Monday Media Notebook: Fall Camp Progressing; Freshmen Making Plays

Indiana coach Tom Allen touched on a number of topics Monday, including how his team is installing new things and how freshman quarterback Donaven McCulley has impressed early on in his career.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — After day four of fall camp for Indiana football, head coach Tom Allen gave an update about where his team is at so early in the process.

The team has been working hard, which hasn't been a shock to Allen — he knows how hard-working this group is. 

Allen touched on a number of topics, including what he liked in practice as the team nears its first scrimmage and which newcomers are standing out on the field.

Here are some key takeaways from Allen's Monday media session:

Special teams indicating good things

It was wet and rainy on Monday morning for Indiana, who practiced outside Mellencamp Pavilion.

Allen thought the conditions were especially useful for special teams, being able to handle wet balls, get their holds down, their footing down and test out all the kicking and punting drills to make sure they can execute in that phase of the game no matter what the weather is.

Special teams is also another area for Allen where he likes to judge how bought in his players are.

"Just been really encouraged by that," Allen said. "The intensity of it. The physicality of it. The effort given every single rep. I have just a whole slew of guys. I've seen that, and that's been encouraging.

"We've got some good reps on both sides of the ball, and I think we've got some really good special teams work in."

Indiana installing at a high level

Last offseason limited most teams in what they were able to do in terms of installing new schemes to their game plans.

But with a full offseason heading into 2021 and everyone at the same place at the same time, Allen hasn't wasted any seconds trying to add new layers to his team.

Allen has been in environments where installing new things is a slower process, where nothing new is installed through the first couple days of fall camp, but that isn't case for the Hoosiers this year.

"I think we have been aggressive in our install by what we are putting in each day," Allen said. "We have just kept plowing right through it with this group. We feel like we have a lot of maturity out of our team and, as you mentioned, a lot of the work has been done in the play practices. The [groundwork] was installed there, and things from the spring, as well, which was all stuff you missed a year ago."

It helps that Indiana is returning a majority of its starters from a season ago, so a lot of the players know the basics.

At Big Ten Media Day, Allen said this year's roster is the deepest team he's coached here at Indiana. With that being said, Allen thinks it's been easier in practice to get things done.

"I feel really good about the aggressiveness of the installs on both sides, and even the special teams," Allen said. "We've got a lot put in and sometimes that causes day four and five, there can be some information overload, especially for the new guys, but we are able to be three-deep [at each position] and have our ones, twos and threes going, and actually up to as many as fours in certain drills. It is obvious that the depth is different than it has been in the past and that helps us practice better and helps us get more guys ready to play."

Extra protection in practice

If you've seen any pictures on social media of Indiana's football practices, you may have noticed an extra layer of protection over the helmets of some players.

𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 of 𝙢𝙚𝙣. pic.twitter.com/ItYmFXtahz

— Indiana Football (@IndianaFootball) August 8, 2021

As you can imagine, that extra padding is to help prevent concussions.

"The extra padding on the helmets is for concussion prevention," Allen said. "I do think in the future we could see that be mandated for practices, it is not yet, but it has been discussed in the medical world. ... We start with everyone [wearing them], but then we might focus on some certain groups that will or won't have them based on a guy's history."

For example, Allen believes the offensive line and defensive line will most likely continue to wear them since those groups will be enduring the most collisions in practice.

Injuries can put on damper on any season, so Indiana is taking the best precautions to try to prevent those from occurring so early on.

"I think that anything we can do to make it safer for our guys we're all for," Allen said. "And, we are researching other options, as well. This is something that we have discussed [as a program] and other schools have as well, and we are doing anything we can to keep our guys healthy."

Donaven McCulley making an impression

It's no secret that Indiana's top two quarterbacks right now are Michael Penix Jr. and Jack Tuttle.

Penix is the starter, and if he were to suffer an injury, Tuttle would step right in and be the backup. Those two have far and away the most experience with Indiana to this point.

But a big pickup for Indiana in the 2021 class was Lawrence North quarterback Donaven McCulley.

So far in fall camp, Allen was been pleased with what he's seen from McCulley.

"We have really been encouraged by his growth," Allen said. "Even some things today, you are able to isolate certain parts of what we do, and you could just see the talent. It has shown up from the beginning, but his comfort level, when you minimize the reads and you're not trying to see everything."

McCulley has also put on some solid weight and his up to 215 pounds, which is good for where his frame is at, which is solid quarterback height at 6-foot-5.

Allen admits that McCulley still has a long way to go, but the attention he has shown to learn the offense and get better has been a big plus for his development.

"He is such a sponge. He's so humble, eager to learn and a great listener," Allen said. "I watch him when he interacts with our coaches, and he doesn't ever get defensive. He just has a great demeanor about him, and he wants to learn and grow and get better. that is a good sign for his mental development and how he is going to just keep getting better and better. He is going to be a special one."

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