Mangum-Farrar Aims to Prove He's ‘Stud’ Worthy
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Jacob Mangum-Farrar expects more from himself. He knows he can do better; he insists he will do better, especially now that this Indiana football senior is a “stud.”
“I didn’t think I produced the amount I could have last year,” he says, “as far as being fresh for each game and being at a good place with my body to perform at the level I’m capable of.”
Mangum-Farrar is a Hoosier for a final season to showcase those capabilities.
“I felt like I had a lot left in me.”
First, an explanation. “Stud,” in this case, doesn’t just mean superior physical ability, although at 6-4 and 252 well-muscled pounds, Mangum-Farrar certainly has that. It’s also the name for the hybrid defensive end-linebacker position used in head coach Curt Cignetti’s newly installed defense.
The position basically has a defensive-end role 70 percent of the time, with the rest at linebacker. Mangum had spent his career at linebacker until Cignetti arrived last November after a record-setting coaching run at James Madison.
“We thought he had a skill set that could be good at that position,” Cignetti says. “He’s picked it up well.”
Mangum-Farrar added 15 pounds to handle the physicality of defensive line while retaining the quickness and athleticism to deal with pass coverage responsibilities.
“In talking with Coach,” he says, “he felt with my length and size, I’d be better at stud. At Indiana, the linebackers are smaller and quicker than me. My body type is better for stud.”
“Better” starts with these fundamentals:
“Trust your speed,” Mangum-Farrar says. “Beat that offensive tackle to a spot, and once you’re there, being active with your hands and straining to finish.”
Mangum-Farrar played in all 12 games last season, his first in Bloomington after transferring from Stanford. He ranked third on the team in tackles (62), was second in quarterback hits (three), and tied for second in pass breakups (four). He had had four tackles for loss.
For comparison, Mangum-Farrar totaled 44 tackles in his final season at Stanford, including 10 at Notre Dame. That followed a standout Texas high school career that included 195.5 tackles in his last two years as a safety, plus a district 300-meter hurdles title in track.
That combination of power and speed is being refined under defensive ends coach Buddha Williams, who wants studs who hit as hard as linemen and still run with running backs and receivers.
“We have to do both,” Mangum-Farrar says. “Be violent in everything we do.”
How big of an adjustment is the position change?
“Everything happens faster on the line,” he says. “At linebacker, you have more time to process the play. On the line, it’s happening in a split-second right in front of you.
“Mentally, your keys tell you everything you have to know very fast. Physically, your leverage and hand placement is huge. People think linemen are tough, hard-nosed guy, which we are, but it’s lot more technical than people think.”
In his new role, Mangum-Farrar will battle offensive linemen -- many weighing more than 300 pounds -- rather than, say, 220-pound running backs.
“I’m getting used to the contact and the technique,” he says. “I’m going to stay at (255), and get more lean to be able to run at this weight.”
Mangum-Farrar knows the specifics of his new position. He’s using spring practice to develop his skills so he can play faster.
“As far as being savvy, it’s taking more time. It’s clicking each practice.”
Learning includes watching film of some of the NFL’s best pass-rushing defensive ends to study their technique, hand movements, and patterns.
“It’s one of the biggest technical things you can do,” he says. “I’ve pass rushed before, but it was from linebacker and being on the interior and (going against) running backs.”
After last winter’s coaching change, Mangum-Farrar could have re-entered the transfer portal, but says he liked IU, the coaching staff and Bloomington, “and felt I had a good place with the team.”
As far as the team, Mangum-Farrar says players are getting closer as they learn each other (the roster was rebuilt with a blend of returning IU players and college transfers) as well as new offensive and defensive schemes.
“Everyone is pulling for each other and encouraging each other to do better and be better,” Mangum-Farrar says. “It’s all about effort.”
Defensively, the Hoosiers want to make a big jump from last season, when they allowed 29.9 points per game. They also want to boost an offense that averaged 22.2 points.
Those are the means to the ultimate goal, which is to win, year after year, for a long time.
It starts, Mangum-Farrar says, with accountability.
“This staff is doing a good job of holding us accountable. They’re not letting things slide. Before it was like, we messed up, we’ll take care of it the next play. Now, we will redo it until we get it right. Then we move to the next play. You will give 100 percent effort, or we’ll do it again.”