Bob Bostad Previews Indiana Offensive Line At Fall Camp
Bob Bostad Previews Indiana Offensive Line At Fall Camp
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00:00 Yeah, when you make your first press conference and you don't like musical chairs,
00:05 is that an easy to do with the spaces you're incorporating, learning and evaluating everybody?
00:12 Did you switch guys around from spring to fall or did you kind of keep that in the process?
00:16 You know, it really depends on the numbers that you have.
00:21 You know, as a general philosophy, I think we'd all like to have three, four deep guys
00:26 and be able to say, "Hey, we're going to train," and every rep that you get is going to get you closer to being good at a position.
00:32 So when you get into camp and you have the numbers that you do, we need to find some guys that are versatile.
00:39 You're going to have to do that no matter what.
00:42 We all have-- some guys are more depth-driven and I'm more trying to--
00:48 what can we get good at and then we'll go from there.
00:52 We're a little short at certain spots, going through the spring and the summer and stuff,
00:57 so we're going to have to find some guys that have to be versatile.
01:00 Yeah, are you aware of where you feel like you're short or not so much?
01:06 No, I mean, I think we're probably at the tackle spot.
01:10 We don't have as many bodies, you know, that probably more than anything else.
01:15 Yeah.
01:17 Matt?
01:18 Hey, Coach.
01:20 Obviously, Matthew was limited, I know, in the preseason.
01:23 He's getting back out there today, I guess.
01:25 I know it's not full football and you guys aren't going to get a full pass at all,
01:28 but just kind of how you look, what were your first impressions of him out there being able to do pretty much everything?
01:32 Yeah, I mean, it's great to have him back.
01:34 I never worked with him in the past, but it's really good to have him out there, number one.
01:40 I think he's easing into it.
01:42 There's always going to be a little bit of, you know, am I ready to go, you know what I'm saying?
01:49 So, you know, today's a good day to kind of get that going.
01:54 We're in shorts and stuff like that.
01:56 But I thought he looked good.
01:59 You know, I mean, we're running around in our underwear right now, you know, but I like what I see so far.
02:06 Zach, anything?
02:08 I don't know if you think about it this way or not, but--
02:13 I can hear you.
02:15 I don't know if you think about it this way or not, but, you know, if you can sort of go back to spring
02:20 and where you wanted to start with this group, were there things--
02:22 again, I recognize it's just one day in and it's not pads--
02:25 but were there things that you could sort of see, maybe upload from spring, that guys had retained, guys had improved,
02:30 that you could just sort of say those building blocks are still there?
02:33 Yeah.
02:34 No, I mean, I think we had a good spring.
02:36 And I do think that guys did a good job of retaining some information just based on today's practice.
02:43 You know, and these guys have been here.
02:44 They've been doing a lot all summer, you know, with the new rules and things like that.
02:48 There's a lot of player-led things that they're able to kind of keep it alive.
02:53 You know, so we were able to install a lot today, and I did see some--I saw some good retention.
02:59 I saw some good things, yeah.
03:01 Mike, I can write and send.
03:03 These guys have had a lot of fingers pointed at them over the last couple of years,
03:07 and I know it's probably hard to capture kind of the psyche or the mentality of an entire group like this,
03:12 but how would you describe kind of what their psyche is right now, kind of with that last two years in the group?
03:21 Well, I mean, I don't know.
03:23 I was in here the last two years, and I--you know, we're just starting all over, and I'm just--you know,
03:30 when you go into this thing in the beginning, you know, I have a certain--you know,
03:35 the way that I coach a play, you know, just an individual play and what we're doing
03:40 and how we're calling it and the technique.
03:42 So we have so many other things right now, and, you know, building some confidence and having success.
03:49 You know, we're trying to get to that.
03:51 We've got some guys that have played a lot of football, you know,
03:53 and so I feel like there's a quiet group that's confident, you know, that have done some good things.
04:00 It's there.
04:01 You know, we just have to put it all together, you know,
04:04 but I'm not trying to put the cart ahead of the horse right now.
04:07 I mean, I'm--you know, we've got a lot of other things to do,
04:10 and let's just slowly build this thing together and get it done, but I mean, I like the approach.
04:16 I like the attitude.
04:17 I like the willingness.
04:18 You know, those things are all there, you know.
04:22 Same in the back, then Daniel.
04:24 Coach, you have a bunch of redshirt freshmen, some true freshmen coming in.
04:29 How do they need to develop to be able to fit into the rotation?
04:33 Is it physically, is it mentally, or both?
04:35 Everything.
04:36 Yeah, I mean, it's going to be really hard for a true freshman to step in,
04:41 even though we had some guys today that went with third string and got reps today,
04:46 and they've only been here since July or June 11th, you know, super hard.
04:51 You know, redshirt freshmen, yeah, we've got some guys that need to keep coming along.
04:57 You know, a couple of guys that I think--well, you know, I mean, Bray is--
05:02 Bray Lynch and Carter--I mean, Carter Smith is playing right now.
05:07 I mean, he's right now first string, you know,
05:11 so those are young guys that are going to be playing for us a lot that need to come along,
05:17 and then there's some other guys that need to just keep working.
05:21 It's going to be a long camp, and they're going to get their reps,
05:24 and they're going to get their work,
05:25 and hopefully they can--working off of what you asked about retention and stuff like that--
05:30 if they can just keep going in this direction.
05:35 Daniel, on your right, and then Alex.
05:38 Coach, with whoever ends up at quarterback in the season
05:43 that we're likely to start in the first ever college football game,
05:46 how important is it to teach your offensive line during this fall camp,
05:49 like how to communicate, how to properly communicate,
05:52 especially to a full basketball team that's having their first time back there?
05:56 You know, I think whether you had a veteran guy or a young guy,
06:01 I mean, you've got to protect the quarterback, you know,
06:04 so that goes without saying.
06:07 You've got to be productive in the run game,
06:11 and so you've got some manageable down and distances
06:13 and all those things that go together.
06:16 But, yeah, we've got a real young guy,
06:18 and I think we can take a lot off his plate if we can be good
06:22 when we're trying to run the ball and stuff like that,
06:25 and kind of shorten down his playlist and, hey,
06:29 here's the things you've got to be good at for us to move the chains.
06:33 But it'll be more on-the-field production than anything else.
06:38 I think they've got a really good mindset, and they're confident and stuff like that,
06:44 and everybody's just got to do their job more than anything else.
06:51 Coach, you talked a little bit earlier about building confidence for your group.
06:54 Can you kind of explain to me how you are planning to do that
06:56 throughout the rest of training camp?
06:59 Yeah, I mean, I'm just a big believer in, you know,
07:02 you're going to build that by a lot of reps, you know,
07:07 just like anything else, you know, it takes 3,000 reps to master a skill.
07:13 You know, like that's like a known number right there.
07:17 If you're like a kinesiology major, it takes--I mean, that's a lot of reps.
07:21 You know, you're probably not going to realistically get to that,
07:24 but we want to get as many as we can, and we want that--
07:27 whatever we're doing in practice and individual,
07:30 we want that to carry over into team,
07:32 and we don't all of a sudden want to be running different schemes and things
07:36 and, you know, but I think when players drill and it makes sense
07:42 and then it carries over and then they watch it on film
07:46 and they see themselves doing good things, like I can do this,
07:50 I mean, that's how you build confidence right there.
07:52 You know, they see themselves out there.
07:54 You know, did we do a good job of teaching in the spring, you know,
07:58 when we had those moments when we had those 15 practices?
08:01 Did we do a good job in our OTAs?
08:03 You know, are we talking about the same things?
08:06 Being a good coach is being a good teacher.
08:09 Do we have good lesson plans? Does it make sense?
08:11 Are we all over the board?
08:13 And so our kids are all over the board.
08:15 I mean, are we staying with the same things?
08:17 Are they hearing the same things over and over again?
08:19 And if they're doing that and they're sound, you know,
08:21 and then they're going out on the field and that's working for them,
08:25 I think that's how you build the confidence right there.
08:28 But it starts from--it started, you know, December 5th.
08:32 Jack, last one.
08:34 With the transfers, Max Longman and Noah Bultacoff,
08:37 just what's kind of been your impression of them,
08:39 positives and negatives, and do you feel like those guys have a chance
08:43 to contribute this year joining the team after one season?
08:47 Yeah, so Max came in and was able to go through the spring.
08:50 You know, the positive, I thought he just got better and better
08:54 and showed me a lot of things like, hey, this guy is right on the edge
08:58 to being a starter, okay?
09:01 So he is going to push.
09:03 He's smart.
09:04 He's tough.
09:06 You know, downside, you know, the negative, he had a little bit of--
09:09 he had finished playing and, you know, his knee was bothering him a little bit
09:13 so you didn't--but that's kind of gone away, you know,
09:17 and I'm seeing him, you know, going on at this rate right here.
09:21 So excited about him, you know, to have a guy to plug in, you know,
09:28 and to push too, you know.
09:30 I'm not telling him, hey, this is who you are, you're number two guy right now.
09:33 I mean, he's done some good things.
09:35 He has starting reps in the spring, you know, so I'm excited about him
09:41 and how he's going to help our front five.
09:44 You know, Noah just got here.
09:46 You know, Noah went through the OTAs, a little bit of the OTAs,
09:50 and kind of showed that versatility piece.
09:52 We started him out at tackle just to make sure that he would maximize reps
09:56 so he would be out there and here and things and just kind of learn the offense.
10:00 Moved him back inside.
10:02 So he's a smart kid, okay, so that's a positive.
10:06 Totally committed.
10:07 I mean, he's a very squared-away dude, you know,
10:10 so I feel like where we plug him in, again, it just goes back to, you know,
10:16 finding a home for him, not playing musical chairs if we don't have to,
10:20 and get him good fast, you know, and he's probably going to be
10:24 in one of those middle three spots right there, you know,
10:27 and that's where we're not as strong on the edges.
10:31 Yep.
10:32 All right, thanks, Bob.
10:37 You want to go to another question?
10:39 I just got one more.
10:40 Yeah, go ahead.
10:41 I was just going to ask about, I recognize the OTAs.
10:43 I recognize the idea that summer OTAs are important for any position group,
10:47 but especially offensive line when you're trying to get five guys synced up
10:49 together, you're trying to, you know, maybe mix and match
10:52 and figure out where a guy works best.
10:54 Just how important is that development to the summer calendar for you
10:57 as the coach of that position?
11:00 Yeah, it's kind of a double-edged sword, you know.
11:03 There's ones where we can have them like six practices,
11:08 and then there's a bunch of player-led ones, you know.
11:11 So I think the ones that we have them, you know, it's a great time to just
11:16 keep installing, and it's just kind of like the NFL where you have about
11:21 three or four different times where you're going to reinstall, you know,
11:24 and that leads to that retention.
11:26 So then we can go out there and run two team periods, and, you know,
11:30 it's not like, "What are we doing?"
11:32 It looks like football.
11:34 Let's put it that way, all right.
11:36 It actually looks like football, you know.
11:38 So it's a really great deal, you know, because you think back,
11:42 it wasn't that long ago.
11:44 We never had any of that stuff before.
11:46 You know, like day one out there, you know, and these guys didn't --
11:50 in the spring, which was, you know, might as well have been a million years ago,
11:54 no OTAs, nothing since, and then you show up out here,
11:57 and it's the first time, you know, that's when you see people going, you know,
12:02 you have a lot of busts, and it doesn't look like football anymore.
12:05 So it's been good.
12:07 The only problem is everybody else is doing it.
12:09 So it's not like you've got some great advantage, right.
12:12 You know, and then the OTAs, when it's player-driven,
12:15 the only thing that I'm a little -- you know, you just --
12:19 when the technique and things can kind of go off the track a little bit,
12:23 and you're not there to correct it.
12:25 You know, that's the downside of that stage right there.
12:28 But, you know, it's great, you know, and it's great for their development
12:33 and all that, but, I mean, everybody else is doing it too.
12:36 So, you know, but it -- I mean, I thought out there today, like I said,
12:42 this showed, you know, retention, and it looked like football.
12:48 Peace. Yeah.