IU Secondary Coach Brandon Shelby went into the defensive backs meeting room a little early one day expecting to find an empty room.
Instead, he found the entire group already in there with their heads buried in their playbooks.
“I’ve never seen that since I’ve been here,” he said.
What Shelby also has not seen during his five years at IU is a pass defense that rose out of the Big Ten cellar. The Hoosiers have been worst in the conference in pass defense the past two seasons and have never been better than eighth in the Kevin Wilson era.
The task of reversing recent trends became even more difficult with the dismissal of safety Antonio Allen from the team due to charges of dealing drugs. Add the uncertain status of sophomore Donovan Clark’s back this season, and the team could potentially be returning only three players who broke up a pass last year. None of these players were everyday starters.
Wilson and staff tend to speak with some comfort about each area of the team — even the inexperienced receiving corps — except the defensive backfield. It has become the most mysterious section of the 2015 Hoosiers and the one with the most to prove to the coaches.
Young guys are being asked to step up, many of whom are freshmen. However, the question quickly became who the leader of that group will be without Allen.
The hope for the team has become redshirt sophomore safety Chase Dutra.
“You think Chase Dutra, he may not be the fastest safety in the Big Ten,” Defensive Coordinator Brian Knorr said. “But from a heady, understanding what we do — that’s the guy we want back there running the ship.”
Junior defensive lineman Darius Latham said Dutra has become the leader of the defensive backs. He said Dutra learned a lot playing last season when Mark Murphy missed time with injuries.
“He is really taking over back there.”
With Dutra as a potential leader, Wilson is not as worried about the talent in the secondary as he is the experience.
There is a long list of skilled sophomores who will be asked to be the main guys in the backfield. Sophomores like Rashard Fant, Tony Fields, Kiante Walton and Noel Padmore are expected to step up for a pass defense that does not have much history of success.
It may be the freshmen that earn the most praise, though. Freshman Jonathan Crawford out of Largo, Florida, has become the most common name drop.
“He’s going to be a really exceptional player,” Shelby said. “Long, good speed, good range. I expect big things from him.”
Freshman Tyler Green was once committed to Ohio State and has as much notoriety coming in as anyone, but lesser known freshmen like Andre Brown have impressed coaches, and Wilson said Jameel Cook has been better than advertised.
Freshman Devonte Williams came to IU as a running back prospect and has since turned heads working out at cornerback.
“Devonte Williams has been as impressive as anyone,” Wilson said. “He’s our most physical guy, because, as a runner, he’s used to getting hit whereas a lot of DBs aren’t.”
Despite concerns about the secondary, Wilson’s hope is his confidence in the front seven will ease the young guys into bigger roles in the backfield.
He often speaks about the defensive line as a team strength, and if the team can develop a pass rush without blitzing too often, linebackers can help more in pass coverage.
“I think you can go through some growing pains if your line of scrimmage is kicking butt,” Wilson said. “As we go through camp it will be interesting to see just how strong our line of scrimmage is, because that will really help those young guys, not stress them out so much.”
