Indiana Outside Linebackers/Special Teams Coach Kasey Teegardin Speaks at Fall Camp
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00:00 You guys obviously got Anthony after the spring,
00:02 got him in late.
00:03 What'd you see when you watched him?
00:05 Obviously, kind of a red shirt year last year at Oregon,
00:07 but what'd you see from him?
00:08 And what have you seen since he's come here
00:09 that you like about using him in that position,
00:11 that will position where he'll kind of be
00:13 moved around a lot?
00:13 - He's physical.
00:14 That's the one thing we did see, and he's versatile.
00:16 So, you know, his high school in Las Vegas,
00:19 he played tight end,
00:20 and then he also was like a Russian defensive guy.
00:22 So we were able to see his athleticism in space,
00:24 catching the ball.
00:25 So, you know, he's just a natural athlete.
00:27 And the things we watched while, you know,
00:29 scouting from Oregon was just a physicality factor,
00:32 which is something that we have to have at that bull spot.
00:36 And he's going to play a bunch of different spots as well.
00:39 Very similar to how we used Zero a year ago.
00:41 You know, so you guys will see some similarities there,
00:44 but he's just more physically gifted and just a mindset.
00:48 You know, he's just got an attack mindset that you love.
00:51 - Since I know you do special teams also,
00:58 I wanted to ask you just about the kicking.
01:00 And obviously, you know,
01:01 you have a true freshman in here, Nico,
01:03 that is kind of coming in here trying to win the job.
01:07 Just what have you seen from him this fall camp
01:09 and just what kind of impresses you about him?
01:11 - Yeah. I mean, he's got a chip on his shoulder.
01:13 And the thing I'll give Nico a lot of credit for,
01:16 he's an extremely confident young man.
01:18 So very pleased with him so far.
01:20 You know, he is a freshman, you know,
01:22 so you try to build it and bring him along slowly
01:25 and adapt him into the environment.
01:28 You know, cause it's going to be different,
01:29 but he comes from a big time high school, you know,
01:32 that plays some really good football down in Texas.
01:34 He's kicked in the all American game.
01:35 So he's been in pressure situations, which you love,
01:37 and we're going to put him in pressure situations.
01:39 You know, we put him in one today and he answered the call,
01:41 which is what you expect.
01:43 Chris has done a much better job recently,
01:45 the past week and a half as well, really coming together.
01:47 And Alex has been serviceable as well.
01:50 So I feel really good about where we're at right now,
01:52 moving forward with those three guys.
01:54 And it's exciting to see.
01:57 Jack, thanks.
01:58 I imagine a lot of opponents will have Jaylen Lucas
02:00 towards the top of their scouting report.
02:02 Just how does that impact you as a special teams coach,
02:05 kind of with that in mind,
02:07 like knowing that you still want to be able to highlight him,
02:09 but it's going to be obviously a big focus for opponents?
02:13 Yeah, for sure. You know, and, you know, even last year,
02:15 we tried to manufacture ways towards the end of the season
02:18 to get them the ball, you know,
02:20 just because teams are going to kick away.
02:21 We have to expect teams to do different things
02:24 and try to, you know, manipulate him not touching the ball.
02:28 Right? Well, we have to be creative on our side
02:30 and make sure we're using him at the right times,
02:31 the right moments, you know.
02:33 So there's a variety of things schematically
02:36 that we're working on to make sure
02:37 that he's in a position to field the footballs,
02:39 whether it be kick return, punt return,
02:41 and obviously offensively, because he's a dangerous weapon.
02:44 There's a reason he was a first-team All-American last year.
02:46 And we've got to find ways to get him the ball
02:49 and get him returns. And when those opportunities come,
02:51 the other 10 guys in the field have to do their job
02:53 because he is so explosive.
02:55 You can't relax when he's out there on the field.
02:58 You've got to get the other 10 guys blocking for him
03:01 and using their techniques
03:02 and making sure they're giving him time to field the kicks
03:05 and field the punts and those things.
03:06 So that's really what it's going to come down to
03:08 because we know what he can do with the ball in his hands.
03:10 It's going to come down to the other 10 guys
03:12 that are going to be able to out-execute our opponents.
03:15 Mason, a couple weeks from kickoff now, how much --
03:19 I guess, what are your kind of expectations
03:21 for rotation depth at the outside linebacker,
03:23 that bowl position kind of pass?
03:25 You're going to see more than we have in the past,
03:28 and that's a really, really good thing.
03:30 We're really good about three guys.
03:32 And so, you know, using those --
03:35 And last year, we saw a lot of times Lance was on the field
03:38 with Miles and Dasan.
03:39 We had those three guys on the field multiple times.
03:42 I think you'll see some of those things
03:43 based off of situationals,
03:46 you know, situations that show up during the game.
03:49 But I feel really good about it.
03:50 I would expect to see a heavy dose of Miles,
03:53 Lanell, and Anthony throughout the game.
03:56 And the beautiful thing is they can keep each other fresh.
03:58 That's kind of been our -- you know, our challenge to them is,
04:01 hey, look, everybody's got a job to do.
04:02 You've got to get in there. You've got to do your job.
04:04 If there's only one outside linebacker in the game
04:06 at that point in time, he represents the entire room --
04:08 how he plays, how he acts, the plays he makes,
04:10 the plays he doesn't makes, all those things.
04:13 He is going to represent our room.
04:14 And so each one of those guys
04:16 is really taking that challenge personally.
04:18 They've been phenomenal teammates,
04:20 which is awesome to see.
04:21 They coach each other up.
04:22 They're talking to each other.
04:23 They're subbing.
04:24 If one guy gets gas, boom, the next guy in.
04:26 That has to be a weapon for us.
04:27 For a guy to come in fresh that has a great skill set
04:30 that can be able to get after the quarterback,
04:31 we have to use that.
04:32 So I think they've got a right frame of mind.
04:35 But you'll see a very strong rotation between those three.
04:40 Lanell's a guy I know you guys and staff
04:41 recruited out of high school, brought him in.
04:43 Just from what we've seen, it looks like he's just kind of
04:46 a natural pass rusher, got a good first step.
04:48 What have you seen?
04:49 How much can he help you in that area?
04:51 And then kind of along with that,
04:53 I know you don't coach the ends,
04:54 but how much is having Andre on the other side
04:56 so that you can work in tandem,
04:58 make it just easier to kind of get a pass rush
04:59 without having to try to manufacture it yourself?
05:01 Yeah, it's critical.
05:03 And I'll tell you, even you do have Dre on the other side,
05:06 but you got a guy like Phillip Leidy, LD Cox,
05:08 big bodies that are athletic,
05:09 they're going to take multiple guys to block, too.
05:12 So it's not just the ends, in my opinion.
05:14 It's all four of those core four working together.
05:17 Then you got a guy like Aaron Casey
05:18 that's explosive that could possibly pressure.
05:20 JMF can possibly pressure.
05:22 You start bringing Noah off the edge.
05:24 Like there's a lot of things that, you know,
05:26 to our advantage that offenses have to worry about.
05:28 So, you know, getting those guys in the right place
05:31 in the right time are obviously critical.
05:32 For Lanell, the thing I'll give him credit for
05:35 is the way he attacked this summer.
05:37 He changed his body.
05:38 He came in here, he attacked his body.
05:42 He's down weight, but up in muscle mass, you know?
05:48 And so he's very lean right now.
05:49 He's very explosive.
05:50 You mentioned the first step.
05:52 His first step is as good as anybody on our team
05:54 that's going to try to rush the passer.
05:55 And so we're really excited about him.
05:57 But again, for us, it's getting the favorable matchups,
06:00 you know, Dre on one end, him on the other,
06:02 Anthony Miles somewhere, Phillip Leidy.
06:04 Like you got a lot of weapons at your disposal
06:07 to be able to try to dictate some protections
06:09 and free up some guys with some one-on-ones
06:11 and those things.
06:12 So, you know, but like I said,
06:14 Lanell's credit is due because of the way
06:16 he attacked the summer and he just did an unbelievable job.
06:19 - Jeff told me to ask you the starting quarterback.
06:23 He told me to ask you specifically.
06:25 - I coach special teams and defense.
06:27 - You've had a lot of experience at Kicker
06:30 the last few years when you think about Logan,
06:32 obviously when you think about Chuck.
06:34 Having a wide open competition,
06:37 guys who maybe have been around for a while,
06:39 but never really kicked, you know,
06:40 competitively at this level,
06:42 obviously a freshman who comes with a lot of credentials,
06:44 but is young, just how do you handle that?
06:47 Where is kind of the status of that?
06:49 I don't know if you call it a position battle or not.
06:50 - Sure.
06:51 - What is the status?
06:52 - Yeah, I mean, it's definitely a position battle.
06:53 I mean, you know, you got the three guys
06:55 that are working for it right now.
06:58 It is light years ahead where it was two weeks ago.
07:01 I'm very pleased with Nico, you know,
07:04 been very pleased with Chris as well.
07:07 Alex, we're still trying to bring along,
07:08 but, you know, between Chris and Nico,
07:10 they've really started to separate themselves
07:12 a little bit for sure,
07:13 but they're doing a great job.
07:15 We have taken out the PAT field goal period in practice,
07:19 and now we just call it out.
07:20 And that's the best way you can simulate
07:23 and put those guys in pressure situations.
07:26 And I've alluded to this in the past.
07:27 We had to do this with James Evans.
07:28 We had to literally try to put James in an environment
07:31 where he is jogging off the sideline,
07:33 getting lined up, seeing the pump, you know what I'm,
07:35 we just did this two years ago.
07:37 So it is a very similar process.
07:39 Now, obviously we got points on the line
07:42 and that's absolutely critical.
07:43 So, you know, getting those guys comfortable
07:45 with certain landmarks, distances,
07:48 trying to be consistent with them, you know,
07:51 and make sure that they feel comfortable,
07:52 their legs are healthy.
07:53 'Cause Chris is also, he's doing our kickoffs.
07:55 And so he's doing a lot of stuff.
07:57 Alex is backup hunter.
07:58 He's doing a lot of stuff, you know,
08:00 so really trying to bring Nico along slowly.
08:03 Throwing more at Chris 'cause he is the veteran,
08:06 you know, in the room and really trying to challenge him
08:09 from that standpoint.
08:10 So I think where we're at right now, you know,
08:12 I feel really good about it.
08:14 I think we've got some guys that are definitely capable
08:16 of getting the job done, really excited about it.
08:18 We got to continue to put them in those pressure situations
08:21 and make sure that they answer the call
08:22 when their number's called.
08:23 - All right, Seth, last one.
08:24 When you talk about the pressure situations
08:26 that you put them in,
08:27 what are you able to create in practice
08:29 in terms of putting kickers in pressure situations?
08:31 'Cause there's only so much you can do
08:32 to kind of replicate the feeling of going out there
08:35 in front of a packed crowd and kicking in a pressure spot.
08:37 What are you able to do in practice
08:38 to kind of replicate that?
08:39 - Yep, so we do two minute drill
08:41 and instead of needing a touchdown,
08:42 we need a field goal to win.
08:44 You know, coach will say,
08:45 hey, you know, offense down by two, right?
08:48 Defense, you got to get a stop.
08:49 So you're trying to simulate that
08:50 for the offensive defensive perspective.
08:52 We did a Mayday field goal today,
08:53 which is 40, we had a situation,
08:55 it was 45 seconds on the clock, no timeouts.
08:57 Offense, it was down two.
08:59 I think they got the ball around like midfield, right?
09:01 So you got to pick up a couple of first downs,
09:02 run the field goal unit on the field, kick it, you know?
09:05 And so those are the situations you can put them in.
09:07 And then you can, we call the defense out,
09:11 coach Allen's out there with the air horn,
09:13 we're surrounding them, we're loud,
09:14 trying to make it sound like we're in the stadium.
09:16 The whole defense is on the field, right?
09:18 I mean, as close as we can get
09:20 without bothering their operation
09:21 and we're yelling, we're screaming.
09:22 You just try to, anything you can do
09:25 to just to boggle their mind, right?
09:27 And get their mind off of the job that they have to do.
09:30 Right?
09:31 You know, there's sometimes you can say things,
09:33 get in their head a little bit,
09:33 you want to have some fun with them.
09:34 So just trying to continuously put that pressure on them.
09:37 But you're right, it is different
09:39 when you're kicking a Memorial Stadium, you know?
09:41 And so you've got to try to continue to just out execute it,
09:45 get their confidence built, right?
09:47 It's going to come with the preparation
09:48 that we're giving them.
09:49 You tell them you've been doing this, you've done this,
09:51 you know, you just keep hammering it home with them
09:53 and it'll show up on September 2nd.
09:54 I'm confident in that.
09:56 - All right, kids.
09:57 - All right, thanks guys.
09:58 (whip cracking)
10:01 (upbeat music)
10:03 (upbeat music)
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