When the news broke in mid-January that Indiana head coach Kevin Wilson decided to fire defensive coordinator Doug Mallory, it was shocking yet unsurprising at the same time. After all, the story of Hoosier football during Mallory’s tenure has been the team’s horrifyingly bad defense that showed little sign of improvement going into another premature offseason with no bowl. Fans and media alike were almost certain that an announcement regarding his future would come immediately at season’s end, not almost two months later when the story finally broke. In that sense, it wasn’t the actuality of his being let go that was surprising, it was the timing.
With Mallory out, Wilson decided to bring in former Wake Forest defensive coordinator Brian Knorr. His task will be to shore up a defensive unit that has consistently ranked at or near the bottom in many key statistics, not just in the Big Ten but amongst all FBS programs. Only three other schools in the nation gave up more yards per game (527.9) than the Hoosiers did last year. In their last two meetings with Wisconsin, a team renowned for their ability to run the football, the Badgers averaged a mind-boggling 559 yards on the ground and outscored Indiana 113-17.
Indiana Defense Must Improve
Though Knorr isn’t exactly the sexiest hire in the world given that he comes from a program which perennially finishes in the lower half of the ACC, he does bring a track record of success on the defensive side of the football to Bloomington. In 2013, the Demon Deacons ranked top 40 nationally in many of the defensive categories Indiana struggled in. It should be noted that despite the woeful performance of the defense last year, the Hoosiers still managed to win five games, mostly due to the success of their high-paced, spread option offense which will be discussed later. Imagine what their win total could’ve been if their defensive statistics mirrored those of Wake Forest’s last year.
Despite the change at the defensive coordinator position, there has not been much turnover within the rest of the coaching staff. Only two changes came on defense, with Noah Joseph coming in from North Texas as safeties coach, and Larry McDaniel taking over defensive line coaching duties, assuming the same position he had at Bowling Green. Both units were highly successful in their respective leagues last season, with Joseph’s Mean Green secondary accounting for 18 interceptions, a major factor in the team’s turnover margin which tied for 15th nationally. They also won nine games, culminating with a dominating 36-14 victory over UNLV in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. McDaniel’s unit was a force to be reckoned with in the MAC, especially stopping the run, where they led the league in rushing yards allowed (150.6) and helped lead the Falcons to the conference championship.
Going into his fourth season at the helm of the IU football program, it appears that Wilson has made a legitimate and concerted effort, from a coaching personnel standpoint, to address the issues that prevented the Hoosiers from gaining bowl eligibility in 2013 when they had the talent to do so. He has also aggressively pursued top defensive players out of high school on the recruiting trail which seems to have paid off. Indiana’s last two overall recruiting classes were ranked 38th in the country by Rivals.com. David Kenney and Darius Latham, two highly rated defensive linemen from the Indianapolis area, were part of the 2013 class and now enter their sophomore seasons after having seen significant playing time as freshmen.
Those two should get plenty of help from the seven upperclassmen listed as defensive starters on the depth chart coming out of spring practice. Senior defensive tackle Bobby Richardson led the front four in tackles last year but should be looking for more of those to occur in the backfield this season if the run defense wants to make strides. The linebacking corps, led by redshirt senior David Cooper, needs to do the same. Going into 2014, the Hoosier front seven will need to vastly improve their ability to force the running game into more negative plays on 1st and 2nd down, while getting more pressure on the quarterback in passing situations, especially on 3rd and long.
The theme on the offensive side of the football for the 2014 season will undoubtedly be ‘more of the same, please.’ Indiana ranked ninth nationally in total offense and no worse than 30th in all key statistics related to yardage gained and points scored a season ago. Junior quarterback Nate Sudfeld is the clear cut starter after Tre Roberson, who started four games in 2013, transferred to Illinois State. Though All-Big Ten wideout Cody Latimer decided to forego his senior season for the NFL Draft, a wealth of experience returns to the receiving corps, including diminutive 5’7″ receiver Shane Wynn, who had 11 touchdowns last year.
Even more intriguing this coming season will be the performance of the running game, a vital element in the success of any spread option offense. During his sophomore season, Tevin Coleman gained nearly 1,000 yards on the ground while getting into the end zone 12 times, and that was in only nine games of action since an ankle injury forced him to miss the final three games of 2013. He also split carries during the year with senior Stephen Houston, and it will be interesting to see if he shoulders more of the work load in 2014 now that Houston has graduated.
With just one bowl bid in 20 years (2007 Insight Bowl), Indiana is pretty much the only Big Ten team without a multiyear run of postseason appearances over the past decade or so. In a conference that doles out over $20 million in revenue annually to member schools, Indiana has more resources at their disposal than ever before in terms of realizing success on the gridiron. If schools such as Baylor, Vanderbilt and Duke, all private institutions with much more stringent academic standards, can string together the winning seasons they’ve had recently, there’s no reason the Hoosiers can’t do the same in the future.
The performance on the defensive side of the football has nowhere to go but up, and if IU’s potent offense can continue to move the ball and put points on the board, 2014 will mark the first of many years in which Hoosier football represents the new look 14-team Big Ten in the postseason.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on twitter @LWOS_JB3. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
For the latest sports injury news, check out our friends at sports injury alert.
Football fans… check out our two partnered NFL podcasts – Thursday Night Tailgate Radio and Overtime Ireland. Both shows bring you interesting commentary, critical analysis and fantastic guests including former and current NFL players, coaches and personalities.
