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"Protect the ball and protect the quarterback. Those are the guys I'm looking for to help Indiana get to where they want to."

That was the message from new Indiana RB Coach Craig Johnson Tuesday night. Johnson had the opportunity to speak to reporters about who he is, what he wants, and why he chose Indiana.

Deland McCullough's departure to Notre Dame left a big hole to fill, and Tom Allen chose to replace him with an abundance of experience.

After nearly twenty years in both the NFL and College, Johnson finally returned to the NCAA ranks as an Assistant with Maryland last season, and he'll tell you he's happy to be back in the amateur ranks.

"Being away from the game, when I went back to Maryland I recaptured my passion I always had for college football," Johnson said. "Even though I had been away from it, I still think it was always my first love."

Johnson played his college football at Wyoming, where he rushed for over 1,000 yards and threw for over 1,500. Before getting his first NFL job with the Tennessee Titans in 2000, Johnson coached for eight different college teams spanning 15 years, including Northwestern, Arkansas, and Rutgers.

His past work with former Indiana coach Mark Deal and current strength coach Aaron Wellman, who spent time with the New York Giants when Johnson was on staff there ended up being a significant pull for Johnson to join this Indiana coaching staff. The "allure" of the Big Ten and Tom Allen's values lining up well with his really sealed the deal.

Johnson has spent time coaching Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, and Saquon Barkley. Guys that have immense, otherworldly levels of talent. They've all broken records and been amongst the top players in the league, but, Johnson will tell you what he wants from his guys is much more simple.

"The keys are: fundamentally sound, protecting the ball, protecting the quarterback," Johnson said. "I don't put anything on the back of height, weight, speed restriction. Obviously, we're going to evaluate all the people we can and try to get the best person to get this team to the top.

"I don't care what their background is, but they have to be good enough and dynamic enough to help balance our offense."

The 40-year coaching veteran will have a lot to work with in terms of Indiana's running back room this upcoming season. A mix of proven veteran transfers like Shaun Shivers, and Josh Henderson mixed in with young promising talent like incoming freshman Gi'Bran Payne.

"I've only gotten a chance to watch them work a little bit... When I got a chance to visit with them, I told them that's good for them," Johnson said. "I might not necessarily see they're good, I might not see they're bad. Bottom line, it's a clean slate.

"They all want the ball, I want them to want the ball. If they don't want the ball they shouldn't be in my room."

This is really how the whole Indiana team should be approached.

With such a unique amount of new coaches and players, a clean slate can be very beneficial to a team that is, in effect, rebuilding after a down year.

"I'm really excited to come here and get this team going where everybody wants it to go."

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