Indiana Coach Tom Allen Previews 2023 Fall Camp
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 All right, I just wanna welcome everybody today.
00:04 Excited to get the 2023 fall camp started.
00:09 The 23 season is upon us.
00:10 So exciting time, had a picture day today, and
00:14 we'll start our first practice tomorrow.
00:17 So that's a lot of hard work has gone into this opportunity.
00:21 So our guys are chomping at the bit to get out there.
00:24 Just some updates on our roster.
00:26 We have David Baker has received a medical hardship and
00:31 Cam Knight will be retiring from football.
00:33 He just graduated here this past week.
00:37 So also really wanna personally thank Jay Wilkinson for
00:42 his generous gift to our football program and to allow us to be able to create
00:46 a football specific area for weight training and conditioning.
00:51 And so just appreciate Jay so much and his continued support for
00:55 Indiana University and for our football program.
00:57 So excited about the upcoming few weeks here, fall camp,
01:02 which is always a great time for us to fundamentally improve and
01:08 technically improve and to be able to come together as an offense, defense and
01:12 special teams to continue to build our football team.
01:15 So ready for questions.
01:16 >> All right, Matt and Sammy.
01:18 >> Hey coach, how you doing?
01:22 >> I'm good, buddy, how are you?
01:23 >> I'm okay.
01:24 >> I wanted to ask you, you guys, there's a video on the Twitter account
01:29 about the thing you did with the program recently, that group that came in.
01:34 Just your thoughts on obviously what you wanna get out of it and
01:38 how you thought it impacted your team and your players, not just for this season, but
01:42 for the future of the program.
01:44 >> Yeah, they do a tremendous job.
01:46 When I first came here, something that we were doing with those guys for
01:49 several years and brought them back.
01:53 It's the two full purposes for leadership training and for team building.
01:57 And just feel like with the number of new faces on our team,
02:02 especially in some prominent roles, guys that were added in January,
02:06 guys that were added in June.
02:07 It just really felt like it was a good next step for
02:10 us to be able to continue to build our leadership, increase our communication
02:14 skills, and really just learn how to work together better.
02:18 At the end of the day, the best team is who wins on game day and
02:21 being connected is a big part of that.
02:22 So that team building piece is real important to me.
02:25 I do know they work with a lot of the top programs in America and
02:30 do a tremendous job and have for a long, long time.
02:31 So it's a lot of feedback that they give to us and they'll be continuing to
02:36 follow up with our players and to continue to build on their leadership skills.
02:40 And so that's really the focus of those two areas.
02:42 And I just thought that it helps us expose things you wanna be able to continue to
02:47 work on and also just reinforce the strengths of your unit.
02:50 And I really value their input, their feedback.
02:53 We debrief with them at the end of each session and give our staff a lot of
02:56 meaningful information to be able to help us moving forward, how to work with
02:59 different guys and help to train them to show them how to lead in a more effective
03:03 way, so really powerful stuff, that was awesome.
03:06 >> Sammy Linzak.
03:08 >> Good afternoon, coach, how are you?
03:13 >> I'm good, Sammy, how are you doing?
03:14 >> I'm doing great.
03:16 >> With the announcement of the football only weight room, what advantages does
03:21 that give you, either recruiting wise, setup wise,
03:25 training wise that you didn't have with the previous setup?
03:30 >> I think a big area of focus has been to be able to have
03:36 a concentrated area to eliminate distractions.
03:40 I think that's where you want focused training.
03:43 You wanna be able to eliminate things that, we have a phrase,
03:48 a distracted man's a defeated man.
03:50 So just trying to continue to enhance that part of it and
03:54 to be able to brand it in a way that it's football specific.
03:58 I think that's really important in recruiting and
04:01 those kinds of things just to show them the importance of it.
04:03 So to me, I think the biggest thing is the focused training,
04:07 cuz that's one variable.
04:08 We wanna do a tremendous job of developing our players from a nutrition
04:12 perspective as well as physically in their strength development, their speed,
04:16 and be able to grow as a player in those areas.
04:19 So I think those things will stick out to me.
04:21 >> Zach and Todd.
04:25 >> I guess, Tom, following up on that, just as much as there is one right now,
04:30 do you have a sense for a timeline of when that will come online?
04:34 When you can kinda get everything together, start building it,
04:37 where it's gonna go?
04:38 Are there renderings?
04:40 Or is it just all kind of in the very beginning conceptual stages at this point?
04:44 >> Yeah, a lot of beginning stages at this point, so that'll come in the future.
04:47 >> Todd and Jack.
04:51 >> Can you tell me how this, the genesis of the weight room project and
04:57 then unrelated to that, can you just kinda give me a general overview of how you
05:00 feel, what would set a successful tone for the first week of camp?
05:04 >> Well, I mean, I think the genesis of it was just the idea of just wanting to be
05:09 able to continue to build our program and the emphasis on the football side of things
05:14 here at IU, and to be able to continue to invest in that as a program and
05:18 continue to make things better.
05:19 And that's what we're trying to do in that regard.
05:21 And then for a successful first week at camp, I mean,
05:26 there's a lot of variables that you have, a lot of goals and objectives.
05:29 Obviously, we're trying to continue to build the depth of our football team.
05:35 We're gonna even do some things different structurally in practice,
05:39 increasing the length of some areas of the focus on fundamentals and
05:42 technique with our guys and also be able to maximize reps.
05:46 Find a way to get more guys reps during our team periods and
05:49 have a structural change to do that as well.
05:52 And so to me at the end of the day is to get as many guys prepared.
05:55 You have your installation that you go through each and
05:58 every day on all three phases.
06:00 As you go through and try to mesh with each other,
06:04 offense versus defense in those moments, but also you're installing your scheme.
06:08 And obviously with the new guys that we have that we're counting on to be able to
06:13 need to be ready to play at a high level week one to maximizing those reps,
06:17 maximizing that time in both the film room, the walkthroughs,
06:21 which are massive during the new structure of two days that we're in right now.
06:25 Or the afternoon, what used to be an afternoon practice is now an afternoon
06:29 walkthrough for the first six practices and
06:31 then becomes a jog through the rest of the way from there.
06:34 And so those are really, really critical reps that we have to have and
06:37 those practices are scripted and structured just like you would.
06:41 You're just not running during that time, it's all mental reps to get their
06:45 bodies a chance to recover.
06:46 So just everything we do is just building our depth of our team and
06:51 to be able to get to the point where we execute a high level.
06:54 So obviously, when you start, there's all the new things you're going into that.
06:58 Obviously, it's a lot of review from the summer and things we did in the spring,
07:01 but it's the first time you've had this entire group together.
07:04 So got to build off of that and got to create momentum each and every week.
07:07 >> Jackson Mason.
07:10 >> Hey, Tom, just heading into fall camp, is there a position group that you feel
07:16 has maybe the most open competition for playing time for the upcoming year?
07:20 >> There's several positions with a lot of competition.
07:25 I think just in lieu of the new faces,
07:26 I think the one that probably sticks out the most would probably be the secondary.
07:30 Both the corner position as well as the safeties.
07:32 I just think that with the number of turnover guys that had played for
07:36 several years here and did such a great job for
07:39 those guys graduating and moving on to the NFL.
07:41 It's really critical that we find the top guys.
07:46 And I would say it's probably the most, but you could go on the defensive lines,
07:50 got a lot of new faces.
07:52 Still got some guys competing on the offensive line.
07:54 Obviously, quarterback competitions is very well documented.
07:56 And the running back room receiver would be another one that sticks out to me just
08:00 because the number of guys we've added and getting cam back.
08:04 And so just trying to get that group flushed out and in the tight end room.
08:08 So obviously several positions, we got a kicking battle going on as well
08:12 to see who our field goal kicker is going to be.
08:14 And so just know that a lot of key spots, a lot of key competitions, but
08:18 the one that would, I would say, have the most new faces would be the secondary.
08:23 >> Position group do you feel has been improved the most with spring or
08:28 summer additions?
08:29 >> Yeah, I would say I'm really excited about our running back room.
08:34 I think that, and I get pricey about a couple different rooms, but
08:37 I really feel like that there's some maturity there that we've added.
08:42 I think Josh is really just honed in on being such a strong leader in that room.
08:49 The way he handles his business as a pro, he just is such a attention to detail guy.
08:54 He's gotten bigger and stronger and faster.
08:56 And then with Jaylon Lucas's development in that room and
08:59 then adding Christian Turner and David Hollman's another young guy that continues
09:02 to grow and develop and Trent Howell and just guys that have been here.
09:05 But expect them to all contribute, so
09:09 it's a group that's got a lot of experience to it, but also some explosive
09:14 guys in there, very, very bigger, stronger, more powerful than they were a year ago.
09:18 So that group excites me.
09:18 I think our D line is probably the one we've changed the most.
09:22 And by the guys we've added, we've added six guys to that room this offseason.
09:28 And obviously a lot of guys graduate, but
09:30 just really physically looks different, bigger guys.
09:35 I got a lot more mass that we needed and
09:37 guys that have played Division One football at a high level.
09:41 And so a power five guys and then a guy like Andre is coming from the Mac level
09:45 where he's got an opportunity to prove himself in the Big Ten.
09:48 So I really like that room and I include the Bulls in that as well.
09:53 With adding two additional guys at that position group there and
09:56 a third one here that just joined us this summer.
09:58 So really feel like that's, we know up front it's a big deal.
10:02 Add a couple of offensive linemen as well that I'm excited about,
10:05 that we know need to step up and help us.
10:08 And with Max Longman and the Noah Bultakov, just guys that came to this program that
10:13 are 300 pound guys that have played Division One football.
10:17 So just up front, it's huge, we know that, it's a priority for us.
10:21 But running backs really excite me and
10:24 And the D line to me is the biggest change we've probably made in the roster.