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The Indiana Daily Student

sports football

New quarterbacks coach looking for winner's mentality

Sports Filler

When IU Coach Tom Allen called Mike DeBord about taking the vacant offensive coordinator position in January, the new IU offensive coordinator had one request.

Allen needed to hire Nick Sheridan too.

That’s exactly what Allen did Feb. 3 after former IU quarterbacks coach Shawn Watson took Pitt’s offensive coordinator position.

“He was there with me when I was calling the game on game day in a very critical role,” DeBord said of Sheridan’s work at Tennessee. “So he was actually the quarterbacks coach at 
Tennessee these last two years.”

In the last three years in Knoxville, Tennessee, Sheridan was officially listed as a graduate assistant at Tennessee. DeBord became the offensive coordinator for the Volunteers in 2015, after Sheridan’s first year, and Sheridan began working with former Tennessee quarterback Josh Dobbs.

Sheridan worked the quarterback meetings, game preparation and other responsibilities that come with a quarterbacks coach position, DeBord said.

Dobbs was an Associated Press Second Team All-SEC selection in 2016 and finished his career 3-0 in bowl games. He also passed for 2,946 yards and 27 touchdowns in 2016 while rushing for 831 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Sheridan will inherit a quarterback room that features junior quarterback Richard Lagow, freshmen Peyton Ramsey and Austin King and incoming freshman and 2017 Florida Mr. Football winner Nick Tronti.

Lagow finished second in the Big Ten in passing yards per game, with 258, fifth in touchdowns, with 19, and sixth in passing efficiency. But after Lagow’s declining production throughout the 2016 season and subsequent loss to Utah in the Foster Farms Bowl, Allen indicated the starting quarterback role is open for competition.

Sheridan said he has met with all of the IU quarterbacks as of Sunday afternoon, and he felt they all want to perform well, which in his opinion is the basis for all improvement as a field general.

When it comes to the quarterback competition, Sheridan said he’s looking for a winner’s mentality, 
accuracy and mobility.

“We’re looking for a winner,” Sheridan said. “We’re trying to accumulate a group of guys with a 
winning mentality.”

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