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For new Indiana offensive line coach Rod Carey, being back at Indiana is quite the emotional investment.

"I'll just say a couple things and then I'll take any question that you want," Carey started on Monday. "The only one other time I was here, that was for Coach (Bill) Mallory's funeral. So that brings back some heavy heart, you know, certainly puts me back in that state of mind."

The candor Carey showed during his introductory press conference is symbolic of his love for this campus and this program. During his playing days under head coach Bill Mallory, Carey was an anchor on the early-90's Indiana offensive line. When he came back to Bloomington this spring as a quality control coach, he was just happy to be back home.

Now, with a much more elevated role, those emotions are that much more heightened. Taking over mid-season as a position coach of a group that has struggled so mightily, the sudden task at hand for Carey is not an easy one and will not be an overnight process. Inheriting issues that have been long since set in and expecting an immediate impact would be ridiculous to expect.

That doesn't mean it won't go without effort.

"To be honest with you, I don't know," Carey said when asked about how much of an impact he can make over the remaining six games on IU's calendar. "We're in the middle of the season. This isn't a wave your magic wand and all of a sudden everything's better. I certainly am not a miracle worker as far as trying to get production out, and there isn't time.

"But I know this, I'm going to try because Coach Allen asked me to try."

Dealing with the weight of the situation that Indiana has played themselves into and the hole Carey will now try and dig them out of, this isn't the type of opportunity everyone would necessarily jump at. However, because it's Indiana and because of the relationships he's built, Carey is the one that's going to take it on.

"I have a real heavy heart for our O-line players and for Coach Hiller, there isn't anything easy about what happened," Carey said. "We know that profession and we understand that profession, but those are real relationships and those are real people. With a family that is as fantastic as Coach Hiller's and a man who's fantastic, I think the world of Coach Hiller.

"If it wasn't for Coach Allen and this university, I wouldn't have done this because this is a hard situation. I'm not saying that because anything other than it's a hard situation, but he asked so I'm going to try."

With the departure of Hiller and Carey's promotion, so much of it is about finding the right fit to play to the standard that Indiana expects themselves to perform to. This wasn't the plan, but it's the move that Allen feels gives his team the best chance for a change in fortune.

"To have a guy of his experience as an FBS head coach for 10 years, and he's really an offensive line guy," Allen said. "That's what position he played here, and that's where his eyes go even as a coordinator. Obviously as I mentioned a head coach, so just you know, the chance to have someone that was right here with us on a consistent basis in our staff meetings, around our players, to be able to utilize that was a very, very positive thing without question.

"He loves Indiana, you know, and believes in what we're doing and so excited to have him in that role."

Although the role is different than the one he had been in so far -- he'd primarily been working with the defense in quality control -- Allen has faith in Carey's ability to adjust. Carey too feels the same way, saying that although he hasn't been a position coach for an extended period of time in his career, he feels his time around it has helped him gain a perspective on what needs to be done.

"It's a drastic change," Carey said. "Being a head coach for the last 10 years, you're around so you know how to step back into that role. So we're doing that, it's a big difference."

Carey did offer some insight on what he feels can be done to help rectify the issues now, but knows he can only do so much. Make no mistake about it though, there will be a method to the madness.

"There's no time to change a scheme -- there may be things we can do in setup to help scheme, which we certainly will do and get that done," Carey said. "I don't think there's anything wrong with the setup before from a naked eye, but I know me coming in there. I gotta be me. And so fundamentals will be the big thing. The change in practice tempo will just be me, not that there wasn't tempo before or anything bad before. It's just I gotta be me. So there's gonna be some differences from that side of it."

His evaluation can only really start once he's seen his philosophies in action, as that's where he'll see if his changes have made an impact. For now though, the focus turns to establishing a relationship with the group he's got.

"In the 24 hours now that we've had with them, they're a bright and intelligent group," Carey said. "Identification and marking, some technical line stuff has not been the problem. It certainly has not, and so, it means they're really, really smart. That's my first impression of them. I think they want to be good, and that's a big time quality to have. Ask where we are in a week, and I'll be able to tell you a lot more.

"There's no substitution in relationship for time. -- So we got to do both. We got to get ready to play and we got to get to know each other. So, here we go."

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