New-look Hoosiers begin spring practice

When the IU football team trains before and during the 2010 season, the players will wear workout shirts with the word “finish” scrawled in large letters across the back.
But before the Hoosiers can finish, they’ll have to start.

With spring practice kicking off today, IU coach Bill Lynch said at his press conference he is excited for new beginnings at Memorial Stadium.

“When you’re a football coach, it’s a great time of year because you get a chance to get back on the field with the guys,” he said. “They’ve worked awfully hard in the offseason in the weight room, in early morning conditioning; all the other things that go into being a Big Ten football player.”

Going into spring practices, Lynch said his main goal is to find out who his top 50 players are. The task grows tougher this year, with 20 seniors, including NFL prospects such as defensive ends Jammie Kirlew and Greg Middleton and offensive lineman Rodger Saffold, gone from last season’s roster.

The defense, returning just four starters, suffers the most turnover.

The secondary is a group hit particularly hard, as graduating seniors Austin Thomas, Collin Taylor, Ray Fisher and Nick Polk carry 182 combined tackles and 8 of the team’s 16 interceptions out of Bloomington.

To combat the losses, Lynch is moving a pair of wide receivers — juniors Mitchell Evans and Matt Ernest — to the defensive backfield. Evans, who started his IU career as a safety, will return to his original position after hauling in 33 receptions for 366 yards and 3 touchdowns last season. Evans also found a spot as a Wildcat quarterback, a space Lynch said will be filled by redshirted quarterbacks Edward Wright-Baker or Dusty Kiel.

Ernest, moving to cornerback, will balance spring football with his duties as a pitcher for the baseball team. Lynch said he expects Ernest to provide many of the same talents as Fisher did in his similar position switch. He added that playing two sports could bring the best out of Ernest.

“I was a two-sport guy myself, and I know that was long time ago, but there’s nothing like competing,” Lynch said. “I think he’ll be fine.”

To further accommodate the personnel changes, Lynch said he will change schemes defensively to fit a more athletic group of defenders. He said he will run a mix of 4-3, with four defensive linemen, and 3-4, with four linebackers.

Although changes are being made across the board, Lynch said third- and fourth-down conversions hurt the team last season. The Hoosiers were seventh in the Big Ten on third down, converting on 39 percent of those situations. They were also last in the conference in third-down conversions allowed.

Lynch said multiple games came down to getting one first down or stopping the opponent from doing so, and finishing will be a point of emphasis as the work begins.
“If there’s one thing, going back, that’s what we didn’t do a very good job of, and that’s what we’re really going to work hard on this spring,” Lynch said.