Indiana Hoosiers Football Video: Allen, Wommack Recap Spring Practice No. 7
Indiana head coach Tom Allen and defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Kane Wommack met with the media Tuesday afternoon to recap the Hoosiers' seventh spring practice.
Scroll down for video and transcripts of their complete comments.
Allen
Opening Statement
Really encouraged by the continued effort and focus. Guys are flying around. Big install for us today, so I thought it was a little bit slower in some ways just because of that, but that's expected. We'll clean it up on Thursday, then have our first big scrimmage on Saturday. Very encouraged by the progress we continue to make. Love our team's mindset right now. It's a hungry group, for sure.
Speed defensively is something you’ve always talked about. I know it’s something you’ve recruited. I imagine no coach is ever quite where they want to be with things like that, but do you feel like that quality is kind of where you need it to be defensively?
It's noticeable and moving in the right direction. When you watch the film, sometimes you don't always see it, because I see it every day. But especially when people come here and they haven't watched us, it's probably the first thing they comment on, is the speed of the defense. I think it's a combination of guys just being another year older and more mature and understanding what they're doing better, but recruiting speed. If you want them fast, recruit them fast. Obviously, Coach Ballou and Dr. Rhea do a great job of developing that and enhancing that once we get them here, and our entire strength staff.
I think that once we create takeaways, speed is a big part of that. It gets you to the ball quicker, you're more violent when you get there, it disrupts better, those tipped balls end up being picked balls and the windows get closed down better in the secondary. All those things add up to creating takeaways and creating the kind of defense we want.
I think you noticed it too on a lot of third down emphasis today, and bringing a lot of pressures. That's what we do. I thought Madison Norris really flashed for me today. He's continued to do a really good job for us, but I thought today was his best day. In my mind, his number one job is to rush the passer. That's why we brought him here. We continue to put weight on him to get him stronger, but he's got very, very good speed. He's learning how to use his technique better. Things like that show up.
I think James Head was another guy that you mentioned that you were intrigued to see this spring. At the midway point of the spring what have you seen from him?
He just continues to develop and we're on him hard because we have high expectations for him. Coach Hagen coaches him really, really hard and he's responded. To me, it's about continuing ... The want-to and the effort has always been really good for him, and it's just to me about taking that next step. We want him to realize that he's a guy that we want to dominate out here and expect to dominate. He's got good size and length and we want him to continue to get stronger. He's still young. But he works hard in that weight room and that is really kind of transferring to the field, which you want to see.
I think it was the Michigan game last year where he was chasing down a tight end in coverage. Is that the kind of athleticism he has and brings to that position?
That's where, once again, to be able to do some things schematically, you gotta be able to run, and run with running backs. We put our defensive ends in situations where they have to have some of those responsibilities and run with tight ends at times. If you ask a kid to do something he can't physically do, that's on us as coaches, but we try to recruit the guys that can do the things that give us more flexibility. Any time you can hide who's gonna take certain guys or eliminate or add people into a pressure, or drop guys out of a pressure because of athleticism, I think that really helps us a lot. That Bull position is what we use that guy for, both in coverage and in pressure and some man coverage as well. We'll also do some things that are just to try and be more multiple and versatile. Those are the kinds of qualities we're looking for in those positions and I think that Madison is in that same spot. James gives us a bigger version of that position and he's got the size to play both positions on the defensive line.
What stood out to you about the contributions from James Miller that you have received? You mentioned him as a guy that would be in the mix at the Mike linebacker spot. What have you liked about his play so far?
I'll you what, he's maybe the most improved linebacker from fall to now. A lot of it is just with his footwork, understanding the defense. It's hard for a freshman to come in here, that's not a mid-year guy, which he was not, to learn the defense in one summer. I think it was a lot of things thrown at him, his head was spinning a lot in fall camp. But having a whole year to learn, get stronger and move better (has helped him). He's always been physical. He's a violent guy, now. That was obvious the first time I watched him play. That was obvious the first time I watched him play in high school. Now to be able to do a better job and be a more well-rounded guy, and the violence is still there, he finishes really, really strong, just like how he's learning how to get his run fits. He's able to stand guys up in the hole and knock them back, we saw that against Michigan in the few reps he played. Just a snapshot of how talented he really is.
Your defense is the 2-minute drill and in the team session seemed to have hit a groove there as they got rolling. What led to that?
I would say, early in practice, I was getting after them. I'm on that megaphone, putting some things in and getting both to the coaches and the players, because I thought the offense was doing a lot of good things, making plays and getting some chunk plays. Second half of practice, they responded, which is what you want. So I try to sometimes use that to our advantage. At the same time, it's like anything else, you feed off the energy, you start making plays, you start getting some takeaways, start getting some sacks, some pressures, some breakups and it just becomes a feeding frenzy for the defense. I'm a high-energy guy, I want us to be a high-energy defense, I want our guys to coach that way. We've got a coaching staff that believes in that. But the guys, they're going to play to our personality. We want to be that kind of unit. We want to have a swagger about us, we want to have a confident about, when we step on the field, I want our guys to expect to take the ball from the offense, I want us to expect to be good on third down, I want us to expect to be a top-25 defense.
You carry that, it doesn't just happen. It has to be developed, it has to be created and it happens over time. We had a really young group last year that is now a much more experienced group, and I think you're seeing the benefits of that even today when they got off to a slow start and the offense was doing a lot of good things, but they responded and it just kept building. Then I thought they dominated the last half of practice. So that's good. That's what you want to see, and then you want to see the offense come back this Thursday and respond, and they will. Our coaches are doing a great job.
Health-wise any major knocks or injuries to be concerned about at this point in spring?
Not so much to probably notice. There's your typical things, guys getting dinged up. One of our linebackers, Thomas, had some shoulder situation, so we're going to look at that today and see how that needs to be evaluated. But other than that, think we came out of practice pretty clean. Even the scrimmage on Saturday, we had some typical bumps and bruises and some soreness and all. We actually had the flu bug - we've had more of that than anything. So we had a couple guys out again today, a couple guys out on Saturday. That's probably been the biggest thing numerically we've had to deal with, but hopefully it will start getting a little warmer. That might help.
Jack Tuttle appeal progress, getting closer to a result?
We are. We don't ever know for sure, but I would assume here in the next week or so based on when everything was turned in. Hopefully we'll get some closer on that either way.
Wommack
What do you like about the defense's speed?
I like where we're going right now. It's hard not to ... You dont' want to put the cart before the horse or get over-excited about your team speed, but it's the fruit of our labor. What David Ballou and Matt Rhea have been doing in the weight room. The way we've been recruiting. The players' confidence in what we're doing defensively, it's all starting to come together. We're playing at a really fast tempo right now. When that tempo comes, they start to build more and more confidence and now they got a little bit of swagger about them. That's really exciting.
What stands out about James Head Jr.?
Freaky body. Still figuring it out. There's times when it's like dang, this guy pulls the trigger. he can roll. There's times that he still looks like a baby deer. He's gonna get only better with his development in the weight room, because he's got such a big frame that it takes a longer time for him to develop that, but you see the flashes already and he's starting to execute his job. I think he's a guy that, sophomore, junior, senior year, it's going to continue grow.
What can Madison Norris bring?
He's got a burst. We got to continue to get his weight up. He's a guy that we knew was a developmental player that we could use situationally until he got to the size we need for an every down defensive end. But to his credit, he's putting more weight on every single day and he gives us a different burst on the edge right now. He's another one of those young guys that they're starting to play with more and more confidence, then all of a sudden he goes, 'Oh, I can pass rush at this level.'
Thoughts on the defense's performance today?
Coach Allen creates adverse situations so that we can deal with them now. By the time we get to September we're ready to handle that. Today was probably the best example of a defense that I thought got their butt whooped a little bit on inside run in some of the early periods, then just kind of hammered through and stayed at it and brought some swagger to it. That was really encouraging to see, on top of all the looks that Kalen and his staff are giving us right now, which is awesome.
How would you assess the progress of the mike linebackers?
They're violent. They're violent dudes, first and foremost. They have a natural feel for tracking the ball carrier and getting to the back. I can work with everything else after that. They're doing a better job of being vocal. They both want it, they're both vocal type leaders. Situationally, we're getting some other guys work at Mike backer on third down and some two-minute situations, so we're trying to get some of that speed out there on the field. I think we have a really nice combination of some violent downhill poppers and some guys that can really run. It's a really good complement there.
Who are some of the guys standing out in that regard?
James and Thomas are doing a really good job in our base down defense, handling all of that stuff, and on third down you have Micah McFadden, Cam Jones in there, Fitz down there, they can play some linebacker and do some things there, which is really exciting. Anytime we can start to build those bodies where there's crossover work to where they can do different things, it creates more depth naturally in our defense when we may not have 3-deep across the board but we're building 2-and-a-half deep. That part's a really exciting piece.
What's standing out about Bryant Fitzgerald?
His speed. He's always had a natural knack for finding the ball. If you just watch him on the filed, he's constantly - he can just track the ball so well. Now his speed has increased in the first 20 yards. Matt Rhea gave a deal the other day, he's like top 15 on our entire team in the first 20 yards, top 10, something like that. But you really see him being able to burst to the ball. And on top of the that, because he anticipates things so well, he's the first one there more often than not. Pretty excited for him, because he's a pretty violent kid that will show up and strike you whenever he gets there.
What can James Miller bring to this defense?
He's such a hungry individual when he gets out on the field. You know those old school linebackers - Hey, what's the best part of your game? I remember I asked when I recruited him. He said, I like to hit people. That's what he likes. Doesn't matter if it's on the sideline, in the middle of the box, he wants to establish dominance in the way that he strikes you. The thing for him is his footwork is getting cleaned up, getting better every day, his communication on the field. He's already got a natural feel for the ball and he's a physical kid, just got to keep giving him the tools.
How do you replace a guy like Jon Crawford at safety?
Well, JC took his reps with him. You can't get those reps back, you've got to be able to build them. The nice thing is, these young guys we pushed through the fires last year - Juwan Burgess, Fitz, really Jamar (Johnson), who's playing some at Lino's backup, Cam - those guys are really playing at a high level. Athletically, they're as good as we've seen here for quite a while. You've just got to keep it simple, don't try to overreach them, but now that they start to get that confidence, we can build systematically into what we're trying to accomplish getting into September. I think we've got the bodies to do it, and the speed is starting to show up, we've just got to keep them confident.
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