Aaron Casey Leads Indiana Defense in Spring Practice After Major Roster Changes

After losing a majority of its defensive leaders from the 2022 season, Aaron Casey has taken on a leadership role for the Hoosiers during spring practice.

Jack Ankony | Apr 13, 2023

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Indiana Hoosiers

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Nine of Indiana's 10 leading tacklers from the 2022 season are gone, either to graduation, the transfer portal or NFL Draft.

The outlier? Aaron Casey, Indiana's leading tackler in 2022, who racked up 86 total tackles and 10.5 tackles for loss. Look further down the stat sheet, and you'll notice 13 of Indiana's top 17 tacklers from last year are no longer with the program.

Indiana coach Tom Allen hit the transfer portal hard, adding 12 defensive transfers to address the team's needs. Indiana also has a new co-defensive coordinator, Matt Guerrieri, who joined the team in February.

Though he's only been on campus for a few months, Guerrieri has leaned on Casey for through these changes. Only time will tell how impactful those transfers will be on the field, but as they adjust to a new environment, Casey is there for guidance.

He won't change much about his approach to the game as an individual player, but Casey has drawn from former Indiana linebacker Cam Jones as he takes on a larger leadership role.

"He always brought the energy," Casey said of Jones. "He always taught me you've got to handle different situations a little different because you can't handle all situations the same. I kind of noticed stepping into that role that you can't always talk to everybody the same way and stuff like that."

An All-Big Ten linebacker and three-time captain at Indiana, Jones competed in the NFL Combine this offseason and hopes to hear his name called on draft night. Jones was a mainstay for the Indiana defense since 2019, and Casey said he's been focusing on encouraging his teammates and holding them accountable, like Jones did.

"I've just got to be more vocal," Casey said. "Also teaching and helping guys understand the defense and why we do the things we do ... And stepping up in those tough situations, just being that type of person for the defense that [Jones] was."

Indiana's Aaron Casey (44) celebrates a stop during the Indiana versus Illinois football game at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022. — Indiana's Aaron Casey (44) celebrates a stop during the Indiana versus Illinois football game at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Sept. 2, 2022 :: Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

Guerrieri feels confident in Casey playing this role, not only because of his character, but more importantly, his ability on the field. Guerrieri said Casey is able to command the middle of the field because he understands the responsibilities of all defensive positions, coupled with the ability to play sideline to sideline.

"That's unique," Guerrieri said. "Cerebrally, he can process, too ... Then he has athleticism to play in space and he's got physicality to play in the box. So to me, if you can do those things at linebacker, you check all the boxes."

Indiana landed a trio of transfers in Casey's position group, with Jacob Mangum-Farrar from Stanford, Darryl Minor Jr. from UTEP and Joshua Rudolph from Austin Peay. Casey has already noticed improvement from these players, and he's made sure to help them along in their transition.

"Those guys are going fast," Casey said. "I can see from when we first started with the install to now, it's a whole lot of progression in their understanding and understanding how we do things here. I feel like they're starting to play fast and get more knowledge, so those guys are starting to really come out their shells and play faster on the field and everything."

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