Why is Bradley Jennings Jr. a Hoosier? Because He Cares

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The text came at 1:30 in the morning. Chad Wilt wasn't surprised.

Bradley Jennings Jr. leaves that kind of impression.

This was Sunday and Wilt, Indiana's defensive coordinator, was awake. How could he not be given the Hoosiers had wrapped up their Illinois victory thriller just 90 minutes earlier?

Still, it seemed time to wind down, or at least take a brief football break.

Jennings Jr.'s text showed the senior linebacker had other ideas.

"He texted about the things he needs to do better," Wilt says. "He initiated it. He said, 'Coach, I know I have to get better at this and we have to work on that.'"

The 6-1, 209-pound Jennings Jr., a transfer from the University of Miami, had six tackles against Illinois, including a key second-quarter sack during his Hoosier debut. It was the fourth sack of his career.

He wants more.

"He's on a mission," Wilt says. "He knows what he wants to get done, where he wants to go and how he needs to go about his business.

"He has a great mindset. If he keeps putting in the work, he'll continue to get better and help us win games."

Jennings Jr. certainly helped on Friday night. His sack made the post-game team highlight film, becoming a coaching point on how individual success is predicated by team execution, and vice versa.

"When you do the little things right," Wilt says, "WE have success at defense.

"There's another (IU) player on that (sack) who took away the first option of the quarterback. That allowed Bradley to make that play. He made the play, but WE made the play as a defense.

"We try to emphasize that. When WE do the right things and WE do the little things right, we're a real good defense. When we have some of those breakdowns, whether it's tackling or missed assignments, we're not as good a defense. We continue to stress that."

Jennings Jr. arrived in Bloomington last January with difference-making experience. He totaled 68 tackles and three sacks in 35 games (11 starts) at Miami. That included six tackles against No. 1 Alabama last year and a career-high seven tackles against No. 1 Clemson in 2020.

Jennings Jr. was a big get as head coach Tom Allen built a defense designed to return to his attack-and-takeaway roots.

What did Allen see in him?

"The surge to the ball, the burst to the ball, the acceleration, the violence he has," Allen says. "He's a powerful kid. He's a good tackler. But he's playing his first game with us in a new system. It showed up a little bit in some of his fits. But I tell you what, he's a really good kid that loves football. I mean, he loves it and studies it, cares a whole lot."

Allen turns historian to reflect on President Abraham Lincoln's quest to find the right general to lead the North to victory in the Civil War. After numerous failed attempts, he finally found the right man in Ulysses S. Grant.

That was part of a team book reading during August camp.

Lincoln talked about why he picked Grant.

"He picked several (earlier) generals and it didn't go well," Allen says. "So he had to pick another one, and another one.

"(Lincoln) was asked, before the end of the war, why he thought Grant was going to be successful. He said, 'Because he cares as much as I do, and he's going to fight.'"

That quickly became a theme Allen used with the Hoosiers.

"I said, 'I want to find a bunch of players and coaches that care like I do and want to fight. They want to fight to find a way to get to the ball carrier on defense or stay on that block on offense or make that play as a receiver or make that throw as a quarterback."

Then Allen circles back to Jennings Jr.

"I think Bradley cares. And he plays his tail off."

That's what Allen wants from all his players -- the ones here now, the ones who one day will be.

"We want to find guys like that. We've been asked a million times how do you bring in new guys and get them to buy into your culture? It's not easy. You don't know them as long, it's a shorter process and it's a tough judgment call. But those are the things we're looking for because, to me, that's what shows up out on that field when it matters.

"There are a lot of kids across the country. How do you get the right guys that want to come here and you want them and they want you and get that combination? It comes down to guys that want to work. We've got a lot of guys who are like that."

To win, Allen says, it's about, "Coming together, fighting together, stringing together, working together and finding players like Bradley that want to be here and want to play their tails off for the guys around them.

"That's what he brings."

Indiana University Athletics

Why is Bradley Jennings Jr. a Hoosier? Because He Cares

Related News

Players Mentioned

Bradley Jennings Jr.

Related Videos