question, probably I think the season has to kind of unfold, and the guys have chance to live out and respond to the good and the bad and the ups and the downs that the season always brings you.
I think that's where that true character -- it's interesting, because kind of as the season unfolds you see certain personalities of them as they're playing and sometimes they're good qualities and they just continue to keep showing up and sometimes the negative things kind of haunt a team, kind of sometimes don't seem to go away, either.
That's why you've got to address those things early. When you see the good things, you want to elevate them, and the things you don't want you've got to be able to try to work through those and create a different outcome. But yeah, I think every year every team is a little different.
On if there is an advantage of not having anything on tape for Illinois to look at…
TA: Yeah, I mean, I think there's always pressure. We've got pressure on both sides and special teams. I think that this first game of the season is a Big Ten game, so I think that they're expecting to play well and they need to play well, and in order for us to win, that's what's got to happen on both sides of the football.
Yeah, I think there's always natural pressures that happen because of the start of something new and expectations for that and what you want that to look like, and the biggest key is that we just play our best. You don't want them to play in a way that they have to -- you don't play fearful of making mistakes and trying to be perfect. That's not going to happen. But you've got to let it rip.
We've got to attack them offensively and attack them defensively and attack them on special teams, and that's really an emphasis that we want to have for this week. With all the new faces and all new things and new pieces that you're going to have and some new things that you might be doing, that's going to create definitely some added pressures, right, but at the same time it is game one, no matter how you want to slice it.
So, you've got to be able to recognize that and understand that as we tell our team it's the biggest game of the season because it's the next one, and that's the important part of that, and that will always be the focus and that has to be the focus.
We do have a lot of guys that have played a lot of football. Even some of the newer guys that have joined us have played a lot of football on both sides of the fall for those new faces, so it's not like you're starting with a bunch of new freshmen. But that does make a difference, as well, but they are coming together as a team to play for this university for the first time together.
Definitely exciting, as well, but there will be things that are going to happen that you don't plan for, and you've just got to respond to it and react in the right way.
On his reaction when Illinois named Tommy DeVito starting quarterback…
TA: Yeah, I guess the backup wasn't in spring ball, so I guess in my mindset we were just preparing for him. I guess I really wasn't surprised. I think he's a really talented player, and when you watched him -- we studied them all, last few years at Syracuse and then what he did in the spring game, and then obviously had a chance to watch him -- we kind of expected that, to be honest with you. I'd have been surprised if he wasn't.
But really -- I think he's a good player. Ball comes out of his hand, and you can just tell that he's got that moxie to him and he has that charisma about him, and it showed up in the spring and it showed up Saturday. So yeah, he's a good player, and you want that out of your quarterback, and that guy has got to be a great decision maker and get the ball in the hands of the playmakers.
I think it takes the pressure off in a lot of ways because of the way they run the football. I don't think they just rely on him to just kind of put it all on his back, but I think there's obvious reasons why he won the job, and I think he's really talented.
On Marty Clark's impact on the program over the years…
TA: Yeah, he's one of those guys that -- very unassuming, very quiet in a lot of ways, just treats people in a tremendously high level of character. That I appreciate him about him. He's always kind. He's just a genuine guy that you can count on and trust and has just got a great heart, great heart for people. It breaks your heart, rips your heart to see him go through this and his family, and just seeing him yesterday was awesome. Great having him with us at practice.
But man, just a high-quality person that's just been here for so long, so much a part of our history. I didn't even know that he had started the tradition with the little medallion eyes that we give to all the coaches and players, even though I've gotten several since I've been here, did not realize he was the one back in 2001 that came up with that idea and shared it with Coach Cam Cameron.
Just kind of one of those that -- because he isn't directly over just football, Mitch Gudmundson is our guy, so some of our guys don't get to spend as much time with him, so I really wanted them to get a chance to see him yesterday and give him that award or that plaque which was really special. Just, man, great, great man. Unbelievable person that cares about this place, cares about people, and he's easy to root for, and err just going to continue to pray for him and love him and support him all we can.
On how he has developed as a coach over the years…
TA: Yeah, I mean, I think you try to -- you study other coaches and you spend time with people, you work on different staffs and you grow, and you want to be able to get better, learn, and been blessed to be with some really, really quality men that I've coached with and learned from.
To me, it's always about trying to create an environment where you can make a difference in these kids' lives. That's always been to me -- if I wasn't doing that, I'd do something else. If I didn't feel like I was helping them become a better man and helping them become the person I believe they were created to be, if this was just all trying to spend all these hours just to try and win a football game, it wouldn't have the meaning that it does to me. That's always been at the forefront.
I've always cared about relationships with our guys, always cared about who they are and how they represented us and the way they learn to play the game and develop as a man through the process of preparing and all that this sport teaches you.
That to me, you just want to grow in those areas. I always wanted to surround myself with guys that care about those same types of things and learn from them, and how can I do a better job of that and balance all the different challenges you have, and you keep growing as a coach.
To me, it was always -- when I was a young high school coach, I would go and watch -- I started in the state of Florida. I'd go to Florida and watch them practice and spend time with their coaches. I did the same thing at Florida State. I'd drive up there and sit in their offices and watch film and watch them practice, and when they would bring things up, I'd kind of try to listen into what they were saying, and Coach Spurrier was at Florida and Coach Bowden was at Florida State, so I was pretty blessed to have two of the greatest in our profession at that point in time.
Just being around these guys, and you then you come up here, and I was a high school coach in this state, and then you come here and I came to Purdue -- I spent a lot of time at Purdue and a lot of time here on those staffs and just growing and learning. People always ask me what do you -- I says, go, go meet with them and watch them and sit down with them. I liked to sit there and just watch them correct practice film with their coaches, and some would let us do that, which was great. Some would not, but most would, especially the two here in Indiana and Purdue when I was coaching high school.
So just growing and learning and working camps and just trying to be around them, and you just grow and you learn, and I've just learned probably the best way I've learned throughout the years is just going and doing it, going and coaching at the smaller level and working our way up, and ended up in the Big Ten and the SEC.
So just a matter of surrounding yourself with great people and being willing to go wherever you've got to go and read and study and dive into it, and like I said, just try and find guys that I wanted to be like and spend time with them.
On when he made the decision to go back to calling the defense…
TA: You know, I'd say at the forefront was just a frustration with what we were able to do a year ago and just, as you have coaching changes, you just feel like if you can solidify the key area that you feel the most expertise in, I guess would be the best way to say it, on defense, I want to make sure that that was right. If we played really good on that side of the football, then we had a chance.
I just felt like we just kind of got away from some things that I believe in, that I want to make sure we're always doing. I definitely feel like I grew as a coach in the three years I didn't call it in terms of as a head coach, and feel better about all that, and the game day flow of everything. But I guess just to answer your question, it was just more of that's the area that I really feel is my strength as a coach, and I want to make sure that area is right.
If it's not getting done the way you want it done, then you do it yourself, because the buck stops with me. Really at the end of the day that's what it comes down to.
We've got a great staff, great assistants to help me, and Chad has done a great job of -- I like the balance that we have. I don't feel like I'm having to do all the things I did when I was calling it the first time, but yet it's still the scheme that we want and the calling it the way we want and the way we organize everything.
But you've got to have great people, there's no doubt. I've got to trust them. I give our guys a lot of autonomy to be able to do some things. We've had defensively some defensive coaches that have been here a long time with me, so that's a positive thing without question.
Yeah, at the end of the day, that's what it came down to, but we've all got to do it together, and the guys got to play at a high level defensively because that's what's demanded in this league.
On being at home as opposed to on the road to open Big Ten play this season…
TA: Well, I'm glad we're home. I think it makes a difference. I think that's a tough environment to play in. I had never coached there before, and it's very, very challenging without question, and the way it started was probably the worst-case scenario for us.
So just being at home is important. I think that's -- once again, I don't pick those, but I am thankful to be home.
But I think anytime you have the familiarity of playing in your home stadium, I think just the hostility of the opposing crowd and all those different things that play into that are obvious things, but I think just for your guys and their comfort level, and we do all of our scrimmages in the stadium and we do our mock game in the stadium and we get a lot of reps in there, and the guy love playing at home in front of our fans. So I think it makes a tough situation better when you open with such a high-caliber team.
Just to me, I think you go through the process, and we've had more of them here than we've had away as far as the openers that we've had that were Big Ten games, so that's been a positive without question, and we see the benefits of being able to have a great first game.
But yeah, I'm very thankful that we're home, and just excited for our players to come and compete and play at a high level in front of our fans and begin 2022 in the way we want it to start.
Appreciate you guys. Have an awesome rest of the week.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
124197-1-1002 2022-08-29 18:40:00 GMT
Scott Dolson | Director of Athletics
Opening Statement
SD: Hope everybody had a great summer. Want to thank you, first of all, just for all your support. I know sometimes it used to be around here summers used to be a slow time, but it seems like summers are busier than ever. I want to mention -- want to compliment Zach. He had the highlight of the summer in terms of a tweet he sent out about his son's experience at school and what he did at school that day. If you remember that tweet, it was pretty funny. It gave me a good laugh for sure. It was really a good one. That was entertaining.
I thought I'd make some opening comments and then open it up for questions.
I want to really start by saying it's one of my most favorite times of year. How can you not be in college athletics and be excited about the fall? There's an energy around campus and you can feel it. There's an energy around here.
Really want to take this opportunity to thank President Whitten. She's been fantastic to work with. You can feel her energy. We hosted a check-in for Residence Hall, Simon Scott Assembly Hall that first kind of weekend when you feel the wave of students coming in, and she's out there buzzing around and greeting families, and she just brings an energy that you can just feel it.
From our perspective, also, I've worked very closely with her, particularly this summer as we went through all the changes with the Big Ten, the expansion, with the media rights deal, and as busy as she is, which is extremely busy with a lot more important things than athletics, she always finds a way to zero in on the topic and is always there for us, and I thought just as I started out today, it was important to say that and to recognize her. I couldn't have had a better partner than her in terms of working through all the great things happening in the Big Ten.
I also wanted to mention, she started a new program called Gear-Up Fridays, which sort of shows her enthusiasm and the energy she's bringing to campus, so across all of our campus, she's encouraging everyone to wear their IU gear on Fridays starting with this Friday, so that'll be a big deal, and we just appreciate that.
Speaking of the Big Ten, which I had mentioned this summer, it was an extremely busy time. The Big Ten media rights deal was exciting to be a part of.
It's funny because I've said this before, in my first little over two years as athletic director, I've had more athletic director meetings maybe than any other IU athletic director in history, coming out of COVID and then all the changes going on in college athletics and certainly the media rights deal has been a long process. It's one I really enjoyed being a part of.
I'm on the Big Ten athletic director TV subcommittee, and it was for me -- the strength of the Big Ten in my view is certainly the people and the leadership, and I certainly compliment the colleagues that I worked with, my fellow athletic directors in the Big Ten, but obviously Commissioner Warren for his vision and what he's put forward and making certain that our conference and the brand of the Big Ten is in the best position it possibly can be in his vision for our media rights package.
There's also a lot of unsung heroes. There's a person named Kerry Kenny, who's an associate commissioner behind the scenes that just does a phenomenal job, and again, couldn't be more happy for that process.
Also, for us, it's going to be incredible with media rights in terms of our brand and the exposure for our students athletes in our programs. The financial impact will be significant, and it is critical, but quite frankly it's one of those things that don't believe everything you read. It's going to be good, but it's going to take some time to ramp up. I'm not saying anything to minimize the deal, but what I've had to do is make certain that particularly internally people understand that there's going to take some time. Those deals are generally backloaded. We've got a lot to sort out before we really start to alter budgets or anything like that, but again, it's a tremendous deal. We've done a lot of managing expectations on that end.
From our media partner standpoint, really excited with, again, the vision that Commissioner Warren had with that deal, making certain that we really still have the linear networks that we're partnering with in terms of FOX and CBS and now adding NBC and then certainly our partnership with BTN.
One of the things I thought I'd point out to you to me that was very interesting in working with FOX and their CEO of FOX Sports is Eric Shanks, who's one of our former student assistants in our media relations office, and I just thought that was -- for me I was really proud sitting in meetings and hearing his name or him coming to a meeting as we were part of that process. It's great to see the IU family be so successful out there, and he certainly is a big part of this new deal.
I also wanted to mention, we're really, really excited about bringing all of our students back. We've started obviously with soccer, field hockey, volleyball, but just can't wait for this Friday night. We're pumped about the game this Friday.
A couple things about that. Ticket sales have been really, really good. We really feel great about renewals, where we are. We had a terrific year last year attendance-wise, and renewals have been very strong, particularly students, and I want to take a second just to commend our students. Our students have been phenomenal. Again, high energy. Going back to what I said about President Whitten, our student ticket sales are up 10 percent, so we expect a big student turnout for this Friday night.
We've got several new things in the stadium. As you drove up you probably could see the light poles. The final light poles are going up. We've got new lights in the stadium, which has been something that we've needed for a while. We've had to rent lights for night games because the coverage -- those were the original lights put in I believe in the early '80s, so we're really excited to have modern, state-of-the-art LED lighting going in the stadium which should be ready for Friday night. That's a big deal.
I'm excited also about our new team store. We've partnered with Legends, which is an up-and-coming outsourcer of all apparel sales. We're still obviously an Adidas school, but the Legends family will be handling all of the team sales as well as our e-commerce, and hopefully -- I like to under-promise and over-deliver. I don't like to make big statements, but I think you'll see an improvement there, and couldn't be more happy with them.
Also really excited about having cashless payments for the first time. No more cash in the stadium, which hopefully, again, we can continually think about ways to improve our customer service, and we think that's a big deal for us, and we're excited about that, as well.
I also wanted to mention just our partnership with IU Sports Properties, which is a division of Learfield Sports. IU Sports Properties has done a phenomenal job for years, but really particularly coming out of the pandemic, we've really upped our sponsorship opportunities.
You saw that we made an announcement a few weeks back that we've partnered with Molson Coors as official beer sponsor. We're opening up that category. Just to clarify that, we still have the same beer offerings. That doesn't mean that's the only beer that will be sold here, for those of you who might be interested in that category, but we certainly are partnering with them as an official sponsor of IU athletics, and we'll be announcing later today that Upland will also be a sponsor, as well. Upland handles all of our alcohol sales at the games but they'll also be a sponsor. We separate the sales from the sponsorships. So we're really excited about that and appreciative of IU Sports Properties and the great job that they do.
Speaking specifically about football, I'm really excited about Tom and the staff and excited for the players. To be honest with you, since the Purdue game ended last year, it's been fun for me to watch Tom roll up his sleeves and then the players follow, just really get after it, and couldn't be more happy with just the process.
I'm a big process person. I think you don't just show up at the game and expect different results. You've got to put in the work, and I know Tom feels the same way. That's really what's been going on.
I think I'm probably preaching to the choir, but the new staff has just fit right in seamlessly. It feels like the staff, to be honest with you, has been here a long time, and the integration has been really great from that perspective. I'm really impressed with them.
From the players themselves, they've got an edge. You feel it. You guys cover us. I'm impressed so much with the leadership of the team.
Again, to me, winning is a product of a lot of things, and I think that process has gone well, and it starts with leadership, and I couldn't be more proud of the leadership of this team.
Not to single anybody out, but I did want to mention Tiawan Mullen. We've got really special student-athletes across the board, but Tiawan has been incredible, just for me in my position to watch him grow here and see the young man that he's become. He's probably stopped by my office, I won't exaggerate, probably 25 times since the season ended and pops by. We've established a great friendship, but he'll pop in and a lot of times he'll just ask me how I'm doing and what's going on. He attended the women's basketball late games this past season with me and went to the NCAA tournament games here. He attended the NCAA track regionals. Tiawan is just someone to me that represents all that we want in our student-athletes, and I wanted to mention him today because I think that's reflective of the culture that we're building within our football program but also just across the departments. Special shout-out to Tiawan.
With that, can't wait to kick things off on Friday night, and I'd be happy to answer any questions anyone has.
On how the department has reinvigorated the fan base after a disappointing 2021 football season…
SD: Specifically football, yeah. For us, our style or my style is not to be a big talker, to not make big projections but really just to go to work, and really last season didn't live up to our standards after coming off the seasons in 2019 and 2020 which were really record years for us back-to-back and Tom national Coach of the Year. Obviously we struggled last year.
Just like Tom and obviously what he's done with his staff and obviously with the roster, and just really evaluating our program to really get back to those standards that we set, and same thing for me and the department, whether it's our ticket office, whether it's our marketing department. Everything that we do behind the scenes to make certain that we have the program at the level we want it to be.
I couldn't be more excited come into the game this Friday night. Our fans have responded. Again, the renewal rate, quite frankly, coming off a huge year like last year from an attendance standpoint, didn't know where we'd be, but was really pleasantly surprised at the season ticket base, how they came back, and with the students up over 10 percent was a big deal. So I'm excited looking at Friday night.
On football ticket sales for the season and single game…
SD: Sure. Our renewal rate is right at 98 percent of where we were last year in total. Our students are up 10 percent, so general public is just right about there. In fact, we could close in on it this week.
The way I do it is I talk to our staff internally. Our season ticket numbers are about half the stadium, so we get up around -- our stadium seats about 52,000, we've got about 26,000 plus in season tickets sold, so we rely heavily, which we have for years, on the single game sales, and again, those are trending in a great direction.
We expect that this Friday night we'll be in the low 40s and hope to grow from there. Again, just couldn't be more appreciative of our fans.
Sometimes I think unjustly so, I think sometimes our football fans maybe take some criticism, and I don't think that is warranted at all. I think our football fans are as well as they come. Again, this year's results are a real indication of that.
On if there are one or two main areas of focus when it comes to facilities or budget expansion after the new Big Ten media rights deal was announced…
SD: Yeah, like you said, it is backloaded, and a lot of those details are still to come. But the reality is that the way things are changing and the way that our budget is just -- like many of your budgets are increasing, I feel like we've already kind of spent it in a way.
We announced this summer the Alston Award, which is an academic award that we'll award to any student-athlete who qualifies for it this year, and that's about a $3 million hit to our budget, so in a way, as we look at -- as this media rights, the details come out and as that grows over time, I feel like that will allow us to really keep pace and to be able to do things we need to do to support our student-athletes, but I really don't look at it as a real windfall.
The staff that are here, they were at our all-staff meeting this past Wednesday, that was part of my message was, because what you just asked or I think what a lot of people started thinking is that it's going to be a huge uptick at one time, and again, it's a steady stream over time, mainly backloaded, and again, a lot of that is already taken into consideration in what we're planning for the future to support our student-athletes.
On NIL at Indiana…
SD: Yeah, let me first just say we've been working on NIL -- it was a little over a year ago when NIL started, and we were working on it the year before. I'm really proud of our team internally that has done everything we can to put our student-athletes in a position for success and to maximize that opportunity.
As it relates to specifically to football, it's certainly important from a competitive standpoint that our student-athletes have success here in all our sports, but certainly football is a priority. We can only control what we can control.
I will say since you opened the door, I do want to thank all of the supporters out there who have supported NIL efforts, particularly as you said, Hoosiers For Good, who's really done some amazing things, and I know they want to continue to grow that, and I know football is important to them, as well.
Again, that's outside the athletic department, but it is something that they know it's important to us that we have success from our student-athletes, so again, as future student-athletes look at coming here, they see that there are NIL opportunities here, and we take it very seriously, and I think we're on a good track to do that.
On the expansion of alcohol sales at games…
SD: Yes, we'll continue to evaluate, and I'll say that it has gone extremely well to date. Data really shows from the time we implemented it the first year at Memorial Stadium that our incidents actually went down, our alcohol-related incidents, and I think controlling the environment has proved to be successful.
So we'll continue to evaluate.
We did announce that we expanded that to soccer. We're currently looking at Simon Scott Assembly Hall to see if that's something we may or may not do, but I am a big proponent of making certain that we're keeping up with what our fans would like to see from a fan experience standpoint. The feedback we received from our fans, even going back to the spring with baseball and softball has been really, really well received and handled really well, so we'll continue to grow that and to look at ways that we can maximize that opportunity, but keeping in mind responsibility drinking, managing the process in a way that we don't put any other fan in a precarious position by having alcohol served.
On if he prefers a national NIL model or what is in place now…
SD: Yeah, we talk about it internally seems like daily on what is the future and what's happening, because it changes it seems like every day. In terms of, again, I mentioned this earlier, the strength of the Big Ten I think is really in its people and the administrators, and we talk at length about what is the future going to look like and what should it look like.
I do know that there are really, really smart people working on the transformational committee at the NCAA level to really look at all aspects of the future of college athletics.
I do think there needs to be just personally some guardrails put on NIL so there is fair competition and it really is set up so it's not an inducement and it's not a pay for play. It'll be interesting to see where all that goes in terms of what the future will hold.
But in the meantime, what we're trying to do here is that we want to make certain that we're maximizing this opportunity within the rules that we're given for our student-athletes so that they can have success.
On what he has enjoyed most about being the athletic director…
SD: Yeah, for sure I enjoy more than anything just being around the students. Whenever it's a tough day, because we spend so much time on the business side of things, and for us here making certain that we're making the right decisions with our resources so we can certainly finish in the black but also provide the necessary resources for success, but we talk about the business so much that sometimes it's easy to forget kind of what the main thing is.
Whenever I have an opportunity, like I mentioned Tiawan stopping by my office or me to stop by a practice or run over to the Tobias Center for lunch, it definitely sounds corny, but it does make me feel like I understand the big picture here. Again, in this day and age with all the transformational change going on, sometimes it's easy to forget that.
President Whitten and I had lunch last Wednesday I believe it was with about 10 student-athletes. She was in the area, and she said, hey, do you have time for lunch, and I said, why don't we go over to the Tobias Center and have lunch with the student-athletes, and it was awesome. I talked to her afterwards, and she's kind of the same way, that she feels like on campus when she can get in the mix with the students, it really puts things in perspective.
In terms of anything surprising, really there hasn't been, although since I took over it seems like -- I should say there has been because of the pandemic and NIL and all of the transformational change, all the things that are happening, it hasn't been sort of a normal time I guess you could say, but I give Fred Glass a ton of credit that he really put me in a position as his No. 2 person or I think I learned a lot and kind of knew what to expect with the job, and so really there hasn't been a ton of surprises other than you just don't know what's going to happen next, but I guess that keeps us busy, which is good.
On if Indiana has looked to hire NIL-specific positions or firms…
SD: Yeah, we actually already have NIL-specific positions that we just kind of reassigned and worked within our current staff. On our senior team, for example, Becky Pany, who's a senior associate AD over at sports management, she really has been the quarterback of our NIL efforts and really for the past two years I guess you could say has really been working as that central person really coordinating everything.
Jeremy Gray, another senior associate AD, is really working closely with her on the brand side of things, building brands for our student-athletes so they can maximize the opportunity.
Then we have various other people. We formed an NIL task force. We bring in departmental staff and also people from across campus, Dr. Galen Clavio at the media school, Ash Soni, who's the interim dean of the Kelley School of Business, to really work on what is our vision for NIL efforts.
I think at other schools they've chosen to do it a little differently maybe and hire a specific position that's not someone within their team, but for us we just had the capacity and I felt like the talent that we really could do it internally and not have to bring in someone from the outside.
I feel like we've got probably as many if not more resources working towards NIL than anyone else and feel comfortable where we are from a staff standpoint.
On if he thinks Indiana is looking at any kind of state legislation in the NIL spaces…
SD: Yeah, great question. I think it's much easier and much more conducive for success and for consistency without a state law. I think there was sort of a panic when there wasn't a state law that we're going to be left behind, but actually being able to just follow the NCAA rules and then develop our own internal policy was a much better path for us.
I think you see it that states that have passed laws are now altering them based on how NCAA rules are interpreted or different things sort of as it's unfolded.
I think we've had a ton of support, again, across campus. I think our alumni, I mentioned the collectives, you saw the fan fest that happened with Hoosier Hysterics, and they did a terrific job with that, and I think you'll see more. We'll be aggressive as we can be within the rules to make certain our student-athletes maximize this opportunity.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
124192-1-1002 2022-08-29 17:34:00 GM
Below is a transcript of the Tom Allen and Scott Dolson press conferences, while video of the full media sessions can be found on the right sidebar at IUHoosiers.com.
Tom Allen | Head Coach
Opening Statement
TA: Good afternoon. We're back. Another season is here. We do have a unique opportunity to open our season with a team that has played and we did not, so last weekend got to see Illinois play, like everybody else did, but just impressed with what Coach Bielema has done there in the short time he's been there, immediate impact, even last season, and they had seven games that were one-possession games, so many close opportunities there.
Just physical football, what kind of sticks out to me, the way they play defense, the way they run the football offensively and a lot of respect and the job he's done there and the team he has.
Have a chance to welcome them here to Bloomington to open our season and open up Big Ten play. When I think about their offense, obviously their running back Chase Brown is special. Great season last year and showed it again on Saturday. Big, physical offensive line, and new quarterback in Tommy DeVito that really seems to be a great fit for what they're doing schematically, and Isaiah Williams is a very, very talented receiver. I really like their tight ends. And they had a lot of receivers, a bunch of guys who caught the ball Saturday, so that gives you a lot of things to defend.
New system that they obviously didn't have to show a lot on Saturday, but we'll have to be prepared for a lot of things that we don't know about yet.
Then defensively, Coach Walter has done a tremendous job turning the defense a year ago and has continued. A lot of guys back from that group, good length in the secondary. Just really impressed. The Brown twins, one on offense, one on defense, really good football players, physical, athletic, and very, very active.
So just impressed with their linebackers, physical D-line. They make it tough on you up front and try to keep the ball in front of them. Good system on both sides of the ball. Good special teams, as well. They got a new punter, had a really talented one a year ago and got another good one and started the game with a big kickoff return. Strong on special teams, as well.
Big Ten football, it's what you expect. Really good football teams every single week, and a tremendous challenge, great opportunity. Excited for our players to open our season.
Tired of hitting each other. It's been a long fall camp, a little bit longer than normal because of the new format, but guys have been busting their tails and doing a tremendous job of buying in and got some new faces and excited to see these guys come together and play and doing it in front of our fans opening night on September 2nd.
Questions?
On how he has dealt with the uncertainties of the season entering game one…
TA: Yeah, I would say probably the highest number of new faces, without question, that will be playing opening night with such a high-caliber opponent and not having any preseason games or anything other than our scrimmages. So yeah, a lot of unknowns.
I think that that can be exciting but also can be challenging. But I think that's what you've got to do, and that's where we're at, and that's in front of us. Yeah, I'm excited. I'm excited for our kids to play.
But yeah, there's things you don't know for sure. A lot of different positions, some new faces there, and I'm excited for those guys that will be in those roles, and anxious to be able to see our guys go out there and compete and play in front of our home fans and our home stadium.
I just think it definitely creates a lot more anxiety for the coaches, but at the same time a lot of excitement, and I can't wait. I wish we were playing tomorrow.
On injuries during fall camp and the starting quarterback reps…
TA: Yeah, I would say first part, relatively healthy. I'm not going to say we're going to have every single person that we hoped to have, but I would say it's going to be a high percent. Different than a year ago for sure. That's been a real focus, that balance of being physical and being able to prepare ourselves, but also keep our guys healthy.
Today was a very physical practice, full pads, a workday, Tuesday for us on our game week prep mode, and so full pads and really physical today, which is awesome. I love that, but also you try to balance the two guys of that, as well. I feel good about the health of our team at this point.
So, we've had a chance to be able to last week have practices with our -- the starting quarterback in place, and then obviously again today, and we will the rest of the week. It's been really super positive. It's been great to be able to have those kinds of reps and have that kind of flow.
I'm anxious to see those guys go out there and compete on Friday night.
On opening with a Big Ten opponent…
TA: Yeah, you know, I would say that -- the one part there is probably the biggest piece, and we've got no control over it. I'm one of those guys I try not to dwell on the things I can't change.
But I think just from being in this profession for 30 years, you always feel a little better if you have a preseason game to go through, whether it's a preseason scrimmage which we used to always have in high school, or when I was at the smaller levels in college, we always had a scrimmage that we would go and play against another team. It felt like a real game, but it just didn't count. We always had those and that was always nice, and you felt a whole lot better going into week one with that.
There's no question, there's always kind of a desire, if you could just pick a perfect scenario you'd like to just continue to grow with your group. But that's not how it is. You just look back and you don't focus on that. We really, truly don't. I'm being very transparent with you.
But I think there are definitely advantages to opening with such a high-caliber opponent and a conference opponent. There's no doubt that that creates so much positivity towards your program in so many different ways.
So that's what I really like, and that's what we embrace and that's what we focus on. You've just got to just work through those kinks in the first quarter and second quarter rather than working through them in the previous week.
On if he approaches a Big Ten game differently than he would a non-conference season opener…
TA: You know what, I don't know other than the fact that we've really been working hard to create the preseason feel in practices, the game-like feel. When I say preseason, I'm talking about a preseason game.
Even in today's practice, just the physicality of it all, you're just trying to simulate those things that you get from a game situation, and going into the stadium and being under the lights like we did last Friday night, which was really, really important to do. Just going through all that to me to try and just kind of create that situation for your team and from a mental perspective, from a physical perspective.
As a matter of fact, we did some mock games with our staff just to be able to simulate the time and the decision making and the data that we collect because we've got new faces, new guys in different spots. Even as simple as -- I know people don't think about this, but we've got four brand-new GAs, because all four of our guys from last year's staff all got full-time jobs, which is awesome for them, but new faces for us, so those guys are guys on game day that we count on heavily.
Just the guys in the press box and working through all that, we've done that. Yeah, I think there's no question you try to do all those different things, but nothing is like playing a real game. I get that. But you do everything possible to get as close as you can.
On when he knew he had a special person in Cam Jones…
TA: Well, there's no question. I always think back on -- you do this long enough, you know a lot of young men that you coach, and gosh, I don't know if I've ever been around a more genuine individual that just cares about people, cares about his teammates, cares about his family, wears that heavily on himself. He's just selfless.
I guess to me, it's just -- the first person that noticed it, brought it up to me was Coach Wellman, so this was even a year ago.
In between our special teams work and different drill work, but he's obviously part of all that stuff, he's getting all the equipment off the field to help the managers. Most players are either getting water or totally just focused on something totally different, and we're talking like the real big heavy bags, things that take effort.
It's just like -- I never paid attention to it because I was getting ready for something else, too, but it was just like -- he's just so selfless. It doesn't matter what it is, something so small like that that nobody would ever notice and the way he leads this team and how much he cares and all the times we've spent together. He's just an other-focus person.
He's a tremendously talented athlete, but he's going to be great in whatever he does, in football, outside of football. I'm just so proud of him and so excited for him to be a guy that he's going to be voted I'm sure here a three-time captain, which hasn't happened here very often. It's pretty special, and he's a special young man.
On if anyone jumped up the depth chart during fall camp…
TA: Yeah, I think there are some guys that have come along. I think Brylan Lanier is a young man that has really stepped up, and he comes here new and doesn't have a chance to have a spring with us and so gets thrown into a lot of things in a short amount of time, and I think he's really elevated his play in a huge way, which is really important for us.
I think Josh Sanguinetti is another one who just continues to get better. Even today, just thinking about watching him out there moving around and finishing tackles and being able to be in position to do that. He's a guy who's obviously been with us, but he needs to step up, needs to elevate himself.
I think in the receivers room, Andison Coby is another one that continues to just really flash for us, and excited for him and his opportunity he's been given in our program, and I think also James Bomba is a guy that continues -- thought even today some things he did from a physical perspective were impressive. I know he cares so much and has a tremendous work ethic and toughness.
Guys like that to me have really elevated themselves.
I think Kahlil Benson is another one that has really started to come on. I think he needed to have a tremendous summer; he had a phenomenal summer. It's always amazing how that's usually a precursor to a great fall camp, the way they approach the summer and the mindset that he had and the workouts and the way he was doing things like that, and that's a guy we needed on the offensive line to really step up and help us and be the kind of player we knew he could be.
Several others, but those are the ones that jump out to me at first.
On if he has a feel for the character of the team this season…
TA: Yeah, I think from all the years doing this, I think it probably manifests itself more clearly as the season unfolds, but I think -- because you can't ever simulate the highs and lows of a season and how they're going to respond to that. But you have clues. Yeah, we brought a guest speaker in, he said something that kind of stuck with me. He said, "greatness leaves clues." So you get signs of a team's character and the qualities and the little things that they do.
There's a lot of things about this team that excites me in those areas to where I feel like we have a strong group of leaders that care a whole lot and are going to make sure things are done the right way, and that little things are attended to, and Cam Jones is a massive part of that and his passion that he has for this program and it's infectious for the guys around you, and multiple guys -- I would say Monster is that way and Tiawan Mullen and J-Will, Jaylin Williams, and James Head and Matt Bedford on offense, and AJ Barner has elevated himself and all the guys on that side of the football that I feel like have just really, really busted their tails.
I know how hard Jack has worked, and you bring a guy in here like Connor and what he's brought into our program, and then Shaun Shivers, who has not been here that long, just is highly respected and just works so hard and just brings such an energy to everything he does.
Those are things that you really like seeing, and I think that's super positive for our guys, but at the end of the day, to answer your question, probably I think the season has to kind of unfold, and the guys have chance to live out and respond to the good and the bad and the ups and the downs that the season always brings you.
I think that's where that true character -- it's interesting, because kind of as the season unfolds you see certain personalities of them as they're playing and sometimes they're good qualities and they just continue to keep showing up and sometimes the negative things kind of haunt a team, kind of sometimes don't seem to go away, either.
That's why you've got to address those things early. When you see the good things, you want to elevate them, and the things you don't want you've got to be able to try to work through those and create a different outcome. But yeah, I think every year every team is a little different.
On if there is an advantage of not having anything on tape for Illinois to look at…
TA: Yeah, I mean, I think there's always pressure. We've got pressure on both sides and special teams. I think that this first game of the season is a Big Ten game, so I think that they're expecting to play well and they need to play well, and in order for us to win, that's what's got to happen on both sides of the football.
Yeah, I think there's always natural pressures that happen because of the start of something new and expectations for that and what you want that to look like, and the biggest key is that we just play our best. You don't want them to play in a way that they have to -- you don't play fearful of making mistakes and trying to be perfect. That's not going to happen. But you've got to let it rip.
We've got to attack them offensively and attack them defensively and attack them on special teams, and that's really an emphasis that we want to have for this week. With all the new faces and all new things and new pieces that you're going to have and some new things that you might be doing, that's going to create definitely some added pressures, right, but at the same time it is game one, no matter how you want to slice it.
So, you've got to be able to recognize that and understand that as we tell our team it's the biggest game of the season because it's the next one, and that's the important part of that, and that will always be the focus and that has to be the focus.
We do have a lot of guys that have played a lot of football. Even some of the newer guys that have joined us have played a lot of football on both sides of the fall for those new faces, so it's not like you're starting with a bunch of new freshmen. But that does make a difference, as well, but they are coming together as a team to play for this university for the first time together.
Definitely exciting, as well, but there will be things that are going to happen that you don't plan for, and you've just got to respond to it and react in the right way.
On his reaction when Illinois named Tommy DeVito starting quarterback…
TA: Yeah, I guess the backup wasn't in spring ball, so I guess in my mindset we were just preparing for him. I guess I really wasn't surprised. I think he's a really talented player, and when you watched him -- we studied them all, last few years at Syracuse and then what he did in the spring game, and then obviously had a chance to watch him -- we kind of expected that, to be honest with you. I'd have been surprised if he wasn't.
But really -- I think he's a good player. Ball comes out of his hand, and you can just tell that he's got that moxie to him and he has that charisma about him, and it showed up in the spring and it showed up Saturday. So yeah, he's a good player, and you want that out of your quarterback, and that guy has got to be a great decision maker and get the ball in the hands of the playmakers.
I think it takes the pressure off in a lot of ways because of the way they run the football. I don't think they just rely on him to just kind of put it all on his back, but I think there's obvious reasons why he won the job, and I think he's really talented.
On Marty Clark's impact on the program over the years…
TA: Yeah, he's one of those guys that -- very unassuming, very quiet in a lot of ways, just treats people in a tremendously high level of character. That I appreciate him about him. He's always kind. He's just a genuine guy that you can count on and trust and has just got a great heart, great heart for people. It breaks your heart, rips your heart to see him go through this and his family, and just seeing him yesterday was awesome. Great having him with us at practice.
But man, just a high-quality person that's just been here for so long, so much a part of our history. I didn't even know that he had started the tradition with the little medallion eyes that we give to all the coaches and players, even though I've gotten several since I've been here, did not realize he was the one back in 2001 that came up with that idea and shared it with Coach Cam Cameron.
Just kind of one of those that -- because he isn't directly over just football, Mitch Gudmundson is our guy, so some of our guys don't get to spend as much time with him, so I really wanted them to get a chance to see him yesterday and give him that award or that plaque which was really special. Just, man, great, great man. Unbelievable person that cares about this place, cares about people, and he's easy to root for, and err just going to continue to pray for him and love him and support him all we can.
On how he has developed as a coach over the years…
TA: Yeah, I mean, I think you try to -- you study other coaches and you spend time with people, you work on different staffs and you grow, and you want to be able to get better, learn, and been blessed to be with some really, really quality men that I've coached with and learned from.
To me, it's always about trying to create an environment where you can make a difference in these kids' lives. That's always been to me -- if I wasn't doing that, I'd do something else. If I didn't feel like I was helping them become a better man and helping them become the person I believe they were created to be, if this was just all trying to spend all these hours just to try and win a football game, it wouldn't have the meaning that it does to me. That's always been at the forefront.
I've always cared about relationships with our guys, always cared about who they are and how they represented us and the way they learn to play the game and develop as a man through the process of preparing and all that this sport teaches you.
That to me, you just want to grow in those areas. I always wanted to surround myself with guys that care about those same types of things and learn from them, and how can I do a better job of that and balance all the different challenges you have, and you keep growing as a coach.
To me, it was always -- when I was a young high school coach, I would go and watch -- I started in the state of Florida. I'd go to Florida and watch them practice and spend time with their coaches. I did the same thing at Florida State. I'd drive up there and sit in their offices and watch film and watch them practice, and when they would bring things up, I'd kind of try to listen into what they were saying, and Coach Spurrier was at Florida and Coach Bowden was at Florida State, so I was pretty blessed to have two of the greatest in our profession at that point in time.
Just being around these guys, and you then you come up here, and I was a high school coach in this state, and then you come here and I came to Purdue -- I spent a lot of time at Purdue and a lot of time here on those staffs and just growing and learning. People always ask me what do you -- I says, go, go meet with them and watch them and sit down with them. I liked to sit there and just watch them correct practice film with their coaches, and some would let us do that, which was great. Some would not, but most would, especially the two here in Indiana and Purdue when I was coaching high school.
So just growing and learning and working camps and just trying to be around them, and you just grow and you learn, and I've just learned probably the best way I've learned throughout the years is just going and doing it, going and coaching at the smaller level and working our way up, and ended up in the Big Ten and the SEC.
So just a matter of surrounding yourself with great people and being willing to go wherever you've got to go and read and study and dive into it, and like I said, just try and find guys that I wanted to be like and spend time with them.
On when he made the decision to go back to calling the defense…
TA: You know, I'd say at the forefront was just a frustration with what we were able to do a year ago and just, as you have coaching changes, you just feel like if you can solidify the key area that you feel the most expertise in, I guess would be the best way to say it, on defense, I want to make sure that that was right. If we played really good on that side of the football, then we had a chance.
I just felt like we just kind of got away from some things that I believe in, that I want to make sure we're always doing. I definitely feel like I grew as a coach in the three years I didn't call it in terms of as a head coach, and feel better about all that, and the game day flow of everything. But I guess just to answer your question, it was just more of that's the area that I really feel is my strength as a coach, and I want to make sure that area is right.
If it's not getting done the way you want it done, then you do it yourself, because the buck stops with me. Really at the end of the day that's what it comes down to.
We've got a great staff, great assistants to help me, and Chad has done a great job of -- I like the balance that we have. I don't feel like I'm having to do all the things I did when I was calling it the first time, but yet it's still the scheme that we want and the calling it the way we want and the way we organize everything.
But you've got to have great people, there's no doubt. I've got to trust them. I give our guys a lot of autonomy to be able to do some things. We've had defensively some defensive coaches that have been here a long time with me, so that's a positive thing without question.
Yeah, at the end of the day, that's what it came down to, but we've all got to do it together, and the guys got to play at a high level defensively because that's what's demanded in this league.
On being at home as opposed to on the road to open Big Ten play this season…
TA: Well, I'm glad we're home. I think it makes a difference. I think that's a tough environment to play in. I had never coached there before, and it's very, very challenging without question, and the way it started was probably the worst-case scenario for us.
So just being at home is important. I think that's -- once again, I don't pick those, but I am thankful to be home.
But I think anytime you have the familiarity of playing in your home stadium, I think just the hostility of the opposing crowd and all those different things that play into that are obvious things, but I think just for your guys and their comfort level, and we do all of our scrimmages in the stadium and we do our mock game in the stadium and we get a lot of reps in there, and the guy love playing at home in front of our fans. So I think it makes a tough situation better when you open with such a high-caliber team.
Just to me, I think you go through the process, and we've had more of them here than we've had away as far as the openers that we've had that were Big Ten games, so that's been a positive without question, and we see the benefits of being able to have a great first game.
But yeah, I'm very thankful that we're home, and just excited for our players to come and compete and play at a high level in front of our fans and begin 2022 in the way we want it to start.
Appreciate you guys. Have an awesome rest of the week.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
124197-1-1002 2022-08-29 18:40:00 GMT
Scott Dolson | Director of Athletics
Opening Statement
SD: Hope everybody had a great summer. Want to thank you, first of all, just for all your support. I know sometimes it used to be around here summers used to be a slow time, but it seems like summers are busier than ever. I want to mention -- want to compliment Zach. He had the highlight of the summer in terms of a tweet he sent out about his son's experience at school and what he did at school that day. If you remember that tweet, it was pretty funny. It gave me a good laugh for sure. It was really a good one. That was entertaining.
I thought I'd make some opening comments and then open it up for questions.
I want to really start by saying it's one of my most favorite times of year. How can you not be in college athletics and be excited about the fall? There's an energy around campus and you can feel it. There's an energy around here.
Really want to take this opportunity to thank President Whitten. She's been fantastic to work with. You can feel her energy. We hosted a check-in for Residence Hall, Simon Scott Assembly Hall that first kind of weekend when you feel the wave of students coming in, and she's out there buzzing around and greeting families, and she just brings an energy that you can just feel it.
From our perspective, also, I've worked very closely with her, particularly this summer as we went through all the changes with the Big Ten, the expansion, with the media rights deal, and as busy as she is, which is extremely busy with a lot more important things than athletics, she always finds a way to zero in on the topic and is always there for us, and I thought just as I started out today, it was important to say that and to recognize her. I couldn't have had a better partner than her in terms of working through all the great things happening in the Big Ten.
I also wanted to mention, she started a new program called Gear-Up Fridays, which sort of shows her enthusiasm and the energy she's bringing to campus, so across all of our campus, she's encouraging everyone to wear their IU gear on Fridays starting with this Friday, so that'll be a big deal, and we just appreciate that.
Speaking of the Big Ten, which I had mentioned this summer, it was an extremely busy time. The Big Ten media rights deal was exciting to be a part of.
It's funny because I've said this before, in my first little over two years as athletic director, I've had more athletic director meetings maybe than any other IU athletic director in history, coming out of COVID and then all the changes going on in college athletics and certainly the media rights deal has been a long process. It's one I really enjoyed being a part of.
I'm on the Big Ten athletic director TV subcommittee, and it was for me -- the strength of the Big Ten in my view is certainly the people and the leadership, and I certainly compliment the colleagues that I worked with, my fellow athletic directors in the Big Ten, but obviously Commissioner Warren for his vision and what he's put forward and making certain that our conference and the brand of the Big Ten is in the best position it possibly can be in his vision for our media rights package.
There's also a lot of unsung heroes. There's a person named Kerry Kenny, who's an associate commissioner behind the scenes that just does a phenomenal job, and again, couldn't be more happy for that process.
Also, for us, it's going to be incredible with media rights in terms of our brand and the exposure for our students athletes in our programs. The financial impact will be significant, and it is critical, but quite frankly it's one of those things that don't believe everything you read. It's going to be good, but it's going to take some time to ramp up. I'm not saying anything to minimize the deal, but what I've had to do is make certain that particularly internally people understand that there's going to take some time. Those deals are generally backloaded. We've got a lot to sort out before we really start to alter budgets or anything like that, but again, it's a tremendous deal. We've done a lot of managing expectations on that end.
From our media partner standpoint, really excited with, again, the vision that Commissioner Warren had with that deal, making certain that we really still have the linear networks that we're partnering with in terms of FOX and CBS and now adding NBC and then certainly our partnership with BTN.
One of the things I thought I'd point out to you to me that was very interesting in working with FOX and their CEO of FOX Sports is Eric Shanks, who's one of our former student assistants in our media relations office, and I just thought that was -- for me I was really proud sitting in meetings and hearing his name or him coming to a meeting as we were part of that process. It's great to see the IU family be so successful out there, and he certainly is a big part of this new deal.
I also wanted to mention, we're really, really excited about bringing all of our students back. We've started obviously with soccer, field hockey, volleyball, but just can't wait for this Friday night. We're pumped about the game this Friday.
A couple things about that. Ticket sales have been really, really good. We really feel great about renewals, where we are. We had a terrific year last year attendance-wise, and renewals have been very strong, particularly students, and I want to take a second just to commend our students. Our students have been phenomenal. Again, high energy. Going back to what I said about President Whitten, our student ticket sales are up 10 percent, so we expect a big student turnout for this Friday night.
We've got several new things in the stadium. As you drove up you probably could see the light poles. The final light poles are going up. We've got new lights in the stadium, which has been something that we've needed for a while. We've had to rent lights for night games because the coverage -- those were the original lights put in I believe in the early '80s, so we're really excited to have modern, state-of-the-art LED lighting going in the stadium which should be ready for Friday night. That's a big deal.
I'm excited also about our new team store. We've partnered with Legends, which is an up-and-coming outsourcer of all apparel sales. We're still obviously an Adidas school, but the Legends family will be handling all of the team sales as well as our e-commerce, and hopefully -- I like to under-promise and over-deliver. I don't like to make big statements, but I think you'll see an improvement there, and couldn't be more happy with them.
Also really excited about having cashless payments for the first time. No more cash in the stadium, which hopefully, again, we can continually think about ways to improve our customer service, and we think that's a big deal for us, and we're excited about that, as well.
I also wanted to mention just our partnership with IU Sports Properties, which is a division of Learfield Sports. IU Sports Properties has done a phenomenal job for years, but really particularly coming out of the pandemic, we've really upped our sponsorship opportunities.
You saw that we made an announcement a few weeks back that we've partnered with Molson Coors as official beer sponsor. We're opening up that category. Just to clarify that, we still have the same beer offerings. That doesn't mean that's the only beer that will be sold here, for those of you who might be interested in that category, but we certainly are partnering with them as an official sponsor of IU athletics, and we'll be announcing later today that Upland will also be a sponsor, as well. Upland handles all of our alcohol sales at the games but they'll also be a sponsor. We separate the sales from the sponsorships. So we're really excited about that and appreciative of IU Sports Properties and the great job that they do.
Speaking specifically about football, I'm really excited about Tom and the staff and excited for the players. To be honest with you, since the Purdue game ended last year, it's been fun for me to watch Tom roll up his sleeves and then the players follow, just really get after it, and couldn't be more happy with just the process.
I'm a big process person. I think you don't just show up at the game and expect different results. You've got to put in the work, and I know Tom feels the same way. That's really what's been going on.
I think I'm probably preaching to the choir, but the new staff has just fit right in seamlessly. It feels like the staff, to be honest with you, has been here a long time, and the integration has been really great from that perspective. I'm really impressed with them.
From the players themselves, they've got an edge. You feel it. You guys cover us. I'm impressed so much with the leadership of the team.
Again, to me, winning is a product of a lot of things, and I think that process has gone well, and it starts with leadership, and I couldn't be more proud of the leadership of this team.
Not to single anybody out, but I did want to mention Tiawan Mullen. We've got really special student-athletes across the board, but Tiawan has been incredible, just for me in my position to watch him grow here and see the young man that he's become. He's probably stopped by my office, I won't exaggerate, probably 25 times since the season ended and pops by. We've established a great friendship, but he'll pop in and a lot of times he'll just ask me how I'm doing and what's going on. He attended the women's basketball late games this past season with me and went to the NCAA tournament games here. He attended the NCAA track regionals. Tiawan is just someone to me that represents all that we want in our student-athletes, and I wanted to mention him today because I think that's reflective of the culture that we're building within our football program but also just across the departments. Special shout-out to Tiawan.
With that, can't wait to kick things off on Friday night, and I'd be happy to answer any questions anyone has.
On how the department has reinvigorated the fan base after a disappointing 2021 football season…
SD: Specifically football, yeah. For us, our style or my style is not to be a big talker, to not make big projections but really just to go to work, and really last season didn't live up to our standards after coming off the seasons in 2019 and 2020 which were really record years for us back-to-back and Tom national Coach of the Year. Obviously we struggled last year.
Just like Tom and obviously what he's done with his staff and obviously with the roster, and just really evaluating our program to really get back to those standards that we set, and same thing for me and the department, whether it's our ticket office, whether it's our marketing department. Everything that we do behind the scenes to make certain that we have the program at the level we want it to be.
I couldn't be more excited come into the game this Friday night. Our fans have responded. Again, the renewal rate, quite frankly, coming off a huge year like last year from an attendance standpoint, didn't know where we'd be, but was really pleasantly surprised at the season ticket base, how they came back, and with the students up over 10 percent was a big deal. So I'm excited looking at Friday night.
On football ticket sales for the season and single game…
SD: Sure. Our renewal rate is right at 98 percent of where we were last year in total. Our students are up 10 percent, so general public is just right about there. In fact, we could close in on it this week.
The way I do it is I talk to our staff internally. Our season ticket numbers are about half the stadium, so we get up around -- our stadium seats about 52,000, we've got about 26,000 plus in season tickets sold, so we rely heavily, which we have for years, on the single game sales, and again, those are trending in a great direction.
We expect that this Friday night we'll be in the low 40s and hope to grow from there. Again, just couldn't be more appreciative of our fans.
Sometimes I think unjustly so, I think sometimes our football fans maybe take some criticism, and I don't think that is warranted at all. I think our football fans are as well as they come. Again, this year's results are a real indication of that.
On if there are one or two main areas of focus when it comes to facilities or budget expansion after the new Big Ten media rights deal was announced…
SD: Yeah, like you said, it is backloaded, and a lot of those details are still to come. But the reality is that the way things are changing and the way that our budget is just -- like many of your budgets are increasing, I feel like we've already kind of spent it in a way.
We announced this summer the Alston Award, which is an academic award that we'll award to any student-athlete who qualifies for it this year, and that's about a $3 million hit to our budget, so in a way, as we look at -- as this media rights, the details come out and as that grows over time, I feel like that will allow us to really keep pace and to be able to do things we need to do to support our student-athletes, but I really don't look at it as a real windfall.
The staff that are here, they were at our all-staff meeting this past Wednesday, that was part of my message was, because what you just asked or I think what a lot of people started thinking is that it's going to be a huge uptick at one time, and again, it's a steady stream over time, mainly backloaded, and again, a lot of that is already taken into consideration in what we're planning for the future to support our student-athletes.
On NIL at Indiana…
SD: Yeah, let me first just say we've been working on NIL -- it was a little over a year ago when NIL started, and we were working on it the year before. I'm really proud of our team internally that has done everything we can to put our student-athletes in a position for success and to maximize that opportunity.
As it relates to specifically to football, it's certainly important from a competitive standpoint that our student-athletes have success here in all our sports, but certainly football is a priority. We can only control what we can control.
I will say since you opened the door, I do want to thank all of the supporters out there who have supported NIL efforts, particularly as you said, Hoosiers For Good, who's really done some amazing things, and I know they want to continue to grow that, and I know football is important to them, as well.
Again, that's outside the athletic department, but it is something that they know it's important to us that we have success from our student-athletes, so again, as future student-athletes look at coming here, they see that there are NIL opportunities here, and we take it very seriously, and I think we're on a good track to do that.
On the expansion of alcohol sales at games…
SD: Yes, we'll continue to evaluate, and I'll say that it has gone extremely well to date. Data really shows from the time we implemented it the first year at Memorial Stadium that our incidents actually went down, our alcohol-related incidents, and I think controlling the environment has proved to be successful.
So we'll continue to evaluate.
We did announce that we expanded that to soccer. We're currently looking at Simon Scott Assembly Hall to see if that's something we may or may not do, but I am a big proponent of making certain that we're keeping up with what our fans would like to see from a fan experience standpoint. The feedback we received from our fans, even going back to the spring with baseball and softball has been really, really well received and handled really well, so we'll continue to grow that and to look at ways that we can maximize that opportunity, but keeping in mind responsibility drinking, managing the process in a way that we don't put any other fan in a precarious position by having alcohol served.
On if he prefers a national NIL model or what is in place now…
SD: Yeah, we talk about it internally seems like daily on what is the future and what's happening, because it changes it seems like every day. In terms of, again, I mentioned this earlier, the strength of the Big Ten I think is really in its people and the administrators, and we talk at length about what is the future going to look like and what should it look like.
I do know that there are really, really smart people working on the transformational committee at the NCAA level to really look at all aspects of the future of college athletics.
I do think there needs to be just personally some guardrails put on NIL so there is fair competition and it really is set up so it's not an inducement and it's not a pay for play. It'll be interesting to see where all that goes in terms of what the future will hold.
But in the meantime, what we're trying to do here is that we want to make certain that we're maximizing this opportunity within the rules that we're given for our student-athletes so that they can have success.
On what he has enjoyed most about being the athletic director…
SD: Yeah, for sure I enjoy more than anything just being around the students. Whenever it's a tough day, because we spend so much time on the business side of things, and for us here making certain that we're making the right decisions with our resources so we can certainly finish in the black but also provide the necessary resources for success, but we talk about the business so much that sometimes it's easy to forget kind of what the main thing is.
Whenever I have an opportunity, like I mentioned Tiawan stopping by my office or me to stop by a practice or run over to the Tobias Center for lunch, it definitely sounds corny, but it does make me feel like I understand the big picture here. Again, in this day and age with all the transformational change going on, sometimes it's easy to forget that.
President Whitten and I had lunch last Wednesday I believe it was with about 10 student-athletes. She was in the area, and she said, hey, do you have time for lunch, and I said, why don't we go over to the Tobias Center and have lunch with the student-athletes, and it was awesome. I talked to her afterwards, and she's kind of the same way, that she feels like on campus when she can get in the mix with the students, it really puts things in perspective.
In terms of anything surprising, really there hasn't been, although since I took over it seems like -- I should say there has been because of the pandemic and NIL and all of the transformational change, all the things that are happening, it hasn't been sort of a normal time I guess you could say, but I give Fred Glass a ton of credit that he really put me in a position as his No. 2 person or I think I learned a lot and kind of knew what to expect with the job, and so really there hasn't been a ton of surprises other than you just don't know what's going to happen next, but I guess that keeps us busy, which is good.
On if Indiana has looked to hire NIL-specific positions or firms…
SD: Yeah, we actually already have NIL-specific positions that we just kind of reassigned and worked within our current staff. On our senior team, for example, Becky Pany, who's a senior associate AD over at sports management, she really has been the quarterback of our NIL efforts and really for the past two years I guess you could say has really been working as that central person really coordinating everything.
Jeremy Gray, another senior associate AD, is really working closely with her on the brand side of things, building brands for our student-athletes so they can maximize the opportunity.
Then we have various other people. We formed an NIL task force. We bring in departmental staff and also people from across campus, Dr. Galen Clavio at the media school, Ash Soni, who's the interim dean of the Kelley School of Business, to really work on what is our vision for NIL efforts.
I think at other schools they've chosen to do it a little differently maybe and hire a specific position that's not someone within their team, but for us we just had the capacity and I felt like the talent that we really could do it internally and not have to bring in someone from the outside.
I feel like we've got probably as many if not more resources working towards NIL than anyone else and feel comfortable where we are from a staff standpoint.
On if he thinks Indiana is looking at any kind of state legislation in the NIL spaces…
SD: Yeah, great question. I think it's much easier and much more conducive for success and for consistency without a state law. I think there was sort of a panic when there wasn't a state law that we're going to be left behind, but actually being able to just follow the NCAA rules and then develop our own internal policy was a much better path for us.
I think you see it that states that have passed laws are now altering them based on how NCAA rules are interpreted or different things sort of as it's unfolded.
I think we've had a ton of support, again, across campus. I think our alumni, I mentioned the collectives, you saw the fan fest that happened with Hoosier Hysterics, and they did a terrific job with that, and I think you'll see more. We'll be aggressive as we can be within the rules to make certain our student-athletes maximize this opportunity.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
124192-1-1002 2022-08-29 17:34:00 GM
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