In his first season with the Hoosiers after transferring from Foothill (Calif.) Community College, middle linebacker Jeff Thomas made 82 tackles, good for second on the team. He also made one of the biggest plays of the season when he intercepted Purdue's Rob Henry in OT that led to a 34-31 IU victory.
Heading into his senior season, Thomas is excited to lead his defense and to play for the new coaching staff. More than anything, Thomas is prepared to win.
"We want to win and we want to win now," Thomas said. "For us seniors, we don't want to look back and (think about) what could have happened."
Thomas also briefly discussed the change in the defensive scheme of the team, focusing on the effect on the linebackers.
"Our (defensive) tackles are aiming to take up the interior three," Thomas said, "so linebackers have a little more freedom to roam. The way our scheme is, we're going to be aggressive, tough, physical and we're going to play fast."
Thomas spoke very highly of a number of players, but three specifically. First of all, he "couldn't say enough" about fellow senior weakside/will linebacker Leon Beckum. He mentioned that he and Beckum have great chemistry and that both Beckum and senior defensive end Darius Johnson have had great summers.
Junior defensive lineman Larry Black Jr. has lost thirty pounds during the offseason and is moving much quicker now, Thomas said. He coupled that comment by saying that new strength coaches like Mark Hill have greatly helped the Hoosier squad.
Throughout the days, Thomas and his teammates spoke quite a bit about the coaching change. At one point, he compared Wilson to former head coach Bill Lynch.
"Obviously, (Wilson)'s a great coach," Thomas said. "So was Coach Lynch, but the way they do things, the way they go about their business is definitely different."
Thomas went on to say that there is a little bit of an increase in confidence from the new coaching staff.
"I think this staff expects to win," Thomas said. "It's not like going into a game where you want to win. Coach Wilson, who's been at Oklahoma - seven out of the last nine years, he's been in a bowl - he expects to win and so do all the other coaches"
