New Indiana Offensive Coordinator Walt Bell Knows About Quarterback Shuffles

Walt Bell, Indiana's new offensive coordinator, met with the media for the first time in Sunday. The Tennessee native, who has 15 years of coaching experience, is excited to be working with Tom Allen, and said they have similar philosophies in regards to relationships with players.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — New Indiana offensive coordinator Walt Bell has a lot of respect for head coach Tom Allen, and he can't wait to get to work for him. 

"My job is to do exactly what he wants done," Bell said Sunday when he met with the local media for the first time since being hired last week to replace Nick Sheridan. "He's a world class man."

The 37-year-old Bell has plenty of football experience in many different roles. The Dickson, Tenn. native played wide receiver at Middle Tennessee and graduated with a master's degree in 2006. On the sidelines, he's been an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Arkansas State (2014-15), Maryland (2016-17) and Florida State (2018).

For the past three seasons, he served as head coach for the University of Massachusetts before getting hired at Indiana. Bell has worked with plenty of unique quarterbacks and is looking for a guy with winnable tools, he said.

He knows what he wants from his quarterbacks at Indiana.

"The greater distributor he is, a little bit less of athlete he has to be," Bell said. "If he's not going to be a great distributor, he's going to have to be a really dynamic athlete. Ideally, you want someone who is a top-line distributor, but somebody also that can extend plays and win with his feet."

Indiana was forced to cycle through four quarterbacks last season. Michael Penix Jr. (shoulder) and Jack Tuttle (foot) got knocked out by injuries, and true freshman  Donaven McCulley and walk-on Grant Gremel played most of the snaps in the second half of the season.

It didn't go well, and the Hoosiers lost their last eight games to finish 2-10. They had the lowest-ranked offensive in the Big Ten, and it cost Sheridan his job. So in comes Bell to fix it.

Bell has plenty of experience with shuffling quarterbacks.

At Arkansas State in 2014, starting quarterback Fredi Knighten played all 12 games — he passed for 3,277 yards and 24 touchdowns — but the next season, he missed four games. At Maryland in 2016, Bell lost his top three quarterbacks to injuries.

"I have, unfortunately, had some bad luck (with quarterbacks) from a health standpoint," Bell said. "I think having been through those experiences makes you a little more adaptable, makes you a little more system-conscious from a standpoint of diversifying that quarterback room and making sure no matter what their skills are, there's a piece of the system that they can go execute at a high level to give yourself a chance on Saturdays.

"Honestly, I think that had to do a little bit with Coach Allen hiring me."

Bell has been here for less than a week with no time to explore or break down the offense just yet. When he got here on Monday, he immediately jumped in to assist with the recruiting process, meaning he hasn't had a chance to get a feel for Indiana's schemes yet other than from game film and TV.

Once signing day concludes on Wednesday, Bell will familiarize himself with new faces to him at Indiana and get back to working the Big Ten.

"Any time you're a new coordinator, getting to know your offensive personnel and what skills they have, I think that's the first learning curve that you have," he said. "I think the advantage that I've been blessed with here is that there's so much holdover on the offensive staff."

That hasn't always been the narrative for Bell. During his stint at Arkansas State, he worked with an entirely new staff. During spring ball, fall camp and even the first couple of games, it was an added task to figure out who they were, Bell said.

Bell said Indiana's staff already has built-in relationships, knows how to challenge its players and knows what not to do with its players when it comes down to it. To Bell, it's all about relationships and getting to know his players while gaining their trust.

"I am really excited to do anything and everything in my power to be the best possible assistant coach and offensive coordinator, because I understand having been in that chair, and how important that is to Coach Allen," Bell said.

"I feel like I'm in the right place at the right time with the right guy (Allen)."

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