While venue changes, brothers' bond doesn't

From the backyard of their home in Centerville, Ohio, to their stadium in high school and now Memorial Stadium, there has been one constant for Tyler and Adam Replogle.

They have played football – together.

“With our other two brothers, we used to play hockey, baseball, basketball, soccer or football pretty much every day,” Tyler Replogle said. “It kind of brings you back to when you were a kid and playing all those sports. It’s cool to see that as we have gotten older, it continued.”

A junior starting linebacker for IU, Tyler Replogle has emerged as a leader on one of the better defenses in the Big Ten. His younger brother, Adam Replogle, is a defensive tackle and the only true freshman to start for the Hoosiers this season.

Tyler and Adam Replogle are the first set of brothers to start for IU since 1999, when Antwaan and Curtis Randle El played quarterback and defensive back, respectively.

With their father Tom Replogle being a former football player at Virginia Military Institute, Adam Replogle said he and Tyler  Replogle established a love for the game at an early age.

“I actually had to beg him to play football in second grade,” Adam Replogle said. “He didn’t want us playing until sixth grade, which was when Tyler started. But he told us if we loved it, we could do it.”

That passion for football continued at Centerville High School, where both brothers helped lead the Elks to multiple Greater Western Ohio Conference championships.

As a senior, Tyler Replogle was named the GWOC Defensive Player of the Year and finished his career with 407 tackles and 65 tackles for a loss. Not to be outdone, Adam Replogle earned first team All-state, first team All-district and the GWOC Player of the Year in his final season.

IU coach Bill Lynch said he knew Adam Replogle would contribute immediately after seeing him play high school basketball on his one off-campus recruiting trip.

“Just watching him compete on a basketball court, I said to (co-defensive coordinator) Brian George when we were leaving, ‘He’s going to play as a true freshman,’” Lynch said. “You can just see his competitiveness. From the day he got here, he was ready.”

Tyler Replogle is currently third on the team with 30 tackles this season. Adam Replogle has added 11 tackles of his own and is a main component of the Hoosiers’ dynamic pass rush.

When asked about the brothers, both Lynch and co-defensive coordinator Joe Palcic answered with one word: “intensity.”

“They are full speed all the time,” Palcic said. “At Akron, Tyler got an interception, and his brother was running down the field trying to get a block for him. I rewound it on film, and I said, ‘Look at that, brother blocking for brother’ – that was pretty cool.”

Adam Replogle said having the opportunity to play alongside his brother is something he has enjoyed thus far.

“Just knowing that you are experiencing what few brothers can, playing in the Big Ten,” Adam Replogle said.  “It’s a lot of fun.”