Back around March, Indiana head coach Kevin Wilson tossed out the idea of holding a series of high school football camps. But he wanted them to be done his way.

They were to be free, Wilson said. He wanted his whole staff there. Perhaps most importantly, he wanted to grow the game within the state of Indiana, giving players an opportunity to learn from college coaches.

On Wednesday, Wilson's idea became a reality.

Indiana held four football camps as part of Indiana's "INvasion" tour at Brownsburg, Carmel, Lawrence North and Westfield. Midway through the camp series, the initial impression was that the camp was a success.

"I thought it was phenomenal," offensive coordinator Kevin Johns said. "Really, I thought it was great. It's a free opportunity for these kids to come out and get work in. These kids came out with a great attitude today, great energy and enthusiasm, wanting to get better. For us as a staff, we're just trying to give back to our state, do some networking.

"That was a lot of fun today."

Indiana's Wednesday camps were split up so that big men (offensive linemen and defensive linemen) practiced at Lawrence North and Westfield while skill players (quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, linebackers and defensive backs) practiced at Brownsburg and Carmel.

The program also hosted a camp in Fort Wayne on Sunday before Wilson headed to Chicago for Big Ten Media Day. Between the two days, Wilson estimated about 550 campers participated, among them were some athletes who traveled in from nearby states like Ohio and Michigan.

"It was basic fundamentals, things that we teach," Wilson said. "I thought it was a great day."

The Hoosiers brought their entire coaching staff to the schools to run through drills for two hours each session.

High school coaches who showed up to the event, which didn't require any sort of registration until the day of, were also able to learn from seeing what Indiana's coaches were instructing their players to do.

Various other coaching staffs were also on hand to help IU's coaches give as much attention to each camper as possible.

"Ten years ago, I was one of those guys coaching a team in this part of the state," said Indiana defensive coordinator Tom Allen, who coached at Ben Davis from 2004-06. "We never had anything like this. We had to go to campus to get access to their staff. To be able to get coached by a Big Ten staff in your backyard is pretty awesome."

Feedback from a handful of parents who were on hand was overwhelmingly positive.

One father who brought his son to Carmel said the camp wasn't unlike many of the skill camps he had been sending his son to across the country at increasingly burdensome costs.

"(High school coaches) are fired up that we're here and for us to show we're willing to bring our entire staff to their school and allow kids to come here for free," Allen said. "It's a pretty strong commitment that we're showing to develop Indiana high school football."