Indiana defensive coordinator Charlton Warren discusses his first offseason at IU, his veteran defense that the Hoosiers bring back in 2021 and more.
Above is the full Q&A.
(Video courtesy of IU Athletics)
Below is the full transcript.
On what he found out about his defense in the spring…
CW: We found out that we have a bunch of guys who like to play football. We have a bunch of guys that are hungry, have great leadership, a veteran group that has a thirst to get better. You always want to see a group want to get better. They are proud of what they did last year, but they want more. When you have a group that is not really sitting on the heels of their success, you are wanting to get out there and get better every single day, push each other and compete, that is what you want as a group. I was happy to see that throughout spring. Now it has carried over into the summer workouts, where guys are being leaders and guys are pushing each other and calling guys out in a good way. I like that about this group. I think it’s exactly the mindset you need as you go into fall camp, which these guys didn’t have the opportunity to do last year.
This is their first camp in almost two years, so you are going to need that mindset going into this part of the season to get them going and prepared for game one. I’m excited. I think they have the mentality. I think they have the attitude and competitive character to keep going and I’m ready to get going tomorrow.
On the mindset of stopping the run…
CW: Our offensive is going to come out and try to hit us in the mouth from day one [of fall camp] and run the ball as soon as we put on pads. For us stopping the run is key to what you want to do defensively. We cannot be a great defensive if we allow a team to run up and down the field on us. Whoever the opponent is, right now it’s about us being fundamentally sound, being able to execute without mistakes and being able to go compete against our offense day in and day out. That is going to be a core of who we are.
Can we hit? Can we tackle? Can we be physical? If we can do that, we have a chance and I see a group that can. Coming out of the spring, this is a group that likes to hit. I have to say “whoa” way more than “giddy up” in practice, which I like as a coordinator and position coach. I am excited. That is an aspect of our defense that we are committed to of trying to establish throughout fall camp.”
On linebacker experience…
CW: I think their character spoke volumes when I got here. They embraced me as a new coach and the things that I asked them to do. It was never, well coach we used to do it this way. They embraced change and wanted to learn a new style of defense and really a new way of approaching techniques. Having a veteran group in my room, that also happen to be great players and really great people in the middle of our defense, it spread to all the other levels. They carried that into the summer. For us, the middle of our defense is our core. From there we can control the front level and the back level.
I have a group of guys that mentally and competitively have the tools to help our defense grow from inside out. They are the quarterbacks of our defense. Our MIKE backer, our stinger, they are going to do every check, set every front, make every coverage adjustment. They are going to be the quarterbacks of the defense. I have a great group of experience and leadership to do that for us.
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