Indiana University Athletics
Spring Sessions: Bell/Tucker Press Conference
2/28/2023 5:00:00 PM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana football offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Walt Bell and co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach Anthony Tucker met with the media on Tuesday (Feb. 28) inside the media room in Assembly Hall.
Spring Sessions
Jaylin Lucas (1/14)
Tom Allen (1/22)
Bob Bostad (1/22)
Transfers (1/27)
Allen/Guerrieri (2/18)
Below is a partial transcript of the press conferences, while video of the full media session can be found in the links above this story or at IUHoosiers.com/watch.
Walt Bell | Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Opening Statement
WB: I get the pleasure of introducing Anthony Tucker our new wideouts coach. Coach Tucker and I have worked together twice, at two previous institutions. We worked together at Arkansas State University and then worked again together at the University of Maryland. Since that time, that was kind of the last time that we were together, he has gone on to become a co-coordinator and then a coordinator. He did a fantastic job, had an unbelievable offense his first year at Utah State. Last year, got really beat up at the quarterback position, but still found a way to a bowl game with his third and fourth string quarterback.
He's a great person. He's a great evaluator. I think one of the things Anthony does a fantastic job of is the in-person evaluation in the recruiting process, on top of being a really good recruiter. [He has] great rapport with student-athletes, and, I think, most importantly, he does a great job with the development of the players in his room; whether that be running backs when he and I were together, the quarterbacks he had at Utah State, or wideouts now. He has always done a great job with young developmental talent. Really excited to have him here, to have him with us. We feel great about our offensive staff, with the addition of Coach Bostad, and now with Coach Tucker, to go along with Coach Wright and Coach Johnson. We are really excited to start spring ball here really soon, this weekend, as a matter of fact. Appreciate you guys.
On how bringing in Anthony Tucker impacts organizational structure or duties are split between coaches…
WB: First and foremost, how excited and happy I am [to work with Anthony Tucker]. Adam Henry did an incredible job and he's a great football coach and there's a reason he's with the Buffalo Bills. I don't want to heap an amount of praise that would make anybody feel like Adam didn't do [a great job]. Adam's incredible and there's a reason he got to go back to that level of football and have a chance to win a Super Bowl.
That being said, Anthony and I have a great rapport. We've worked together for a long time. We've done a lot of the same things from a systematic standpoint. I've got ultimate faith and trust that when we go into those meetings, and we have hard choices to make, I know that it's unbiased and best for the organization and the team and the offense in general. And that's an unbelievable feeling when our offensive staff, we've got great camaraderie. Who am I to tell Bob Bostad that's not the way that we need to do it? Who am I to tell anything to a guy that two years ago had one of the best offenses in America that's not the way to do it? We've got a great staff, great camaraderie and it's only going to make us better as a football team.
Anthony Tucker | Co-Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers
Opening Statement
AT: Obviously, really excited to be here and enjoying Coach Allen's staff. He has put together a great staff. I have not been here that long, but very impressed with how Coach Allen runs his program. I do have familiarity with Coach Allen, actually last time I was here in Bloomington we took a nice [loss] to Coach Allen. I have always had respect for the way he runs his program and the way his players play. In the short time I have had an opportunity to spend time with him, there are a lot of like-minded things, he believes a lot of the same things that I believe in. Again, just really excited to be here.
On what drew him to Indiana…
AT: I think the biggest thing is I believe in investing in people. Everyone in the process of getting to know someone, they're going to, you have a point of reference when you're speaking to someone and also the longer you're in this profession, the circles are smaller, so I couldn't find anyone to say anything different than what I was led to believe in the conversations that I had with Coach Allen. I truly believe in people. People will make or break your experience, just in life in general. I think from my assessment, he's about the right things: how he builds his program, how he invests in young people. I believe in a lot of the same things. So, football aside, obviously there's the football checks and balances and things you need to go through to make sure that you're a good fit but I really believe it's about people and I think that's most impressive about him.
On what he has learned about adjusting offense from job to job or week to week...
AT: I mean that's, that's really important ... Each week is independent of the last, offensively you're facing a lot of different things. There're more and more defenses that are getting thrown at you, but at the end of the day it comes down to players make plays. Sometimes you have to know when to pull back, you have to understand what your personnel is and what they can't do and can do really well. So, just throughout my experience, different conferences, different levels, and things like that, you want to give yourself the best chance to first and foremost for your players to have success and ultimately have team success, to play complementary football in some ways and being able to tuck your ego at times.
I think to do what's best for the team situationally and as a whole. No matter how long you do this there's a ton of learning lessons in that regard to personnel. It's a year-around deal, it doesn't matter who you are, you're going to have attrition. If you can't make adjustments or be willing to make adjustments, you're going to be uphill a lot. There's not a team in the country that's dealt with attrition on every level.
On his coaching background and offensive philosophy…
AT: I've been fortunate to have the opportunity to coach a bunch of different positions. There are times where there are some guys that have coached the same position their entire career. I think just being given the opportunity throughout my career to coach different positions and gain knowledge in different areas has allowed me a broader spectrum of being able to put the picture together a little bit and giving me a lot more perspective. At the end of the day, it's eleven guys working together, so with that experience I have a better gauge on how the pieces fit.
Offensive philosophy is score points, don't turn the ball over, explosive [plays], whatever that looks like. Just going back to the previous question, there's times where that's just going to look different. Sometimes you can spread it out, throw it all over the yard based off what the defense is giving you, at times maybe you're in a tempo offense, at other times maybe you're in different personnel and you're running the football. So, I think it's just a matter of understanding what your identity is, the things you can and can't do, and what gives you the best opportunity on Saturday to score points, don't turn the ball over and come out with a win.
On his background with Walt Bell...
AT: It's just what you said man, we've worked together for so long and coached so many games together. In the extent of our [background], we've spent a lot of time together as coaches. It's not just the [on field] relationship, it extends beyond the football field. There's great chemistry there, he and I are going to be on the same page, sometimes unspoken because we've done it together before and then we're going to be able to explore new things together.
This game is constantly evolving, we're both evolving and, in this profession, no matter how long you're in this game and that respect. But first and foremost, we just have great chemistry working together. Familiarity is really important. There's more recall than introducing new things, you know what I mean? And as we move forward and explore new things together that makes it easier there because lines of communication have already been established.
Spring Sessions
Jaylin Lucas (1/14)
Tom Allen (1/22)
Bob Bostad (1/22)
Transfers (1/27)
Allen/Guerrieri (2/18)
Below is a partial transcript of the press conferences, while video of the full media session can be found in the links above this story or at IUHoosiers.com/watch.
Walt Bell | Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Opening Statement
WB: I get the pleasure of introducing Anthony Tucker our new wideouts coach. Coach Tucker and I have worked together twice, at two previous institutions. We worked together at Arkansas State University and then worked again together at the University of Maryland. Since that time, that was kind of the last time that we were together, he has gone on to become a co-coordinator and then a coordinator. He did a fantastic job, had an unbelievable offense his first year at Utah State. Last year, got really beat up at the quarterback position, but still found a way to a bowl game with his third and fourth string quarterback.
He's a great person. He's a great evaluator. I think one of the things Anthony does a fantastic job of is the in-person evaluation in the recruiting process, on top of being a really good recruiter. [He has] great rapport with student-athletes, and, I think, most importantly, he does a great job with the development of the players in his room; whether that be running backs when he and I were together, the quarterbacks he had at Utah State, or wideouts now. He has always done a great job with young developmental talent. Really excited to have him here, to have him with us. We feel great about our offensive staff, with the addition of Coach Bostad, and now with Coach Tucker, to go along with Coach Wright and Coach Johnson. We are really excited to start spring ball here really soon, this weekend, as a matter of fact. Appreciate you guys.
On how bringing in Anthony Tucker impacts organizational structure or duties are split between coaches…
WB: First and foremost, how excited and happy I am [to work with Anthony Tucker]. Adam Henry did an incredible job and he's a great football coach and there's a reason he's with the Buffalo Bills. I don't want to heap an amount of praise that would make anybody feel like Adam didn't do [a great job]. Adam's incredible and there's a reason he got to go back to that level of football and have a chance to win a Super Bowl.
That being said, Anthony and I have a great rapport. We've worked together for a long time. We've done a lot of the same things from a systematic standpoint. I've got ultimate faith and trust that when we go into those meetings, and we have hard choices to make, I know that it's unbiased and best for the organization and the team and the offense in general. And that's an unbelievable feeling when our offensive staff, we've got great camaraderie. Who am I to tell Bob Bostad that's not the way that we need to do it? Who am I to tell anything to a guy that two years ago had one of the best offenses in America that's not the way to do it? We've got a great staff, great camaraderie and it's only going to make us better as a football team.
Anthony Tucker | Co-Offensive Coordinator/Wide Receivers
Opening Statement
AT: Obviously, really excited to be here and enjoying Coach Allen's staff. He has put together a great staff. I have not been here that long, but very impressed with how Coach Allen runs his program. I do have familiarity with Coach Allen, actually last time I was here in Bloomington we took a nice [loss] to Coach Allen. I have always had respect for the way he runs his program and the way his players play. In the short time I have had an opportunity to spend time with him, there are a lot of like-minded things, he believes a lot of the same things that I believe in. Again, just really excited to be here.
On what drew him to Indiana…
AT: I think the biggest thing is I believe in investing in people. Everyone in the process of getting to know someone, they're going to, you have a point of reference when you're speaking to someone and also the longer you're in this profession, the circles are smaller, so I couldn't find anyone to say anything different than what I was led to believe in the conversations that I had with Coach Allen. I truly believe in people. People will make or break your experience, just in life in general. I think from my assessment, he's about the right things: how he builds his program, how he invests in young people. I believe in a lot of the same things. So, football aside, obviously there's the football checks and balances and things you need to go through to make sure that you're a good fit but I really believe it's about people and I think that's most impressive about him.
On what he has learned about adjusting offense from job to job or week to week...
AT: I mean that's, that's really important ... Each week is independent of the last, offensively you're facing a lot of different things. There're more and more defenses that are getting thrown at you, but at the end of the day it comes down to players make plays. Sometimes you have to know when to pull back, you have to understand what your personnel is and what they can't do and can do really well. So, just throughout my experience, different conferences, different levels, and things like that, you want to give yourself the best chance to first and foremost for your players to have success and ultimately have team success, to play complementary football in some ways and being able to tuck your ego at times.
I think to do what's best for the team situationally and as a whole. No matter how long you do this there's a ton of learning lessons in that regard to personnel. It's a year-around deal, it doesn't matter who you are, you're going to have attrition. If you can't make adjustments or be willing to make adjustments, you're going to be uphill a lot. There's not a team in the country that's dealt with attrition on every level.
On his coaching background and offensive philosophy…
AT: I've been fortunate to have the opportunity to coach a bunch of different positions. There are times where there are some guys that have coached the same position their entire career. I think just being given the opportunity throughout my career to coach different positions and gain knowledge in different areas has allowed me a broader spectrum of being able to put the picture together a little bit and giving me a lot more perspective. At the end of the day, it's eleven guys working together, so with that experience I have a better gauge on how the pieces fit.
Offensive philosophy is score points, don't turn the ball over, explosive [plays], whatever that looks like. Just going back to the previous question, there's times where that's just going to look different. Sometimes you can spread it out, throw it all over the yard based off what the defense is giving you, at times maybe you're in a tempo offense, at other times maybe you're in different personnel and you're running the football. So, I think it's just a matter of understanding what your identity is, the things you can and can't do, and what gives you the best opportunity on Saturday to score points, don't turn the ball over and come out with a win.
On his background with Walt Bell...
AT: It's just what you said man, we've worked together for so long and coached so many games together. In the extent of our [background], we've spent a lot of time together as coaches. It's not just the [on field] relationship, it extends beyond the football field. There's great chemistry there, he and I are going to be on the same page, sometimes unspoken because we've done it together before and then we're going to be able to explore new things together.
This game is constantly evolving, we're both evolving and, in this profession, no matter how long you're in this game and that respect. But first and foremost, we just have great chemistry working together. Familiarity is really important. There's more recall than introducing new things, you know what I mean? And as we move forward and explore new things together that makes it easier there because lines of communication have already been established.
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