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Indiana defensive line coach Paul Randolph discusses early standouts and expectations from the position.
Above is the full Q&A.
Below are some key quotes.
On the defensive line’s experience…
PR: They have that experience. They’ve got experience in our system, which is awesome. And then they do have leadership, James Head Jr., Demarcus Elliott, and Sio [Nofoagatoto’a], not going to say that last name, but all three of those guys have immense experience here at IU, in the Big Ten. And they’ve done a tremendous job even since spring of leading the group. Coaches were leaning heavily on them because they’ve been in the trenches during game time in this league.
On what has stood out about James Head Jr. this offseason…
PR: I’ll tell you what, just his work ethic. He approached spring as a guy that [thought] “I’ve got to get better; I’ve got to improve in different fundamental techniques” and he’s worked hard to do it. He hasn’t missed a single practice, he’s worked his tail off, and he’s gotten better every single day at working and focusing on getting better at one specific thing a day. So, just pad level, aggressiveness, playing the run, different things like that. He’s really improved and excited about his mindset.
On what Venson Sneed has shown…
PR: Venson, he models who we are. Toughness, tremendous fanatical hair-on-fire effort, and the willingness to learn, and extreme aggressiveness. He’s really held his own as a freshman. I think the best thing about it for him was he was here [for winter workouts]. So, he got to go through spring, start to learn the ropes a little bit. Now, coming into fall, I told him, you’re not a freshman, you’re a sophomore, because you did get the spring. His willingness to want to be great and to want to play is something great.
On the benefits of linemen coming into school a semester early…
PR: I do think it’s about getting bigger and stronger so the time they spend with our strength coach, Aaron Wellman, I think that’s the most important part of reporting early. Because where you struggle at when you first come in as a freshman is either mental maturity, physical maturity, toughness and things like that.
So, to me, if they get with Coach Wellman, they get in a semester early, and then get with that strength program and buy into it, they have an opportunity to get stronger, to get bigger, to get faster. I think Venson realized all of that during the spring semester.
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