Indiana University Athletics
Quoted: Fall Camp Edition - Cornerbacks
8/11/2023 2:00:00 PM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – As the Indiana Football program continued the second week of fall camp, assistant head coach/cornerbacks and select defensive backs addressed the media inside Memorial Stadium on Friday (August 11).
Below is a partial transcript of the press conference, while video of the media sessions can be found on the right sidebar at IUHoosiers.com.
Brandon Shelby | Assistant Head Coach/Cornerbacks
On having a younger group in the cornerback room...
BS: It's kind of crazy. This is the first time in a long time that we haven't had anyone come back with Indiana experience. You start all over. Although you have some guys that have transferred in from other universities, who played a fair amount, they are leaving our terminology, how we do things, how we communicate, so you start from the very beginning: this is a football, this is where you line up. Then, you get into not only knowing the schemes and checks, but thinking through the game like we want you to think and how Coach G [Matt Guerrieri] thinks it out. You know, why are we calling this or when are we calling this.
It is a little bit different because the past four or five years I have had guys come back with some type of experience [in our system] and it is great for me to go back the fundamentals of coaching. At the end of the day coaching is about the corrections of errors and teaching. It has been a great deal for me to do that and I have a really good room; guys who want to learn. It's kind of crazy, you bring guys from different universities that had different goals and try to get this group to be cohesive. I'll tell you; this summer has probably been one of the best summers ... kudos to those guys. We have a long way to go, but excited for the future.
On JoJo Johnson...
BS: The good thing about JoJo is that he has all the athletic tools. The unfortunate thing was that he had to finish classes [at Iowa Western] and got in a little late. Right now, we have plenty of time and he is spending extra time getting the playbook and understanding [our defense]. It just shows how crucial summertime is, not just being around the team. Really excited about his potential. He has great athletic ability; I believe went to Notre Dame out of high school. He is a very talented young man when it comes to the athletic part of it. Now, we are just got to get it to where he can play fast and can think, go out there and make the checks and be confident in what we are doing. That is where we are at right now. I expect for him to be a contributor this year and help us meet our goals.
On the emphasis on takeaways...
BS: I think a little bit of it is making it where our checks are simple, and guys are playing fast. That 2020 year, if you go back and you look at the calls that [former defensive coordinator Kane] Wommack called, they pretty much stayed the same. We knew what the challenges were and how offenses were going to try to attack that. So [we made it so] that guys could get their eyes where they needed to be. That is where we are trying to get to right now is where are my eyes, what am I thinking and make sure that our checks aren't all over the place. We have to group them better; we have to get that better as coaches. We have done that this offseason, so hopefully those guys understand that the things that were challenging a year ago, we have made it a lot simpler. We have made it where they can go out there and when they see this particular picture they can make a check, it won't change, and then they know where the challenges are. It ain't changing every week.
That's another thing, too, that 2020 year was a special year, but things didn't change week in and week out. We came in on Monday and we knew what we were going to call on first and second down, now we had to tweak things here and there, but the overall concept of that particular defense stayed the same. We are trying to get it back there. I think we are close, and we are working hard to get these guys to play fast. I think this day in age, these offenses, they do so many different things with formations and shift, motion and move, you can't make [the defensive call] difficult. So, we want these guys to relax and run around and do what they have been blessed to do: play football. That's what we are trying to do.
Nic Toomer | R-Jr. | DB
On the transition from Stanford to Indiana…
NT: They had a lot of the same coaches from when I was in high school, so it was a pretty easy transition. They had a couple coaching changes, but for the most part Coach [Brandon] Shelby recruited me in high school. Coach [Tom] Allen recruited me in high school. I kind of knew what I was getting into as soon as I stepped in the portal, I had that instant contact with them and it always felt like home to me. So it was an easy transition.
On what he can bring to the cornerback position…
NT: It's obviously a big thing in the league right now and in every level to have long corners guarding bigger receivers. So just bringing length and physicality to the outside and experience on defense. I'm the oldest in the room right now, so just bringing experience and just knowing the game and bringing a different sense of intelligence to the DB unit.
James Monds | R-Fr. | DB
On if the recruitment of other defensive backs in Florida impacted his decision…
JM: Definitely that impacted some of my decisions just because those guys came from Florida where it's hot and sunny and obviously you don't really play in the cold. So when you come here you have other guys you can relate to. So it just gave you little tidbits to help you through your time here.
On where he improved the most since the end of last year…
JM: I'll say I improved the most just on my technique and learning the playbook as a whole. Just being able to understand different plays and seeing things before they happen. Mostly my press man [technique]. That's really what I've been improving on and that's what me and Coach [Eddie] Burk have been drilling. Just as a group in general.
Jamari Sharpe | R-Fr. | DB
On his personal growth from year one to year two in the program…
JS: In my freshman year, I came in and had dreams of thinking I can play, but I had people in front of me and I learned from them. I came back this year and now I'm better. Tiawan Mullen and Jaylin Williams both taught me the game and how to play cornerback.
On guys who have stepped up to lead the cornerback room…
JS: Kobee Minor and Nic Toomer. Both of them are veteran guys. If we're doing something wrong, they'll let us know and help us. If we don't know certain plays they'll go over different plays with us so we can get it right."
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