Tom Allen Talks QB Competition and Gives Update on Dexter Williams II
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00:00 Sort of a more philosophical question.
00:02 A few years ago when you picked, when you named Michael Penix a starter over Peyton
00:05 Ramsey, you said something along the lines of it wasn't anything Peyton didn't do in
00:09 fall camp.
00:10 It was what you thought Michael could become as a quarterback.
00:14 As you look at that battle right now, how do you weigh, especially with two young guys,
00:20 three young guys, however you kind of want to look at that, who's involved, how do you
00:23 weigh sort of what maybe they can put on film right now versus where you see their ceiling
00:29 and their potential when you try to decide who you're picking for that spot?
00:33 Yeah I think that's an interesting way to look at it because I think that situation
00:39 before with Mike and Peyton was a little bit different because of the age differences and
00:44 the experience that Peyton had over Mike.
00:49 Whereas you've got two guys now that are very similar.
00:53 They're both red shirts.
00:54 Neither one of them really played much last year and so I think they're more at the same
01:01 starting point than probably in their previous situation.
01:04 So I think that that's, but to be honest that's part of the evaluation because at the end
01:09 of the day we're just going to pick the guy that we think gives us the best chance to
01:13 win.
01:14 That's the bottom line.
01:16 And so you've got to be able to, you have a long season, you have a very challenging
01:22 first one, the thing that, that situation that you just addressed had was a little bit
01:29 more of a ramp up opportunity in that season's progression than what you have and now you're
01:34 going to have someone going against one of the top teams in the nation right out of the
01:39 gate.
01:40 But at the same time when you go through and evaluate and look at their performance and
01:44 we have a big scrimmage coming up this weekend that's going to be important.
01:50 Probably truly the most amount of game-like reps in one setting that we've had yet.
01:55 You know for the fall camp we've had several now where we've done, we call them team move
01:58 the ball where you just, you're playing, you put the ball down, you're just playing football.
02:02 And so they've had several of those but this will be the most we'll have on Saturday.
02:06 So really looking forward to seeing that and seeing how they perform in those situations
02:11 because that's game-like, you know, and stuff.
02:13 So but yeah I think it's part of one of the equational factors is okay what's, who do
02:18 you project to be able to have the biggest growth, you know, as we get into games four,
02:23 five, and six, you know, as well.
02:24 So but obviously guys are competing really hard and spend a lot of time in the quarterback
02:30 meetings, you know, on purpose and just want to see them in all those settings and, you
02:35 know, on the field, off the field and everything that they do and how they prepare and that's
02:39 all part of the equation.
02:42 Have you started narrowing down reps?
02:44 Has a guy started kind of, you know, at quarterback in terms of, you know, separating themselves
02:49 yet or are you still waiting?
02:50 No, we have not.
02:51 So it's an equal rotation at this point.
02:54 So, you know, basically just rotating going with the ones and the twos is how they've
02:58 been working and that will continue.
03:06 Tom when you have a quarterback battle that you have, how does it affect the install of
03:13 the offense?
03:14 How does that, how does the machinery of that work at this stage of camp?
03:17 Yeah, I would say, you know, we, I don't know that it changes it a lot.
03:24 You know, we basically would have followed the same install, you know, obviously you're,
03:28 you know, because one thing that's nice about this time of year is you're getting the twos
03:32 and the ones are getting an equal number of reps, you know, numerically.
03:35 So you don't feel like that you're, you know, having to alter anything and they're all are
03:40 in the same system and everything in that regard.
03:43 So now obviously once you decide who that person is going to be, you know, you tailor
03:48 it to the fine details to their strength and their skill set that they, you know, but there
03:53 are a lot of similarities between the two guys.
03:55 And so in terms of their skill set strength, so I think that's a positive without question,
03:59 you know, talking about one versus another, that would be dramatically different.
04:03 So, but I think that the installation process is similar to what it would be, you know,
04:09 if you already had a guy named and, but like, as we, you know, as we look at this, we've
04:14 already had six practices and so number seven will be tomorrow and it'll be in full pads.
04:19 And so a lot of game-like situations, even more so tomorrow than we've had in the previous
04:27 three practices, once we put pads on and then, and then get even more so on Saturday.
04:31 So the, but for where we're kind of at as a whole offense and defense, our, our installation
04:35 is pretty well complete at this point.
04:38 Tom, we've seen Dexter out there throwing, you know, in practice and, you know, you've
04:44 shared plenty of, you know, updates about his timeline.
04:47 Just what have you seen from him since he's been back out on the field this fall and is
04:51 his timeline kind of still the same, hoping to get him back around mid season?
04:54 Yeah, I would say, I just was talking to him about this last night, you know, he's, he's
04:59 further along than we thought and he's further along than even he thought he would be.
05:04 And you know, he had his final checkup, you know, prior to fall camp and that came back
05:08 very positive.
05:10 And so from that, that meeting that he had with his doctors, we felt like we could accelerate
05:15 things for fall camp.
05:17 And so he's, yeah, he's been out there taking reps, you know, and, and been, been feeling
05:21 pretty good.
05:22 You know, I think as you, there's no question, you know, because there's so much with your
05:25 lower body that affects your, your throwing that he still had to kind of get, you know,
05:30 used to that and has had some soreness, not even in his, his, his knee, but other areas,
05:35 you know, that you got to get ready, you know, when you're going through the whole process
05:39 of playing.
05:40 So I would say for sure mid season to maybe even a couple earlier than that, if possible,
05:47 you know, so the mid season would be, I would say a good projection, but it may even continue
05:51 if, if, if he, you know, I think progresses at the rate that he is currently, it could
05:57 be maybe a game or two before that as well.
05:59 So I know everybody's very pleased with where he's at and he is too, and, but obviously
06:05 hasn't had it where we just cut it loose yet, you know, so that will be, you know, in time,
06:09 you know, but he's just such a awesome young man.
06:13 It's just everybody.
06:14 So, you know, as teammates and coaches and everybody in our staff, it just, you're pulling
06:19 for the kid because of what he's been through and, and, but so, yeah, he's just a little
06:23 bit further ahead than we thought.
06:26 Yeah, Tom, we've talked about kind of the inexperience in the secondary, I guess from
06:32 your perspective, entering fall camp, is there anything different about the way that you
06:36 approach coaching that position or coaching the defense when, you know, you don't have
06:39 guys like Taiwan or monster who have kind of that pre-established knowledge and leadership
06:44 of, of that whole area?
06:46 Yeah, I think that I think there's more coaches involved in the leadership by design because
06:55 of that reason, you know now Noah gives us a lot of experience and strong leadership
07:01 that, you know, cause you know, some of those other guys, even though they played a lot,
07:06 you know, I think all three of them, none of them were real verbal, you know, in terms
07:09 of just vocally leading in practice.
07:12 Noah's probably more verbal than any of those three guys were the most vocal guy that we
07:17 lost was King was Kim Jones without question.
07:19 So, but in the secondary, I think Noah provides a lot of leadership, you know, so, but I think
07:23 our coaches knowing that, you know, cause obviously Noah plays a position that's at
07:27 the Husky, which is our nickel spot.
07:29 So he's closer to the line scrimmage.
07:31 And so those high stages have to do a lot of communicating.
07:33 So, you know, Louis Moore's really stepped up and continues to do so.
07:37 And I think that's been huge for us.
07:39 And a guy like Josh Sanguinetti, who's played a lot of football here and been here a lot
07:42 and Phillips got to continue to grow and mature and develop, you know, so those guys we expect
07:47 cause they've been here and we got the new guys that have joined us and had been added
07:50 to our team.
07:51 And then you take the corner position that has a lot of new faces, you know, Jojo just
07:57 got here, you know, right prior to the start of fall camp and, and has already turned some
08:01 heads and done some really good things.
08:02 And so excited about him, you know, so, but yeah, it's just since I've been here, it's
08:06 the most new faces we've had in the secondary without question.
08:10 But, but I think that from a difference to answer your question is really more coaches
08:15 stepping in and providing that leadership as these guys kind of figure things out.
08:20 But those guys are making plays, you know, and that's what we expect to do.
08:23 We got a lot more length we've had in the past at those, at those positions.
08:26 I think that's, you know, indicative of what we're trying to do to match their skill sets
08:30 and what they can do best with what we're doing schematically.
08:34 Hi coach, Walt Bell's obviously entering his second season, I believe as the offensive
08:39 coordinator here.
08:40 I know as OCs kind of develop in their timeline at a certain school, things progress in a
08:44 positive direction.
08:46 Have you seen some positive movement for the offense in terms of just overall knowledge
08:50 of what you guys are trying to do?
08:52 I think so.
08:53 You know, I think that, you know, just even these last few practices, you know, obviously
08:57 offense is a little different than defense and at the installation, usually defense is
09:02 ahead right out of the gate just because you can just fly around and play hard and disrupt
09:06 everything and things can happen positive on defense in that mindset.
09:10 You do all that on offense and it usually, you know, doesn't, doesn't work out as well.
09:14 So it's so much timing and execution and everybody doing their, their job working to get that
09:19 the offense executed.
09:20 So because of it being year two of a lot of the same concepts, you know, that's really
09:25 been big for our guys.
09:26 And I think there's a natural progression to, to having, could we get enough core guys
09:30 back, you know, that makes that a lot smoother without question.
09:34 I think him just knowing our guys better and being able to adapt to them and, and just
09:38 kind of figuring out the strengths of who we are and what we're trying to do.
09:41 And I do feel like we're making a lot of progress up front, you know, with, with, with the old
09:46 lines.
09:47 So that to me is just has a, has a good feel to it right now.
09:51 And I thought the last couple of practices really shown really good, you know, when,
09:55 and during the team move, the ball periods, being able to make some plays and have us
09:59 show the ability to be explosive.
10:01 And that's a big key for us.
10:02 We got to be able to do that and take the pressure off the, just having to be so perfect
10:07 and everything and have 80 yard, 10, five yard drives and be able to create those explosive
10:12 to chunk plays as we call them.
10:14 And so, but I just think because of being together longer and having, you know, and
10:18 I think he and coach Tucker, even though coach Tucker's new, they've worked together, you
10:22 know, for several years.
10:23 So that was a natural, I think just kind of creates some good working relationship that
10:27 helps them be able to, to be pretty smooth in that regard.
10:29 So I think our receivers are really, you know, coming together as well and starting to make
10:33 plays, which is good.
10:34 Hi coach.
10:37 So last week you talked about implementing, implementing some more changes in default
10:41 camp and can you see those effects six practices in?
10:44 You know, I think so because when you think about the way we've been practicing in regards
10:48 to reps with having so many guys, and this is, this is both sides of the ball to where
10:53 you're maximizing, you know, ones, twos, threes, and fours, you know, and, and, uh, most many
11:00 times in the past we haven't had really threes and fours, you know, to really be able to
11:04 have that to be a super productive way of practicing.
11:08 And so I think just be getting, keep more guys involved, more guys getting repped and
11:12 get sped up, you know, the acceleration of our install.
11:15 And cause I just, would you look at both sides?
11:17 There's been mistakes without question, but, but there's not been a lot of glaring mistakes,
11:22 you know, and then we feel like that there's, you know, it kind of looks the way it's supposed
11:25 to look, you know, probably sooner than, and maybe that's a tribute to doing more in the
11:30 summertime, you know, which we've had more with the OTAs.
11:33 It gives us more time to do that and we take full advantage of that.
11:37 But I do think that the way we're trying to structure things allows our guys to, to speed
11:41 that up.
11:42 And I think we're, you know, you'll see, I guess we'll know more on Saturday, but, but
11:46 I feel good about where we are in the progression.
11:50 Thomas is kind of off the season, more about what's been going on here of late.
11:53 I'm talking about it with a realignment, what's been good, what's good, what's bad, this and
11:57 the other thing, but for Indiana, for this program, is it actually a good thing to be
12:01 out from under the sledgehammer of the Big Ten East every year of having to know you
12:07 have to do that, of now possibly having a little looser schedule and the opportunity
12:12 to grow and not have to play the powerhouses every single year to give the program a chance
12:17 to grow?
12:18 Well, you know, all I can say is this, is that, you know, we're definitely focused on
12:23 the future and I don't control any of those decisions.
12:26 But you know, the three that we've been playing every year since I've been here in our division
12:30 are all ranked in the top ten right now, you know, as we speak.
12:34 So that's a constant, you know, and they've been that way, you know, for a long time.
12:38 And you look historically, three of the top ten programs in the entire history of college
12:43 football.
12:44 So to not have to play those three now, you add in, I guess it's official now, so you
12:49 add in an Oregon and Washington who are really good football teams and obviously USC has
12:53 their tremendous tradition, UCLA, same thing.
12:55 So you're definitely adding more good teams.
12:58 But I think just the equitable distribution of your schedule to be able to have that is
13:03 a positive thing without question, you know.
13:05 So, but yeah, it's a crazy time, huh?
13:08 I mean, I, matter of fact, I was talking to my dad about it, you know, it's just hard
13:11 to believe that the teams are in the big ten now, you know, compared to what it used to
13:15 be when I was growing up.
13:16 So but yeah, it's an exciting time and definitely change and we're excited to be a part of it
13:22 and just anxious to continue to build our program here.
13:28 With the running back situation with Josh and Christian Turner, do you see them as having
13:33 different skill sets complementing each other or sort of, do you see them directly kind
13:38 of competing for the same kind of reps and snaps?
13:40 What do you kind of see from both of them?
13:42 Yeah, they're different, you know, I think that, you know, they're different than Jalen,
13:48 you know, that's where they're probably the biggest differences between those two
13:51 guys and even you mix in, you know, Trent Holland's had a great fall camp, you know,
13:56 he just continues to make plays and he's big and he's got tremendous hands and, you know,
14:03 David Holland has had his best camp he's had since he's been with us.
14:07 So deep group, which I like a lot, you know, and we know we've been through, that's a position
14:11 those guys get hit a lot and they got to, you got to have several in that position.
14:15 So, but Christian and Josh, the two older guys, just, you know, I would say both have
14:22 good combinations of power and speed and I'm excited to see, you know, Christian continue
14:28 to grow and develop in our system and I think they can be a really good complement to one
14:32 another without question and just be able to maximize them and what we want to be able
14:37 to do, as we've said pretty openly and clearly about, effectively run the football, you know,
14:43 and so in order to do that, obviously starts up front, but you also have to have talented
14:46 guys that can make somebody miss in space and be able to create those extra yards that
14:52 you have in both the throw game and when you hand the ball off to them and just getting
14:56 the ball in many ways as possible.
14:57 So I'm excited about adding Christian to that group and I think Josh has, he's become that
15:02 leader in that group and has been so steady and consistent and I just want to see that
15:06 continue.
15:07 So I just think, I think there'll be a good complement to one another, yes.
15:12 Forgive the obvious or inevitable question, but just health wise, has anybody picked up
15:17 something meaningful injuries wise here in the first, especially as you've maybe ramped
15:21 up activity and is there anybody when you talk about like a cam camper or somebody like
15:26 that, that you've been able, we talked about Dexter earlier, you've been able to accelerate
15:28 a little bit?
15:29 Yeah, I would say first of all with cam camper, you know, we're going through and based on
15:36 workload and everything that we monitor for him, you know, we've had times where we've
15:40 had to try to, you know, protect that a little bit, but he's progressing and we do, we rely
15:45 a lot on the strengths test and those have been really, really good lately, which is
15:49 great and so I'm excited about where he's at and fully expect him to continue to progress
15:54 through fall camp and he's still wearing a blue jersey, you know, so he's not been released
15:59 to be full bore live yet, but he's progressing well.
16:02 Matt Bedford would be the other one that came back and he's done a good job.
16:06 He's not in a blue jersey because his injury was so early in the season a year ago.
16:10 So rest of the guys, other than just your typical soft tissue things, you know, you
16:15 got a guy here that's maybe missing a practice or two.
16:18 We've been, been, you know, there've been some of that, you know, so not everybody's
16:22 been at every single practice, but, but I think overall it's been, been very positive
16:27 for our guys and it's got to continue to, you know, do a great job of rehabbing when
16:31 you have things, issues occur and I like the structure of we go three days and then we
16:36 have a regeneration day where they're not off, but they're coming in, lifting, watching
16:40 some film and getting their bodies rested from running and having to practice, you know,
16:45 so we're having obviously one of those today.
16:46 So having three days on and then one day off is a really good flow.
16:50 If you think about the season, that's how you play, you know, you practice Tuesday,
16:53 Wednesday, Thursday, and then you have your walkthrough on Friday and then you have your
16:56 one off day and then you have your, you know, your one game, game day.
16:59 So I think it's kind of a good flow for our guys in the lefts, kind of helps them a chance
17:03 to recover a little bit from some of these nagging things.
17:06 So feel pretty good about where we are health wise.
17:08 Awesome.
17:09 Have a great day.
17:10 - Okay, L-E-O.