Fall Camp Begins -- New Methods, Same Winning Goals
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana’s August fall camp has arrived, a Sept. 2 season-opener against Ohio State looms, and Cream & Crimson priorities are everywhere you look with one ultimate objective:
Win.
Step one, head coach Tom Allen says via camp-opening Zoom availability, is build team depth.
Step two, use a different practice approach to accomplish that, one focused on maximizing development and intensity while keeping everyone healthy and fresh.
“At the end of the day,” Allen says, “you want to get as many guys prepared as possible. You have your installation you go through every day on all three phases (offensive, defense, special teams).
“We’re counting on that need to be ready to play at a high level on Week One. We want to maximize those reps, that time in the film room, in walk-throughs.”
One camp change is turning afternoon practices into afternoon walk-throughs for the first six practices, and then jog-throughs after that.
“Those are really critical reps that we have to have,” Allen says. “Those practices are scripted and structured. You're just not running during that time. It's all mental reps to get their bodies a chance to recover.
“Everything we do is building team depth to get to the point where we execute at a high level. We want to create momentum every week.”
To maximize player development, IU is implementing a “two-spot method” during camp. The No. 1 and No. 4 players at a position are in one group, No. 2 and No. 3 in the other. Players are rapidly rotated with the coaches in the middle to see everyone and everything. It gives more players more reps and opportunities to grow.
“We’re going to do a great job of coaching those reps and getting things corrected,” Allen says, “but you double the reps for guys, double the amount of people getting reps. I’m excited about that.”
Allen is determined to regain the winning-record form from the 2019 and ’20 seasons. The key reasons for that success, he says, were a strong performance in turnover ratio, the ability to win close games, and staying healthy.
The Hoosiers struggled in those areas the last two seasons.
“We have to get back to playing team football, complementary team football,” Allen says. “Finding a way to stay healthy is a big emphasis.”
So is team building and leadership development.
“We had a tight group of guys in those two seasons,” Allen says. “That’s very critical.”
Finally, it’s building a tough-minded, fourth-quarter approach. IU had eight games decided in the fourth quarter last season and won just three of them during a 4-8 season.
“We’ll do drills and activities that simulate game situations to finish out drives, to finish out two-minute situations, to finish out the fourth quarter,” Allen says.
“We challenged our guys since the beginning of the semester in January all the way up to this summer (about the fourth quarter). We’re going to emphasize it throughout fall camp. To win those fourth quarters and do a great job of playing with more consistency is going to be the focus.”
Finding a starting quarterback is crucial to team success. There’s talent, but limited college experience, with Tayven Jackson, Brendan Sorsby, and Broc Lowry leading the way. They’ve combined for six college completions.
Dexter Williams II emerged as the starter last season before a knee injury sidelined him. He is expected to return sometime this season.
Allen says the unique things about this competition compared to previous ones is that the top candidates, Jackson and Sorsby, are redshirt freshmen who get along extremely well.
While everyone in every competition talks togetherness, it often is just talk.
Not in this case, Allen says.
“There's a natural tension because it's competition,” he says. “They're competitive guys, but, man, they spend a lot of time together doing things away from football. They’ve developed a strong relationship, which I think is really important.
“It's not always that way. Sometimes it's cordial. It's what it needs to be in front of everybody else. I think those guys enjoy being around each other. That is unique. I’m anxious to see them compete every day.”
Allen is high on the running back and defensive line positions.
Veteran running backs Josh Henderson, Jaylin Lucas, David Holloman, and Trent Howland mix with Wake Forest transfer Christian Turner to provide power, speed, versatility, and depth.
“I'm really excited about our running back room,” Allen says. “We’ve added some maturity there.
“Josh has really honed in on being a strong leader. It’s the way he handles his business as a pro. He's just such an attention-to-detail guy. He’s gotten bigger, stronger, and faster.
“I expect them to all contribute. It's a group that's got a lot of experience. There are some explosive guys. They are bigger, stronger, more powerful than they were a year ago.”
Six new defensive linemen were added via the transfer portal, including Andre Carter of Western Michigan, Philip Blidi of Texas Tech, and Marcus Burris Jr. of Texas A&M.
“Physically, the line looks different, bigger,” Allen says. “Guys have a lot more mass that we needed. Guys that have played Division I football at a high level. Power Five conference guys. It’s the biggest change we made on the roster.
“A guy like Andre is coming from the MAC level where he has an opportunity to prove himself in the Big Ten. I really like that room.”
The offensive line got a transfer boost from Max Longman of Massachusetts and Noah Bolticoff from TCU.
“We know up front is a big deal,” Allen says. “It’s a priority for us. We have guys that need to step up and help us, 300-pound guys that have played Division I football.”
Competition will be fierce at defensive back given the loss of such standouts as Jaylin Williams, Tiawan Mullen, Bryant Fitzgerald, and Devon Matthews. Senior Josh Sanguinetti, sophomore Phillip Dunnam, and redshirt freshmen James Mond III and Jamari Sharpe, will mix with college transfers Kobee Minor (Texas Tech), Jamier Johnson (Texas) and Nicolas Toomer (Stanford), along with true freshman Jordan Shaw to form a secondary rich in potential.
“The number of turnover we had there with guys that had played for several years here, it’s critical we find top guys,” Allen says.
IU will add a football-only weight area thanks to a major gift from alumnus Jay Wilkinson. It will be part of Memorial Stadium’s W. Jay and Nancy Wilkinson Performance Center and is set for an early 2024 completion.
At 25,000 square feet, the performance center rates among the nation’s biggest and best.
“I want to thank Jay Wilkinson for his generous gift to our football program,” Allen says. “I appreciate Jay so much and his continued support for Indiana University and for our football program.”
The new facility will further enhance IU’s ability to recruit and develop players. Allen says it starts by having a concentrated area to train without the distraction of other Hoosier sports teams working out.
“The biggest thing is focused training,” Allen says. “You want to eliminate things. We have a phrase: a distracted man is a defeated man. Continue to enhance that part of it.
“We want to do a tremendous job of developing our players from a nutrition perspective as well as physically, their strength and development, their speed. We want our players to grow in those areas.”