Indiana University Athletics
Quoted: Louisville
9/13/2023 10:00:00 AM | Football
WATCH | Walt Bell Press ConferenceWATCH | Matt Guerrieri Press ConferenceWATCH | Marcus Burris Press ConferenceWATCH | Aaron Casey Press ConferenceWATCH | Lanell Carr Press ConferenceWATCH | Omar Cooper Press ConferenceWATCH | Josh Henderson Press ConferenceWATCH | Tayven Jackson Press ConferenceWATCH | Donaven McCulley Press Conference
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. –––– As the days near closer to Indiana Football's week three matchup with Louisville on Saturday (September 16), Indiana offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Walt Bell, defensive coordinator and safeties coach Matt Guerrieri and select student-athletes addressed the media inside the Henke Hall of Champions.
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.
Walt Bell | Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
On the development from Omar Cooper Jr. …
WB: I think the biggest thing is, number one, the growth you're going to make from your freshman year to your sophomore year, he's made an unbelievable amount of growth. He did a great job capitalizing when his number was called. We had some depth issues, he had to play a lot more and made plays. That's what you have to do. Everybody's going to get an opportunity at some point. Are you prepared when it happens? He definitely was.
On making the decision to start Tayven Jackson at quarterback…
WB: At the end of the day, you've got two really good football players. You have got to get in a room, and you've got to figure out who the guy is that you're going to give the chance to. They are both really talented. It would not surprise me if both of them have a career after college at some point however that happens. Whether it be draftable, free agent, they are both really talented young players. That was the decision we came to, and we're excited to move forward.
On the comfort of the offense against Indiana State…
WB: We played better, but we're still playing to clean up. We are nowhere close to perfect. We still left a lot of routine plays on the field and that's the hard part. When I say routine plays, I don't necessarily mean throws and catches, I mean routine blocks, routine runs. We still weren't at our best. It's another great challenge for us this week moving forward to go be the best version of ourselves. I think from week one to week two, Ohio State probably would have had something to do with that. The one thing I will say about Indiana State is just how hard they played and how well prepared they were. They had a great plan. I've got an unbelievable amount of respect for Coach Mallory and their program. But at the same time, Ohio State had a lot to do with us not looking in rhythm in game one.
Matt Guerrieri | Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
On the defense after watching film…
MG: Coming out, the effort was what I expected it to be. At a high level. I do think we stepped off the gas at one point and didn't play to our standard. The expectation is our standard all the time. We are very critical of that. It's not about who the opponent is, it's about us every single week. I say that no different than Ohio State or Indiana State or Louisville. It's about us every single week. And again, honor the good, here's the things we need to get better at, and there are plenty of coachable moment in that game.
On looking at film to prepare for Louisville…
MG: He's (Jeff Brohm) been very successful calling plays throughout his career. He has a system he believes in. Start no different in the summertime of studying your first couple of opponents and you're saying, "what is the system?" there's obviously familiarity in this building with the system from numerous games. The study of that is important, but it's also about personnel too. What do guys do best? Who are the people at Louisville and how do they function best is a big of it too. You have a background from a systems standpoint, then you also know how does this personnel feature.
On Nic Toomer…
MG: Nic has done a great job. Sometimes you can tell the guys that are battle tested, especially in early games. This guy is a young guy making young guy mistakes, or this guy is a veteran who has a veteran presence. Nic has a veteran presence. You can tell that he's played significant snaps before at Stanford. He has elevated his game every day in the way that he competes. He's physical, he has length, you saw his range to be able to go intercept the pass like he did. But you have also seen him mix it up in the perimeter run support and edge control. I'm pleased with Nic and I expect him to continue.
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.
Walt Bell | Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
On the development from Omar Cooper Jr. …
WB: I think the biggest thing is, number one, the growth you're going to make from your freshman year to your sophomore year, he's made an unbelievable amount of growth. He did a great job capitalizing when his number was called. We had some depth issues, he had to play a lot more and made plays. That's what you have to do. Everybody's going to get an opportunity at some point. Are you prepared when it happens? He definitely was.
On making the decision to start Tayven Jackson at quarterback…
WB: At the end of the day, you've got two really good football players. You have got to get in a room, and you've got to figure out who the guy is that you're going to give the chance to. They are both really talented. It would not surprise me if both of them have a career after college at some point however that happens. Whether it be draftable, free agent, they are both really talented young players. That was the decision we came to, and we're excited to move forward.
On the comfort of the offense against Indiana State…
WB: We played better, but we're still playing to clean up. We are nowhere close to perfect. We still left a lot of routine plays on the field and that's the hard part. When I say routine plays, I don't necessarily mean throws and catches, I mean routine blocks, routine runs. We still weren't at our best. It's another great challenge for us this week moving forward to go be the best version of ourselves. I think from week one to week two, Ohio State probably would have had something to do with that. The one thing I will say about Indiana State is just how hard they played and how well prepared they were. They had a great plan. I've got an unbelievable amount of respect for Coach Mallory and their program. But at the same time, Ohio State had a lot to do with us not looking in rhythm in game one.
Matt Guerrieri | Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
On the defense after watching film…
MG: Coming out, the effort was what I expected it to be. At a high level. I do think we stepped off the gas at one point and didn't play to our standard. The expectation is our standard all the time. We are very critical of that. It's not about who the opponent is, it's about us every single week. I say that no different than Ohio State or Indiana State or Louisville. It's about us every single week. And again, honor the good, here's the things we need to get better at, and there are plenty of coachable moment in that game.
On looking at film to prepare for Louisville…
MG: He's (Jeff Brohm) been very successful calling plays throughout his career. He has a system he believes in. Start no different in the summertime of studying your first couple of opponents and you're saying, "what is the system?" there's obviously familiarity in this building with the system from numerous games. The study of that is important, but it's also about personnel too. What do guys do best? Who are the people at Louisville and how do they function best is a big of it too. You have a background from a systems standpoint, then you also know how does this personnel feature.
On Nic Toomer…
MG: Nic has done a great job. Sometimes you can tell the guys that are battle tested, especially in early games. This guy is a young guy making young guy mistakes, or this guy is a veteran who has a veteran presence. Nic has a veteran presence. You can tell that he's played significant snaps before at Stanford. He has elevated his game every day in the way that he competes. He's physical, he has length, you saw his range to be able to go intercept the pass like he did. But you have also seen him mix it up in the perimeter run support and edge control. I'm pleased with Nic and I expect him to continue.
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