12/26/2022 football Edit

IU feels new OL coach Bob Bostad is the 'very best person for the job'

Mason Williams • TheHoosier

Senior Writer

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Although it hasn't even been a complete month since the clock struck triple zeros and in-state rival Purdue lifted the Old Oaken Bucket high above their helmets inside the confines of Memorial Stadium, it hasn't taken long for Indiana's focus to shift towards 2023.

It's partly because the nature of college football's ever-changing landscape calls for it. With National Signing Day falling much earlier in the offseason order of events and the newly-introduced transfer portal window interjecting itself into the mix, there's no time to waste in looking ahead. That's not to mention the absence of a bowl game that would occupy more of that precious time.

Yet, it's also because change was needed in a bad way. So, just a week after Indiana hit the showers for the last time in 2022, that's exactly what Tom Allen did. In an effort to shore up the offensive line, a group that was the subject of much criticism throughout the season, albeit fairly warranted, Allen poached longtime O-line coach Bob Bostad from Wisconsin to fill the role on the Hoosiers' staff.

If you ask Allen, it's a home run hire. It seems to be a consensus feeling, too.

"I tell you what, so excited to have Bob join our staff," Allen said on Wednesday. "Coach Bostad is an unbelievably highly-regarded offensive line coach in this country. Many would say he is the best O-line coach in the country. I would have to tend to agree with that the short time we've been around each other."

Bostad inherits a group that he has a chance to create a massive turnaround with in Bloomington.

Bostad's track record speaks for itself. He's been everywhere, had success everywhere, and continually produces guys that contribute at the highest level wherever he goes. Specifically at Wisconsin, Bostad directly coached 11 different first-team All-American linemen. The 33-year coaching veteran steps into the OL coach and run game coordinator roles at Indiana, previously held by now-fired Darren Hiller and interim Rod Carey.

"(He's) just a great ball coach," Allen continued. "Been at the highest level, coached in the NFL on offensive line for several years. Produced many All-Americans at Wisconsin, a place that's kind of become an O-line factory for many, many years. So he is a big part of all that.

"That's what kind of drew me to him. Big Ten guy, Midwest guy. From the state of Wisconsin. Understands the conference. Understands how to recruit."

Carey's impact on the line was prevalent after inheriting the role mid-season, although minuscule in the grand scheme of things. In all reality, Carey was the best candidate Indiana had on staff for a bandaid replacement, the focus on the mid-year move being more aimed at moving on from Hiller.

Going by Pro Football Focus' week-by-week grades, Indiana turned in a 49.2/100 pass blocking rating on average over the entire season. Things weren't much better in the run-game, grading out to a 54.16 over the 12 games.

The more traditional stats aren't pretty either, as the Hoosier rushing attack was the second-worst in the Big Ten, only topping Iowa's putrid offensive numbers. Additionally, Indiana quarterbacks were sacked 38 times this past season, second-worst to only Maryland, whose signal callers hit the turf with the ball in their hands 39 times.

Safe to say, Indiana needed a complete overhaul at the position. So, when the end of the season came and the role opened up, all eyes were shifted toward finding the long-term solution. Due to the urgency in which it happened and the magnitude of the hire, it's likely fair to assume that bringing Bostad aboard was the first order of business the Hoosiers had listed on the docket this offseason.

"The goal was to get him here and get to head out to recruit," Allen said. "Bottom line is we found I feel like the very, very best person for the job. So excited about having him here and the job that he is already doing with our guys in regards to recruiting and evaluation. Then when I had a chance to tell our recruits that we had hired him, man, they were so fired up. They know the track record and the history that he has been able to produce everywhere he has been."

"So really excited to have him and anxious to be able to get back in the office once we get off the road and start talking some ball with him."

On those recruits, all three incoming O-linemen originally committed to the program while Hiller was in the position. For the Hoosiers to keep all three amidst uncertainty on the staff in that position is just as much a testament to their commitment to Indiana as it is the prowess the Bostad has. As Allen mentioned, it's probably pretty hard to say no to the opportunity to learn from someone of Bostad's intellect.

"I would continue to communicate with them throughout this process, and they stayed true to us, we stayed true to them," Allen said of the incoming recruits. "And we're just open and honest about it with them, and I think that was probably the key. I respect them a lot for staying with us through that, and now one of them, Will, is going to be here in January, and the other two are going to be here in June.

"Excited to have all three of them. I think it's a really good group of guys that will bring some definite talent and depth to that offensive line, and they're obviously young. They're freshmen out of high school. Can't wait to get each one of them here."

Indiana added three-star Williams Larkins, three-star Tyler "Bubba" Jeffries, and three-star Austin Barrett on Wednesday during National Signing Day. The Hoosiers also added UMass transfer Max Longman for even more help in the offensive trenches.

At the end of the day, the addition of Bostad is a move that Allen and the rest of his staff hope can be the start of a turnaround, both in the trenches and in the win column. At the very least, it can't hurt to help flush some of the memory of last season's trials and tribulations for a beleaguered offensive line that was porous and largely ineffective.

In a sense, the only way to go is up. Bostad could be a very nice jolt to those efforts.