Indiana University Athletics
Quoted: Fall Camp Edition - Tom Allen & Matt Guerrieri
8/16/2023 3:00:00 PM | Football
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – As the Indiana Football program continued the third week of fall camp, head coach Tom Allen and co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Matt Guerrieri addressed the media inside Memorial Stadium on Wednesday (August 16).
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.
Tom Allen | Head Coach
On assessing on the various position battles…
TA: I think that if you start up front, I think it's becoming a little more clear on some of those guys on both sides. On offense, you've got a lot of guys who have been here and are playing. These last couple of practices we've mixed some guys from tackle to guard, and guard to tackle, to continue to create that depth. At the end of the day, you're always try to play your best five. Kahlil Benson can play guard and tackle, Josh Sales can play guard, Matt Bedford can play guard and tackle. Just trying to find the best combination. With Max (Longman) in the rotation, Mike Katic play center at times and (Zach) Carpenter can play guard. That position flexibility, we're working through that right now and I think that's important.
Defensively, we do have more bigger bodies that we can rotate, and keeping those guys fresh is going to be a priority. I think you're kind of getting to those eight to nine guys that you're going to rotate there that we feel good about. Those guys you saw in the scrimmage, they just have to continue to develop. I do think we as a staff are getting closer into the ones and the twos, who those guys are and who the rotational guys will be. The defensive line is one of those where you're going to just play a lot of guys. I think the position demands that with the way we want to play and how we do things, and we rotate them, so that's pretty consistent there. With receiver, I think Omar Cooper continues to make more plays, E.J. (Williams) is showing up and making plays, D-Mac (Donaven McCulley) is continuing and DQ (DeQuece Carter) those guys and Andison (Coby), it's a lot of guys there that we're counting on. Obviously, Cam Camper he is a special talent, and he continues to bring his rep base along to allow him to continue to grow and develop. We're going to play a lot of guys at receiver and Kam Perry is another one, too. All those guys are going to play, and we expect them to play, so I don't know that we have it all fleshed out on who the starters are, I really don't think about it like that in a lot of ways, it's just who is going to be out there on the field to help us win.
On any changes to the plan or surprises through fall camp…
TA: We're sticking pretty much to the plan in regards to where we're at. Big emphasis these next few days on end of game situations and true situations over time for how you finish out games. That to me, has kind of gone from the scheme emphasis in the whole installation to now more situational things, growing in number. One guy that sticks out to me that has been a pleasant surprise is Lanell Carr. He's really shown a very, very instinctual knack for getting to the quarterback. I think that's a huge thing we brought him here for. I think as he's bought into the training, bought into the disciplines of what we think it takes to be a special player here and in the Big Ten, you've seen him grow in his knowledge of the defense and you need that. He and Myles (Jackson) have really sharpened each other, in a huge way. I think Anthony Jones has really started to come on. He's now getting into several days of playing the bull and the will position in the different things we use him for. We have really seen a lot of growth from him there. I think Nic Toomer is another one that sticks out to me that has been just really, really growing and elevating himself these last few practices.
Offensively, I just would like to continue to see our guys up front. I think our ability to emphasize running the football and throwing the football effectively. We've got two quarterbacks that I know are young and they've got things they've got to learn, but you can see signs of them being able to do some really good things. I like our running back room, a guy that jumps out to me is Christian Turner. He hasn't been out there full-go as he will here as he continues to get healthier. We know what we got in Jaylin (Lucas) and Josh (Henderson) and I just think having a third or fourth guy, Trent (Howland) has really come along as well, David Holloman missed a little bit these last couple days, but he's back now and he has had his best camp. I feel like those are spots that have been what you want them to be. We want guys to elevate, and we've got several guys we feel that can help us be successful.
Matt Guerrieri | Co-Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
On how Lanell Carr Jr. has been standing out in practice…
MG: He's done a great job at camp. He's high energy. You can feel him on the practice field. He brings physicality and pass rush ability which is unique to have that combination. He's done a really good job on the edge for us, so we're really excited about what he's proven in camp and we expect him to continue to do.
On the game plan changing week to week…
MG: It starts with the system. Coach Allen has a system. There's fundamentals of how we play defense, of how we stop the run, pressure the quarterback and stop the throw game. So you start with a system. The tweaks to me, are week-to-week in the game plan are twofold. What does the opponent do best and how do you limit that? What do we do the best? So that's part of the process of learning the players, new faces and new bodies that are here to transfer and figure out what do those guys do best and, how do we highlight that? But, definitely what does the opponent do? This is a pro style system. How do those function. How do you live it from there? We have a system in place with Coach Allen whose system has been here a long time.
On the evaluation of his defense against the offense…
MG: It's been great. I've enjoyed coming in and learning here and being able to apply that and teach the players. To me, no matter when it's been in my career, you take the emotion out of it and your objective. It doesn't matter if you're in my past at Duke or other places. What do the numbers show? Was it successful or was it not successful? Whether it's a normal amount of distance, a red zone opportunity, a backup situation, a two-minute to win a game.
Then you say what worked and what didn't and, why? So, to me, that's the objective side of things. It's black and white. There's no gray between was it a lack of understanding to fail? Was it a poor call in that situation or some asking a player to do something he can't do? Those are all things we try to live to eliminate before it's real and live in there. But I would say take the emotion out of the objective. No ego. We lock our move in there as a defensive staff and, we address it and move forward. But it's been awesome. It's been a great group of guys to work with and to know our guys are trending in the right direction.
#GoIU
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.
Tom Allen | Head Coach
On assessing on the various position battles…
TA: I think that if you start up front, I think it's becoming a little more clear on some of those guys on both sides. On offense, you've got a lot of guys who have been here and are playing. These last couple of practices we've mixed some guys from tackle to guard, and guard to tackle, to continue to create that depth. At the end of the day, you're always try to play your best five. Kahlil Benson can play guard and tackle, Josh Sales can play guard, Matt Bedford can play guard and tackle. Just trying to find the best combination. With Max (Longman) in the rotation, Mike Katic play center at times and (Zach) Carpenter can play guard. That position flexibility, we're working through that right now and I think that's important.
Defensively, we do have more bigger bodies that we can rotate, and keeping those guys fresh is going to be a priority. I think you're kind of getting to those eight to nine guys that you're going to rotate there that we feel good about. Those guys you saw in the scrimmage, they just have to continue to develop. I do think we as a staff are getting closer into the ones and the twos, who those guys are and who the rotational guys will be. The defensive line is one of those where you're going to just play a lot of guys. I think the position demands that with the way we want to play and how we do things, and we rotate them, so that's pretty consistent there. With receiver, I think Omar Cooper continues to make more plays, E.J. (Williams) is showing up and making plays, D-Mac (Donaven McCulley) is continuing and DQ (DeQuece Carter) those guys and Andison (Coby), it's a lot of guys there that we're counting on. Obviously, Cam Camper he is a special talent, and he continues to bring his rep base along to allow him to continue to grow and develop. We're going to play a lot of guys at receiver and Kam Perry is another one, too. All those guys are going to play, and we expect them to play, so I don't know that we have it all fleshed out on who the starters are, I really don't think about it like that in a lot of ways, it's just who is going to be out there on the field to help us win.
On any changes to the plan or surprises through fall camp…
TA: We're sticking pretty much to the plan in regards to where we're at. Big emphasis these next few days on end of game situations and true situations over time for how you finish out games. That to me, has kind of gone from the scheme emphasis in the whole installation to now more situational things, growing in number. One guy that sticks out to me that has been a pleasant surprise is Lanell Carr. He's really shown a very, very instinctual knack for getting to the quarterback. I think that's a huge thing we brought him here for. I think as he's bought into the training, bought into the disciplines of what we think it takes to be a special player here and in the Big Ten, you've seen him grow in his knowledge of the defense and you need that. He and Myles (Jackson) have really sharpened each other, in a huge way. I think Anthony Jones has really started to come on. He's now getting into several days of playing the bull and the will position in the different things we use him for. We have really seen a lot of growth from him there. I think Nic Toomer is another one that sticks out to me that has been just really, really growing and elevating himself these last few practices.
Offensively, I just would like to continue to see our guys up front. I think our ability to emphasize running the football and throwing the football effectively. We've got two quarterbacks that I know are young and they've got things they've got to learn, but you can see signs of them being able to do some really good things. I like our running back room, a guy that jumps out to me is Christian Turner. He hasn't been out there full-go as he will here as he continues to get healthier. We know what we got in Jaylin (Lucas) and Josh (Henderson) and I just think having a third or fourth guy, Trent (Howland) has really come along as well, David Holloman missed a little bit these last couple days, but he's back now and he has had his best camp. I feel like those are spots that have been what you want them to be. We want guys to elevate, and we've got several guys we feel that can help us be successful.
Matt Guerrieri | Co-Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
On how Lanell Carr Jr. has been standing out in practice…
MG: He's done a great job at camp. He's high energy. You can feel him on the practice field. He brings physicality and pass rush ability which is unique to have that combination. He's done a really good job on the edge for us, so we're really excited about what he's proven in camp and we expect him to continue to do.
On the game plan changing week to week…
MG: It starts with the system. Coach Allen has a system. There's fundamentals of how we play defense, of how we stop the run, pressure the quarterback and stop the throw game. So you start with a system. The tweaks to me, are week-to-week in the game plan are twofold. What does the opponent do best and how do you limit that? What do we do the best? So that's part of the process of learning the players, new faces and new bodies that are here to transfer and figure out what do those guys do best and, how do we highlight that? But, definitely what does the opponent do? This is a pro style system. How do those function. How do you live it from there? We have a system in place with Coach Allen whose system has been here a long time.
On the evaluation of his defense against the offense…
MG: It's been great. I've enjoyed coming in and learning here and being able to apply that and teach the players. To me, no matter when it's been in my career, you take the emotion out of it and your objective. It doesn't matter if you're in my past at Duke or other places. What do the numbers show? Was it successful or was it not successful? Whether it's a normal amount of distance, a red zone opportunity, a backup situation, a two-minute to win a game.
Then you say what worked and what didn't and, why? So, to me, that's the objective side of things. It's black and white. There's no gray between was it a lack of understanding to fail? Was it a poor call in that situation or some asking a player to do something he can't do? Those are all things we try to live to eliminate before it's real and live in there. But I would say take the emotion out of the objective. No ego. We lock our move in there as a defensive staff and, we address it and move forward. But it's been awesome. It's been a great group of guys to work with and to know our guys are trending in the right direction.
#GoIU
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