Jacob Mangum-Farrar Adjusting To New Position Under New Staff

Indiana senior Jacob Mangum-Farrar played inside linebacker last season – and for most of his career – but he’ll line up along the defensive line more than ever at Indiana’s “stud” position under new head coach Curt Cignetti.

Jacob Mangum-Farrar (7) does stretching exercises during Indiana football spring practice. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Jacob Mangum-Farrar enters his seventh college football season in 2024, but some things are still new.

He’s playing for his third coaching staff in three seasons – David Shaw’s at Stanford, Tom Allen’s and now first-year Indiana coach Curt Cignetti’s – and now he’s adapting to a new position.

Last season, his first with Indiana after five at Stanford, Mangum-Farrar played inside linebacker next to Aaron Casey, a first-team All-Big Ten team captain who’s now pursuing an NFL career. But when Indiana fired Allen and hired Cignetti, it came with a change in defensive scheme and Mangum-Farrar’s role.

Indiana’s defense under Cignetti and defensive coordinator Bryant Haines is a four-down base, and the weak-side defensive end is called the “stud.” Cignetti described the stud position as 70% defensive end and 30% linebacker. They approached Mangum-Farrar about changing to this position, and that's been his new role during spring practice. 

“We thought he had a skillset where he could be good at that position,” Cignetti said. “That guy’s been an All-Conference player for us [at James Madison] about every year and has been an All-American a couple times. He’s picked it up well, and I’m pleased with his progress.”

Mangum-Farrar said after Thursday’s spring practice he’s put on about 15 to 20 pounds, going from 235 last season to between 250 and 255 now. At 6-foot-4, he plans on maintaining that weight, but he wants to become leaner and get in better condition by the time the season starts in late August. 

He’s working with new defensive line coach Buddha Williams now, and one of the biggest adjustments for Mangum-Farrar has been how much time he has to process what the offense is doing. At linebacker, he could wait a few extra seconds to read the offense, but now everything happens in a split second as he’s lined up on the defensive line. He’s watching film of players like Von Miller in order to pick up on some pass-rushing techniques.

“Just their hand movements and their patterns,” Mangum-Farrar said. “Just trusting your speed, beating that offensive tackle to a spot, and then once you get there, really being active with your hands and then straining to finish.”

Mangum-Farrar didn’t play this position at Stanford, but he had some experience last season at Indiana in certain goal line and blitz packages. Even in high school, he played positions like safety and running back, but nothing on the defensive line. So overall, he said it’s pretty much brand new. 

He's still getting used to the contact and techniques like hand placement required by playing stud, but his understanding is growing with time. 

“I could tell you my job,” Mangum-Farrar said. “But as far as being savvy with the position, some of the unspoken skillset or just experience is definitely taking a little more time. But it’s clicking each practice.”

“Basically you have to be able to hit as hard as linemen, but run with running backs or maybe a receiver on a wheel route. So we have to be able to do both, but just being violent in everything we do.”

This defense excites Mangum-Farrar because it has a lot of simulated blitz packages, and it’s able to disguise different defensive coverages. From his perspective, it’s a creative defense in that he has the freedom to line up in a two-point or three-point stance. Jalen Green played his position last season at James Madison and ranked second in the nation with 15.5 sacks. 

Mangum-Farrar started all 12 games for Indiana last season and finished with 62 total tackles, four tackles for loss and four passes defended. It’s rare to get a seventh year of eligibility, but he likes it in Bloomington and feels he’s in a good place with the team. He redshirted the 2018 season at Stanford, then suffered a season-ending injury two games into 2019 and didn’t play in 2020. But over the last three seasons, he’s played in 30 games.

Mangum-Farrar will be one of the most experienced players in college football in 2024, his seventh season, and he thinks it could be even more productive than last season.

“I feel like I still have a lot left in me,” Mangum-Farrar said. “And I didn’t feel like I produced the amount that I could have last year, as well as being fresh for each game and just being in a good place with my body to perform at the level I know I’m capable of.”