Indiana Cornerbacks Relying on Veteran Transfers to Return to 2020 Level

Nicolas Toomer, Kobee Minor, Jamier Johnson and JoJo Johnson all have yet to play a single snap for coach Tom Allen and the Indiana Hoosiers, transferring to IU in the offseason of 2023. However, with the graduation of long time starters Tiawan Mullen and Jaylin Williams, Indiana is banking on the veteran transfers to step in and lead the young cornerback room this season.

Daniel Olinger | Aug 11, 2023

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Indiana Hoosiers

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — No matter which position group talks to media following a fall camp practice, they almost always get asked about the 2019 and 2020 Indiana football teams.

They're the gold standard both for Tom Allen's coaching tenure and for Hoosier football as a whole. Every few minutes the players hear, "How can you get back to that level you were at 2-3 years ago?" or, "What have you learned from guys who were on those 2019 and 2020 teams?"

With no position group is this more true than the cornerbacks. Aside from Michael Penix Jr. and his bevy of talented wide receivers, the cornerbacks and overall pass defense were the strengths of the 2019 and 2020 Indiana teams. Loaded with stars like Tiawan Mullen and Jaylin Williams, IU became one of the fiercest secondaries in the country. In just 21 games between those seasons, Indiana recorded 24 interceptions.

While the cornerbacks on the Hoosiers' roster were far from the biggest problems in 2021 and 2022, they weren't overwhelming strengths, either. Indiana allowed 274.2 passing yard per game last season, the 12th-worst mark out of 131 teams in FBS. And after all of those interceptions recorded in 2019 and 2020, they've only tallied 12 interceptions in their past 24 games.

The goal, per usual, for cornerbacks coach Brandon Shelby is to help the 2023 Indiana defensive backs reach that same level they were at in 2020. The challenge is new, however, as Shelby's room returns almost no one who has seen the field for meaningful snaps while wearing an IU uniform.

"It's kind of crazy, this is the first time in a long time that we haven't had anyone come back with Indiana experience. You start all over." Shelby said. "It is a little bit different because the past four or five years I have had guys come back with some type of experience [at Indiana], and it's great for me to go back the fundamentals of coaching."

During the 2023 offseason, Allen brought in transfer cornerbacks Nicolas Toomer (Stanford), Jamier Johnson (Texas), Kobee Minor (Texas Tech) and JoJo Johnson (Iowa Western Community College and Notre Dame). There's high expectations for young guys in the room, such as redshirt freshmen James Monds III and Jamari Sharpe, and true freshman Jordan Shaw. But as talented as those guys might be, they haven't been truly thrown into the fire of a Big Ten game.

One thing Shelby and the coaching staff have done to assist the position room lacking in continuity is a simplifications of checks and calls on the field. They don't want cornerbacks overthinking coverages and playing hesitant. They want them to play fast and be confident in what their eyes tell them each play.

"I think a little bit of it is making it where our checks are simple, and guys are playing fast," Shelby said. "That 2020 year, if you go back and you look at the calls that [former defensive coordinator Kane] Wommack called, they pretty much stayed the same. We knew what the challenges were and how offenses were going to try to attack that. So [we made it so] that guys could get their eyes where they needed to be. That is where we are trying to get to right now is where are my eyes, what am I thinking and make sure that our checks aren't all over the place."

"We are trying to get it back there. I think we are close, and we are working hard to get these guys to play fast."

Two players who have been tasked as leaders in fall camp are Minor and Toomer. Though neither of them have spent even a year in Bloomington, they're both college football veterans who saw significant time on the field for their previous schools. They're using their experience as best they can to teach the younger talents in the room.

"If we’re doing something wrong, they’ll let us know and help us," the redshirt freshman Sharpe said, describing both Minor and Toomer. "If we don’t know certain plays, they’ll go over different plays with us so we can get it right.”

Specific to how Shelby wants the cornerbacks to play in 2023, Toomer is teaching them how to read opponents pre-snap so that they can play with that faster, downhill mindset on each play. By understanding what they're looking at each down without confusion, they can play with confidence and let their talent shine through.

"[I teach them] leverages, alignments. One of the biggest things I got from Stanford was just being a true student of the game," Toomer said. "Detailing what personnel groups, what routes you're going to get out of certain looks. Just playing smart. Not playing very robotic, but just knowing the game and having some instinct when you're on the field."

"One of the biggest things I got from Stanford was just being a true student of the game."

Transfer CB Nicolas Toomer on what he can teach the younger guys in the IU Secondary using his veteran experience #iufb pic.twitter.com/uXkMMmhCSe
— Dan Olinger (@dan_olinger) August 11, 2023

Sometimes it feels like Groundhog Day in Bloomington, hearing over and over again that a position group wants to return to its 2019-20 level. Those seasons raised the bar for so many Indiana football fans, only for the team to immediately crash back to earth.

But for the cornerbacks, it's a particularly poignant benchmark. The cornerbacks and the pass defense were what Allen and IU did best for so many seasons. It was a point of pride.

By bringing in experienced veterans who can both steady the ship for now, and help bring along the new crop of talented underclassmen, Shelby and the Indiana cornerbacks are hoping that message can be more than just lip service in 2023.

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