Indiana University Athletics
Quoted: Fall Camp Edition - Tom Allen
8/12/2023 10:00:00 AM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana Football program held its first scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday (August 12). Head coach Tom Allen addressed the media inside Memorial Stadium prior to the start of the scrimmage.
Below is a full transcript of the press conference, while video of the media sessions can be found on the right sidebar at IUHoosiers.com.
Tom Allen | Head Coach
On how you evaluate player performance in practice vs. scrimmage settings…
TA: It's about how can you make it as close to game day as you possibly can. When those situations happen, that's where your evaluation is the most valuable. This past week we had third-and-short goal line, full-go-live, so I thought that was great. Two-minute situations, I think we can evaluate live because of the clock and the pressure with that. The rest of that, a lot of it is going to be today. Position battles how do guys perform, we call this preseason game No. 1 so how you perform today, it's going to be a big deal.
On how this scrimmage differs from others…
TA: The goal for today is to go 50-50 between the two quarterbacks. It's purely the ones going the same number of times, the two going the same number of times. They're the only two guys who are going to take snaps today. We want to get as many game-like situations as we can. They're the exact same age and both young. We have a set number that we save for each group, for each section and we'll wait until we get to that point before we switch to the next one.
On if the quarterbacks will be tackled during the scrimmage…
TA: They're not live, so it'll be similar to they'll just tag off on them. For pocket presence, we use the flags. We're trying to, without hitting them, we're trying to compress the pocket a little bit on them and make them feel that pressure, so we use the flags out there to give them the pocket presence.
On recruiting Kamryn Perry when he was in high school and bringing him here…
TA: We were just looking for more dynamic players and I loved the burst that he had. I knew he was playing high-level high school football against top talent in the country, and he impressed me on his ability to make plays in space. His ball skills were really elite, and I felt like that he had a burst in him that we wanted and was fast. It was more speed and athleticism, he was a little undersized, which probably affected where he was being recruited to, but at the same time we've had some really good players that were a little undersized here. He fit the bill and we went after him.
On how Kobee Minor has grown into a leadership role with the cornerbacks…
TA: He's a very confident guy, but he is kind of quiet. When a guy comes in new, he kind of feels himself out a little bit as far as with the group. The smart ones know not to say too much too soon. He did a good job with that, but then with his work ethic, he's a talented player, he's got swank to him, he's got some good size to him and he can run. When he came here, I had that expectation. We felt like he was a guy that had a chance to really come here and do some great things. I think once that all comes together, and you prove yourself, I tell these guys 'you need to run that room' you need to be the leader of that position group, don't worry about giving pregame speeches, not trying to run the whole defense, but you be the leader outside of football of your position group. So, he's responded to that, and he's got a great personality and he's a good player.
On if the scrimmage is a test for the coaching staff…
TA: I will say this, because you want to see how, what they call, how they respond when things aren't scripted. And today, a lot won't be scripted. So, that's a really good test for both sides.
On the new clock rules…
TA: It'll be the first time we will have the mechanics of it. So, I'm looking forward to that part, too. We had the Big Ten officials here last night talking to our team, going through all that progression. Obviously, within the last two minutes of the half in the game it's the same as it used to be, but up to that point, the clock's going to run. So, that will be different. This will be the first time I'll have that done.
On his main concerns for defense going into the scrimmage…
TA: First of all, tackling, just because we haven't done a lot, so I want to see us tackle that during the live periods. That's going to be a big emphasis on me. Block destruction, so getting off blocks, how well we can do that and how well we can tackle because to me that is the essence of defense.
On who is not participating in the scrimmage…
TA: Christian Turner. Nothing serious, but he's not going to go [play] today and Kobee Minor is not going to go (play) today, but they should be back Monday and Nico (Nicolas Radicic), one of our kickers is nursing something, so he's not going to kick today, but, I tell you Alex (Quintero) has kicked really well and, he and Chris (Freeman) are battling as well, but those will be the three guys that are not going to go.
On how important it is for the kickers to get live reps…
TA: It's a big deal today to me. I want them to feel the pressure of the situation. You know you're on the sideline, you're kicking, you don't run out there and kick three or four in a row. It's true, game-like situation. So, how they handle that and how they perform. So, to me, it's just being the best when it counts the most. That's what they got to do. So yeah, today's a big evaluation for our kickers.
On how big the weather can be during the scrimmage…
Very good thing, we are staying out in it, regardless. Unless there is lightning, then we will go indoors, but there is not going to be any lightning delays today. So, if there's lightning we'll go to the indoor (practice field), but I hope it rains. We had a rain practice which was good. The more you get, the better.
On which situations are live…
TA: We're going live for the punts. We're not going to go live field goals.
On fall camp live situations…
TA: We will occasionally do third-and-short live. Usually, the short yardage goal line, it's hard to do those without going live.
On which depth chart groups are competing today…
TA: It'll be mostly ones against ones, but you could see some mixing out there a little bit.
Below is a full transcript of the press conference, while video of the media sessions can be found on the right sidebar at IUHoosiers.com.
Tom Allen | Head Coach
On how you evaluate player performance in practice vs. scrimmage settings…
TA: It's about how can you make it as close to game day as you possibly can. When those situations happen, that's where your evaluation is the most valuable. This past week we had third-and-short goal line, full-go-live, so I thought that was great. Two-minute situations, I think we can evaluate live because of the clock and the pressure with that. The rest of that, a lot of it is going to be today. Position battles how do guys perform, we call this preseason game No. 1 so how you perform today, it's going to be a big deal.
On how this scrimmage differs from others…
TA: The goal for today is to go 50-50 between the two quarterbacks. It's purely the ones going the same number of times, the two going the same number of times. They're the only two guys who are going to take snaps today. We want to get as many game-like situations as we can. They're the exact same age and both young. We have a set number that we save for each group, for each section and we'll wait until we get to that point before we switch to the next one.
On if the quarterbacks will be tackled during the scrimmage…
TA: They're not live, so it'll be similar to they'll just tag off on them. For pocket presence, we use the flags. We're trying to, without hitting them, we're trying to compress the pocket a little bit on them and make them feel that pressure, so we use the flags out there to give them the pocket presence.
On recruiting Kamryn Perry when he was in high school and bringing him here…
TA: We were just looking for more dynamic players and I loved the burst that he had. I knew he was playing high-level high school football against top talent in the country, and he impressed me on his ability to make plays in space. His ball skills were really elite, and I felt like that he had a burst in him that we wanted and was fast. It was more speed and athleticism, he was a little undersized, which probably affected where he was being recruited to, but at the same time we've had some really good players that were a little undersized here. He fit the bill and we went after him.
On how Kobee Minor has grown into a leadership role with the cornerbacks…
TA: He's a very confident guy, but he is kind of quiet. When a guy comes in new, he kind of feels himself out a little bit as far as with the group. The smart ones know not to say too much too soon. He did a good job with that, but then with his work ethic, he's a talented player, he's got swank to him, he's got some good size to him and he can run. When he came here, I had that expectation. We felt like he was a guy that had a chance to really come here and do some great things. I think once that all comes together, and you prove yourself, I tell these guys 'you need to run that room' you need to be the leader of that position group, don't worry about giving pregame speeches, not trying to run the whole defense, but you be the leader outside of football of your position group. So, he's responded to that, and he's got a great personality and he's a good player.
On if the scrimmage is a test for the coaching staff…
TA: I will say this, because you want to see how, what they call, how they respond when things aren't scripted. And today, a lot won't be scripted. So, that's a really good test for both sides.
On the new clock rules…
TA: It'll be the first time we will have the mechanics of it. So, I'm looking forward to that part, too. We had the Big Ten officials here last night talking to our team, going through all that progression. Obviously, within the last two minutes of the half in the game it's the same as it used to be, but up to that point, the clock's going to run. So, that will be different. This will be the first time I'll have that done.
On his main concerns for defense going into the scrimmage…
TA: First of all, tackling, just because we haven't done a lot, so I want to see us tackle that during the live periods. That's going to be a big emphasis on me. Block destruction, so getting off blocks, how well we can do that and how well we can tackle because to me that is the essence of defense.
On who is not participating in the scrimmage…
TA: Christian Turner. Nothing serious, but he's not going to go [play] today and Kobee Minor is not going to go (play) today, but they should be back Monday and Nico (Nicolas Radicic), one of our kickers is nursing something, so he's not going to kick today, but, I tell you Alex (Quintero) has kicked really well and, he and Chris (Freeman) are battling as well, but those will be the three guys that are not going to go.
On how important it is for the kickers to get live reps…
TA: It's a big deal today to me. I want them to feel the pressure of the situation. You know you're on the sideline, you're kicking, you don't run out there and kick three or four in a row. It's true, game-like situation. So, how they handle that and how they perform. So, to me, it's just being the best when it counts the most. That's what they got to do. So yeah, today's a big evaluation for our kickers.
On how big the weather can be during the scrimmage…
Very good thing, we are staying out in it, regardless. Unless there is lightning, then we will go indoors, but there is not going to be any lightning delays today. So, if there's lightning we'll go to the indoor (practice field), but I hope it rains. We had a rain practice which was good. The more you get, the better.
On which situations are live…
TA: We're going live for the punts. We're not going to go live field goals.
On fall camp live situations…
TA: We will occasionally do third-and-short live. Usually, the short yardage goal line, it's hard to do those without going live.
On which depth chart groups are competing today…
TA: It'll be mostly ones against ones, but you could see some mixing out there a little bit.
Players Mentioned
DB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
K
/ Football
RB
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