Revamped o-line aiding IU tailbacks: 'It's been better because of them.'
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Perhaps the most important addition during this Indiana football offseason, offensive line coach and run game coordinator Bob Bostad's impact has been touted as immediate and noticeable.
As Tom Allen walks past his offensive line group at Monday morning's practice, his message to his trench unit is short and sweet: Keep going. I can see the progress. Every day.
Keep going.
Whether you're searching for a group with the most potential to grow or the most important to success, the offensive line is a strong candidate for each. Struggling mightily in recent seasons, Indiana's offense has paid the price in poor pockets for quarterbacks, lapses or absences of a running game and the subsequent results that generally follow – wins becoming harder to come by when operating under a one-dimensional philosophy.
But so far, the reports out of camp indicate that things are different in that unit. The latest vote of confidence came Monday when the players who run behind them – the Indiana running backs.
"I think the O-line has made such a big jump this year, this offseason," fifth-year senior running back Josh Henderson told reporters on Monday. "We put a big emphasis on them, and they've made the running – it's been better because of them."
The seemingly consensus thoughts from the Indiana staff with regards to Bostad's hiring have been overwhelmingly positive. He's a straight-to-the-point, no-nonsense leader who takes charge of every situation he's involved in.
Yet, coaches with that personality haven't always meshed well with others. They can sometimes be too hard-headed, pushing the limits and becoming tougher to work with.
But for Craig Johnson, Indiana's second-year running backs coach with heaps of experience prior to his time with the Hoosiers, their modes of thinking are quite aligned.
"We have very similar backgrounds in a lot of ways, so it's been really easy," Johnson said Monday. "(Bostad is) very demanding for those guys. He's tough on his players, but he's going to get the best out of those guys.
"I'm very much looking forward to seeing how our alliance is going to continue to grow this year."
The experience shared between the two coaches is immense – Bostad's 25 years at the collegiate and professional ranks adding onto Johnson's 39. When two minds can recall upon 64 years of experience, there's a sense of respect that automatically comes with the conversations they have.
After all, their respective groups rely on one another. Running backs can only be so proficient without an offensive line that creates gaps in the defense. In turn, the success of the run game or pass protection then sheds a positive light on the offensive line – something there's been a lack of in recent seasons in Bloomington.
"I think that Bob has a really good hold on the offensive line, both from the run game and the pass protection," Johnson said.
The players agree. Though only a couple weeks of fall camp have passed thus far, Henderson's aforementioned comments serve as endorsement for his blockers up front. Indiana's All-American running back and returner, Jaylin Lucas, had similar thoughts before fall camp even began.
"Man, Bob Bostad changed the running game tremendously," Lucas said at Big Ten Football Media Days in late July. "The run game has opened. As soon as I look up, it's like a hole."
Lucas then noted that the improvements help all types of backs – skill-set backs and bruisers alike. Obviously not wanting to reveal too much, Lucas then mentioned that techniques and executions with edge runs and inside zones are different, and that the Hoosiers would be utilizing some two-back sets this fall.
His versatility is something Indiana revealed long ago that they'd like to tap into more. But, in part, it's reliant on the offensive line and the running backs working together as one cohesive unit, an extension of one another with the idea of a more efficient, effective offense this season.
It's a work in progress, but the progress is – at least supposedly – much further ahead of schedule than in previous seasons.
"There's a lot of good things that (the offensive line is) doing, and I'm sure if (Bostad) was speaking here, he'd say we still got a ways to go as I would say too," Johnson said. "We have somewhat of a common history as far as the people that we've had in our backgrounds, and so our run game philosophy and pass protection are very much in sync."
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