Keys to the 2009 Season

1. Staying healthy- Last year we were decimated with injuries and we just didn’t have the depth to recover. We lost 75% of our secondary to ACL injuries and it seemed like players were dropping like flies down the stretch. Of course injuries are part of the game but we had way more than the average football team. This year if we do experience a few injuries we will most likely have some depth to fill in. With so many players getting playing time last year we will have a comparable replacement if somebody gets injured. Assuming we can stay somewhat healthy we will have a defense that will surprise some people. We have the best DE combo in the big ten with Kirlew and Middleton. From what I’ve seen this spring I am expecting a bounce back from Middleton and believe both of our DE’s will be drafted in the 2010 NFL draft. Our linebacking core is very solid and I also believe Mayberry and Patterson will likely make it to the NFL as well. Replogle will be in his first year as a starter but has a ton of experience under his belt. We have solid safeties and some corners with a lot more experience this year. If we can stay relatively healthy this year we will surprise a lot of people.

2. O-line- So much of this years success will be determined by the play of our o-line. Hopefully with the installment of the “pistol” we will be able to have a more downhill running game that is better suited for our RB’s. However, we won’t be a team that can flat out beat you through the air. Chap has a strong arm and is an accurate thrower but he won’t single handily be opponents through the air. We are going to have to be reliant on establishing a solid running game then using the play action if we want to make some big plays. We can’t become one-dimensional this year or our offense will struggle.

3. Half-time adjustments- last year we seemed to never make any half-time adjustments. It was so agitating from a fan standpoint when I felt like we knew what changes needed to be made for the 2nd half and they didn’t happen. I can’t remember a time last year when we came out of the locker room from halftime and got things going again. We always seemed to go either 3 and out or let the other teams offense score. This part falls on the coaching staff and we need to be able to recognize when changes need to be made quicker and be able to make them in-game instead of recognizing them after the fact when it can’t help us.

4. Leadership- Last year when things started going downhill it didn’t seem like we had a way to get them back up. If the other team makes a big play we never seemed to be able to come back and stop them. When listening to some post-game interviews it was expressed that there were some players that kind of did their own thing and weren’t as focused on the team as they should be. This off-season Coach Lynch created a leadership council that hopefully will improve the leadership abilities of some of our players. Also having a lot more seniors on the squad should help our leadership as well. Leaders are very important to a team and have the ability to get everybody playing 100% and getting everybody to play together as a team. Just off the top of my head I can think of tons of players that have stepped up their leadership roles this off-season (Payton, Kirlew, Mayberry, Chappell, Polk etc…).

5. Fan Support- This is probably something that many people don’t think about as often but can make a difference in games. With the new additions to the stadium and the changes that Fred Glass is making to improve the football program we need to have a big fan base that can create some home field advantage. Up to this point I doubt teams dread coming to play at Memorial Stadium each year. It isn’t a place that always has a ton of energy and electricity running through it. I’ve been to tons of big ten games not only at Indiana but at Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, Purdue and sometimes the games get so loud and intense that I can’t hear myself think. It is a wonderful feeling I can tell you. Playing high school basketball I can tell you much of a difference an enthusiastic crowd can make. I played at a school where football was all that people cared about and basketball was just an afterthought. I have to admit it is tough getting some pumped up when you run out into the gym and see empty seats all over the place. But when we would go to opposing stadiums where there were tons of fans that couldn’t even find seats it made the games a lot more exciting. Lynch and some of the players have talked about this a lot. The players on the team feed off of the energy that the fans give at Memorial Stadium. Obviously just because we bring a lot of energy and fans to the game doesn’t mean we will all of a sudden win a lot more games. But I think that if we can start bringing more fans to the games and bring energy on more than just 3rd downs not only will it help motivate the players more but it will make a better game-day atmosphere for everyone.

On another note the stadium is looking very impressive. Here is a link for updated photos from July 16. http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/photogallery/gallery_index.html?school=ind&sport=&. It looks like it will be ready by July 27th and is going to help out the program a ton.