In October 2015, IU Coach Kevin Wilson called upon running backs Coach Deland McCullough for another reliable back.
Former Hoosier Jordan Howard was injured two weeks before Homecoming and left IU’s matchup with Penn State early due to the same injury.
The Hoosiers needed a change-of-pace running back as Rutgers was visiting Bloomington with then-sophomore Devine Redding as the only consistent running back with experience on the roster.
McCullough responded with No. 24, Mike Majette.
“You recruit the guys that fit a certain personality, intellect and toughness,” McCullough said. “That’s why when the situation came up last year when (Wilson) was like, ‘Hey, who would you be interested in bringing in?’ I knew it would be Mike.”
Then a freshman from Woodbridge, Virginia, all anyone knew about Majette was that his name matched his skillset. He was fast, shifty — like a jet.
The freshman saw his first action on the field against Rutgers, and the Hoosiers went right to him.
He ran for 11 yards. Then five yards. Then a reception for eight.
IU kicked a field goal on that drive before losing to Rutgers, 55-52, in historic fashion. Majette recorded 118 total yards and a receiving touchdown.
Majette gave Hoosier fans an exciting playmaker out of the backfield with a skillset Howard and Redding didn’t have.
He saw more action throughout the season and finished with 181 rushing yards and 44 receiving yards.
Through eight games this season, Majette already has 180 yards rushing and 87 yards receiving. McCullough said Majette is a good example of a running back who took advantage of the opportunity that was given to him in 2015 and created a spot for himself in the backfield for 2016.
“They know it’s a perpetually expanding role,” McCullough said. “It never is, ‘Man, coach, I’ve been here four years, and all I’ve been is a guy that gets 10 plays a game.’ That’ll never happen. Everybody gets more, more, more, more.”
Everybody wants more.
This season, Redding has taken the majority of the carries, redshirt freshman Devonte Williams has returned from injury and true freshman Tyler Natee has been featured in his own package for his 275-pound frame.
Touches have become scarce for the running backs, such as sophomore Alex Rodriguez and sophomore Ricky Brookins, of last season.
It’s been tough for Majette to get his touches too.
“Sometimes it’s just circumstances,” McCullough said. “I talked to that whole room. I said, ‘You’re slated to go in there, and you may go in, and we go three-and-out. That’s the set.”
McCullough said it’s not that the Hoosiers are designing running backs out of touches, it’s just that assigned drives may not be as successful for one running back as they are for others.
“That’s the luck of football,” McCullough said.
The coaching staff knows the skillset of Majette and his teammates in the running back room, McCullough said. It’s shown, as five Hoosiers scored rushing touchdowns against Maryland last week, an occurrence that is believed to have never happened in IU football history.
For Majette — who ran for 45 yards on five carries and caught one ball for 11 yards against Maryland — the coaching staff is still trying to determine the sophomore’s highest potential.
“His skill set is still a high-end set,” McCullough said. “It’s just maybe packaging it up the right way and doing different things and then ultimately getting more opportunities for him.”
