Entering his first spring camp as Indiana's starting quarterback, redshirt sophomore quarterback Mike Penix still has more to prove, and, for his coaching staff, he's off to a good start.
For the first time in redshirt sophomore quarterback Mike Penix’s three years in Bloomington for spring camp, the quarterback position is his.
He was given the position the week before the 2019 season began – “It wasn't what Peyton didn't do. It was more of what I believe Mike can be,” head coach Tom Allen said on Aug. 29 – and with Peyton Ramsey announcing on Monday his intentions to transfer to Northwestern and Allen’s continued commitment throughout the 2019 season to Penix as the 2020 starter, Penix has the reins.
And the expectations have rarely, if ever, been higher for him and the program he’s leading.
“Coach Allen, he came up to me and he told me he trusts me and trusts everything that I'm doing,” Penix said Friday. “And he challenged me to just work hard and continue to lead the team and make sure I can do anything in my power to help the team out.”
In terms of leadership, Penix has big shoes to fill. Ramsey left his most lasting mark on the program, centered on his commitment to leading the team throughout the loss of Penix to another season-ending injury and onto three Big Ten road victories and a Gator Bowl appearance – the best season in 26 years.
Penix dazzled the conference with his arm, finishing 19th in the country in Pro Football Focus’ overall passing grade and eighth in adjusted completion percentage. In the Big Ten, his passing grade trailed only Ohio State’s Justin Fields, and his adjusted completion percentage was the best. Before being hindered by injury, Penix was on pace to become Indiana's fourth 3,000-yard passer and third in the conference in passing yards.
His ability to sling the ball isn’t in question. The narrative surrounding the next steps in his career points to whether he can finish a season physically, after suffering two separate season-ending injuries in 2018 and 2019, and whether he can lead over the course of a season, after having started only six games in his career.
He’s gotten a head start on the latter. Indiana lost a number of foundational pieces in the weeks after the Gator Bowl, including its offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Kalen DeBoer; its innovative strength and conditioning duo of David Ballou and Matt Rhea; its pseudo-backup quarterback, Peyton Ramsey; and its starting left tackle, Coy Cronk. Record-breaking tight end Peyton Hendershot was arrested and suspended in February, and promising running back Sampson James entered and removed his name from the NCAA transfer portal.
After all of this, Allen said he stood in front of his team and asked the players and coaches to trust him on the path forward, and throughout the upheaval, Allen said he’s been impressed with the poise of his starting quarterback.
“I actually feel like even in the midst of the last few – just being able to, as spring ball gets closer – he's part of our leadership council, and he and I have met and others have met, just to help him grow and develop, and just take on that role of being like, ‘Hey, this is your football team. You're the starting quarterback of the Indiana Hoosiers in the Big Ten,’” Allen said.
New Indiana offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Nick Sheridan spoke on Penix’s leadership as well, noting that he seems to be more comfortable around the team and that his personality has begun to work its way into the ways he interacts and works with the team and staff.
In the few days that the media has been able to observe Penix during the spring, it’s clear that his leadership has advanced a step or two, whether it’s leading the quarterback drills without Ramsey next to him or speaking on behalf of his team to embrace Sampson James back into the locker room or connecting with redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jacolby Hewitt, who is returning from an ACL injury like he did before the 2019 season.
The quarterback also hosts throwing sessions outside of practice and evaluates his young receivers, making note of redshirt freshman receiver Jordan Jakes’ improvements and of redshirt sophomore Miles Marshall’s desire to make more plays in 2020.
Penix seems to be steering his own way into 2020 camps. And, also, he is gaining weight.
Both Sheridan and Allen, in addition to the encouragement in his leadership, made note of his ownership of his offseason through his proactivity in adding weight to his frame following his injuries. The goal when exiting 2019 was to get him to 220 pounds, and he hit that mark “pretty quick,” he said. Defensive coordinator Kane Wommack even commented on Penix’s frame, calling it “a thing of beauty.”
“I think that’s just a sign of him maturing,” Sheridan said. “I think he understands the rigors of playing quarterback in the Big Ten, the physicality of the position. He understands the importance of being as strong and as healthy as possible. I’m encouraged, more than anything, because he understands the importance and he’s working at it.”
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