Football program takes new strides to build better athletes

For more than 120 years, Indiana football has been stuck in a constant state of mediocrity. Only one coach, Bo McMillin, has had both a winning overall record (63-48-11) and a .500 record in the Big Ten (34-34-6).

Since his retirement in 1947, IU has claimed a 240-422-9 overall record through former coach Bill Lynch’s tenure.

When Coach Kevin Wilson was hired in December 2010, he said he planned to win and to do so immediately. How did he plan to immediately pump life into a program that had looked dead for so long?

In July, Wilson said a culture change needed to begin with himself and people on his staff, such as Co-Defensive Coordinator Mike Ekeler. Wilson said he believes Ekeler is one of the most positive people he has worked with.

“Every day is the greatest day ever, and every place is the best place ever (to Ekeler), and the kids love the guy,” Wilson said. “He’s a heck of a coach. We have a scheme that we believe in. The players have embraced it.”

As Wilson said, players quickly bought into the coaching staff’s optimistic approach. From freshman arrivals to experienced players such as senior tight end Max Dedmond, players developed a trust with coaches upon arrival and in spring practice.

“From minute one, he showed that he had confidence in us, and we definitely have confidence back in him,” Dedmond said.

As the long, hot summer months began, most of the coaches were not allowed to be on the field with the players, so Mark Hill, the strength and conditioning coach, had a notable amount of responsibility. His job was not only to get them back into shape after the offseason but to turn them into better athletes than they had ever been.

The slogan for the summer was “nutrition and condition,” which both Hill and the administration took very seriously. In March, IU hired Amy Freel as the first full-time director of sports performance nutrition at IU and in the Big Ten.   

“As far as the slogan — ‘nutrition and condition’ — you can’t have one without the other,” Hill said. “And guys carrying around excess body fat, excess body weight is only going to slow them down, especially at the tempo at which we play.”

Significant changes were apparent throughout the team. Hill noticed a difference in reactions to spring and fall practice, saying spring practice was a shock to the players’ systems.

“Guys were a little in awe, if you will,” Hill said. “But coming into this fall camp practice, when you’re in the best shape of your life — you’ve been running, you’ve been doing the things you need to do — there’s no longer a shock.”

The team as a whole has undergone a major transition from 2010 to 2011, but a couple players have made significant changes individually.

Two years ago, then-sophomore Greg Heban was a pitcher for the IU baseball team; now he is the starting cornerback for the Hoosiers, leading the team with two interceptions.
After baseball Coach Tracy Smith noticed Heban’s talent during a flag football game, he contacted former IU football Coach Bill Lynch. Heban ended up playing safety for Lynch’s 2010 squad and moved to cornerback for 2011.

Co-Defensive Coordinator Doug Mallory said he was surprised that nobody else found Heban first.

“It’s hard to believe that a young man like that got overlooked,” Mallory said. “We’re glad he’s here, but you would think someone out there would have found an athlete like that in high school.”

Players such as senior linebacker Jeff Thomas said changes in physique and attitude don’t matter unless the Hoosiers make one big change: adjust from being a losing team to a winning one.

“You measure success by whatever you want, but when it comes down to it, you’ve got to get wins,” Thomas said. “The expectation to win and the expectations are so much higher with everything that we’ve got no other option.”