Time To Start -- Wedig Set to Make Big Offensive Line Impact
Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Trey Wedig wanted change, until he didn’t. The offensive lineman knew what he didn’t know, and how to fix it.
Enter Bob Bostad.
Bostad is Indiana’s offensive line coach, and one of the best in the business, college or pro. He previously coached at Wisconsin, as well as in the NFL, and at other college programs big and small.
Wedig had played for Bostad at Wisconsin. When he entered the transfer portal last winter, he wanted to continue the relationship if it could be worked out.
It was. Wedig is a Hoosier now and everybody involved is better for it.
“I was looking for an O-line coach who could help me get a lot better,” Wedig said. “Having Coach Bostad helped me make strides. He makes things very clear in what you need to do and how to get better. You’re not guessing, which is nice.”
The best teachers, in any activity, eliminate guessing. And when you’re trying to win games, as the Hoosiers are under new head coach Curt Cignetti, when you seek to build an offense that can rock the toughest of Big Ten defenses with the run and pass, again, as the Hoosiers are, knowing what to do, even amid the fiercest of pressure, can’t be overstated.
“I saw how confident (Bostad) was about (coaching the offensive line),” Wedig says. “There are not any gray areas with him. He knows what’s going to happen.”
Knowledge, so the cliché goes, is power. Wedig has plenty of his own from 35 career college games and eight starts during his four years at Wisconsin. He’s played right tackle, right guard and left guard, and even a “tiny bit of center.”
“I feel more comfortable at tackle,” he says, “but I’ve played everywhere.”
At 6-foot-7 and 317 pounds, Wedig is IU’s tallest offensive lineman, and is tied with Nick Kidwell as its heaviest. Size matters, but technique and toughness matter more.
“I’ve been working on my weak points,” he says. “Working on my pass pro sets and a couple of small things in the running game. Things you always have to keep working on.”
Coming out of Wisconsin’s Kettle Moraine High School, Wedig was rated as the state’s No. 1 recruit by ESPN and 247Sports. He was a top-10 offensive lineman prospect nationally with an overall four-star ranking. He was athletic enough to finish second in the state meet shotput.
While that only led to eight starts as a Badger, Wedig is working to change that as a Hoosier.
“My goal is to start all the games.”
Wedig says he’s taking advantage of veteran Mike Katic’s on-and-off-the-field experience. Katic is back for a sixth Hoosier season.
“He’s helped me integrate in,” Wedig says. “He understands how it is. We talk at a high-level, football wise. It’s been good.”
Wedig is one of three transfers -- joining James Madison’s Tyler Stephens and Kidwell -- brought in to boost an offensive line that returns Katic and Carter Smith as starters.
The group showed such spring promise that Cignetti called it a team strength.
“The O-line chemistry has been good,” Wedig says. “That’s important with the offensive line being a chemistry-driven position. The O-line group is a tightknit group. We hang out a lot.”
Beyond the offensive line, Wedig sees promise in the rebuilt defensive line. Veteran Jacob Mangum-Farrar was moved from linebacker to a hybrid linebacker/defensive lineman role. IU added Kent State’s CJ West in the spring after earlier getting James Madison’s James Carpenter and Mikail Kamara. Veterans Marcus Burris Jr., Venson Sneed Jr., and Lanell Carr Jr. are back.
“(Mangum-Farrar) is good,” Wedig says. “Mikail is good. Marcus is good. All those guys are solid. I’m happy we have good defensive linemen here.”
Happiness extends to Cignetti’s efficient practice style that demands player concentration. Practices don’t drag on with multiple repetitions. Players are responsible for doing it right the first time, for maximizing their opportunities with concentration and accountability.
“That need-to-know-the-clock is very interesting,” Wedig says. “It’s very different and very nice. We get our work in and we get out. If we waste a rep, it’s on us. You have to take pride in that. If you don’t, you lose a rep.”
Wedig has no intention of losing anything. He’s a Hoosier to win, improve, and help deliver a program turnaround.
“I’m looking to have fun and get better.”