UC coach Kelly goes to ND so what happens to Jibreel Black?

I know I'm a little late on some of these things. I just finished with my I-core project and still recovering from having my wisdom teeth removed. There has been a lot of speculation on what Jibreel Black will do. If you don't know, Jibreel Black originally committed to the hoosiers but changed his mind and committed to the Bearcats. I don't think Black will follow Kelly to ND. They have tough standards for academics and I don't know if Jibreel would qualify with his SAT score. ND also has signed some very good prospects for the defensive line. Depending on what new coach gets brought it that could play a big role in whether or not he stays with his commitment to the bearcats. However, this could open up a slight chance for Black to re-consider IU. I have heard many mixed rumors, from professional sources, that he still has a firm commitment to Cincinnati but others have said that IU may still have a chance with him. So only time will tell and I will try and keep you up to date about what his current situation is.

*** Here is some updated information on the situation. Black has spoken a little bit about the situation. "I'm still a Bearcat, I'm still solid. I still like the fact that I have an opportunity to play for a great university and play in front of my home town, in front of people I know."

On the other side of things here was his last facebook status update. "stepin back and lookin at things all over again... uh here we go...dam kelly. jus couldn't keep ur word."

2010 Safety Outlook

At first glance it looks very scary that the hoosiers will be losing 3 out of their 4 starters in the secondary. However, with some guys coming in and a position switch or two it won't be as bad as people originally thought. Let's first take a look at the safeties.

We lose both starters in Nick Polk and AustinThomas. We also lose some backups in Collin Taylor and Matt Kurz. So who are going to replace these guys? Well it will definitely be open to competition but lets look at a few names.

Chris Adkins- made the switch to safety from corner this past season. I really like this move. He started at corner as a red shirt freshman and had a tough time. I always felt like his skills would be better utilized as a safety. So look for him to most likely have one of the starting spots at safety next season.

Jerimy Finch- every since transferring from Florida he has yet to really see significant playing time. His role has been mostly on special teams. Nobody seems to know what is going on with him. There are always rumors about him having a poor relationship with the position coaches and that he can be a problem sometimes. He was the top rated safety coming out of high school but when he played at Florida they moved him to outside linebacker so, he has yet to really play the safety position at the college level. Although he has been a mystery while he's been at IU, he has a lot of potential if he can get his head on straight. He is a big physical player who can come up and make a big hit. He will have the opportunity to compete for the starting job as well.

Shane Covington- he is a guy that got moved to the defensive side of the ball when he came here. The only time I got to see him play the position was in the spring game. He flied to the ball pretty well and showed he can be physical as well. He was also recruited by Illinois and Kansas State coming out of high school so you know that there was good interest in him.

Nick Zachery- He red shirted this past season for the hoosiers. In high school he seemed to do everything for his Sheridan high school team. I believe he won 3 state championships during his high school career. A red shirt season will allow him to get more comfortable with the defensive schemes and a chance to bulk up a bit. Coach Lynch has said good things about him and believes he has a bright future at the safety spot. He will be in competition with all the other guys for a starting spot.

Mitch Evans- Mitch will most likely move to safety this off season. He has played safety before and we seem to have a very deep core at receiver. He is athletic, versatile, and has done a variety of things for the hoosier program. Since we lose so many players in the secondary it would make sense for him to make the position switch to possibly start or provide depth.

Jarrell Drane- had a wrist injury that kept him out most of the year. Hasn't gotten much playing time so it's difficult to assess his skill set as of now. He does has good size and will continue to get better.

When looking at the long list of potential replacements at the safety position, I think Chris Adkins is the only one that has a spot locked up. Everybody else will have a chance to compete for the starting job and playing time in general. Hopefully everyone will make great strides this off season because of the competition that will be taking place. Although I don't see any true freshman starting at safety next year, I should note that our class is filled with a lot of safeties or athletes that could play safety. I can't wait to see the position battle start, it should be fun.

Hoosiers Hosting many Commits this Weekend

Many 2010 hoosier commits will be visiting Bloomington this week/weekend. So far it has been confirmed that the following players will be in town this weekend: linebacker Matt Zakrzewski, linebacker Ishmael Thomas, running back Xavier Whitaker, defensive tackle Pete Bachman, safety Drew Hardin, wide receiver Logan Young, wide receiver Tim O’Conner, offensive lineman Cody Evers, safety Shaquille Jefferson, defensive end Harrison Scott, offensive lineman Bill Ivan and running back Matt Perez. Here are some quotes from some of the players about how their trip has been.

Harrison Scott: "It went great," he said about the trip. "I got to see the facilities and the campus more in depth, and it was a real enlightening experience. The last time I was at Indiana most of the facilities were not completely finished yet and I was able to go through and see them completely done, and that was really cool."

"We got to sit down and talk a little bit about what they see me as," Scott said. "They said they are looking at me as a defensive end. They like the film that I've given them and I have a lot of upside to me. They just want me to keep progressing."

"It's a team that has tons of potential and they have all the talent they need to win games, and I feel like I can be a piece to help them get to a Big Ten championship."

Bill Ivan: "I thought it was a good chance for me to get to know the coaches down there and to meet with the academic advisors," he said. "And I was able to meet with a professor so it just gave me a better feel for the university overall. I hadn't really looked around the student union all that much, but I got a chance to do that and that was very impressive. And I also got to go into a couple of the dorms and I just got a good look at how the campus is laid out. I hadn't really seen that before and I was impressed with that."

"I had a long conversation with Coach (Bobby) Johnson about at the position I am playing," he said. "The way he put it was that he prides himself on having the best taught class on campus, and that's the offensive line. And a big thing is the mental side of the offensive line and that's going to be a big adjustment, but he doesn't see that being too big of an issue because there's a lot of older guys that won't have any problem taking me under their wing and teaching me how to watch film and get through that."

Hoosiers receive LB commit

Orrville (Ohio) linebacker Chase Hoobler committed to Indiana following this weekend’s official visit. He is a 3 star from scout.com and had offers from Louisville, Boston College, Central Michigan, Ball State, and Akron. He is listed at 6'2 220 lbs and he totaled 167 tackles, 22 tackles and six sacks, and on offense he caught 22 passes for 375 yards and five scores as a tight end. He originally verballed to Akron until their coach got fired. That made him re-open his commitment. Hit head coach had this to say about him when speaking about Indiana.
“From the get-go, they used phrases like All-Big Ten linebacker,” Davault said. “They felt right off the bat he could play at a very high level for them right away. Now can he step in next year? Who knows. That depends on who they’ve got, but he’ll certainly make an impact right away.”

Linebacker outlook 2010

It will be very difficult to replace both Matt Mayberry and Will Patterson. Matt Mayberry was a tackling machine who had good leadership abilities and speed. Will was a solid 4 year starter for the hoosiers who played physical and was a good leader as well. Also leaving is back up linebacker Justin Carrington. That leaves Tyler Replogle as the only returning starter for next year. He will most likely move from outside linebacker to inside linebacker and be the senior leader. He has a high motor and one of the best work ethics on the team. The other two linebacker spots will be up for competition between many young players. Some of them include Chad Sherer, Damon Sims, Griffin Dahlstrom, Dimitrius Carr and former walk on Leon Beckum.

Here is what Coach Lynch said about the situation. "And then the other freshmen kids that we brought in that we redshirted I think all have great futures," Lynch said. "I think Damon Sims…I would say a lot of places would've played him this year, but we decided not to. He would've been a great special teams player. He would have been a great guy covering kickoffs and covering punts, but we redshirted him. I think Griffen Dahlstrom, who came in injured, he's gotten bigger and stronger. He fits what we're looking for in a 'Mike' linebacker. And Dimitrius Carr will get nothing but better because he was really a safety and this was his first year playing linebacker."

Both Damon Sims and Chad Sherer are both pretty physical players. They have gotten bigger and stronger since they have been at IU. Leon Beckum brings some experience to the position and will be in the mix. Dimitrius Carr has some pretty good speed considering he played safety in high school. If I had to guess I think most of them will all get playing time next season but I think Chad Sherer and Damon Sims could both find themselves in the starting lineup for the first game of the year along with Tyler Replogle. A lot could change throughout the spring and summer though. The linebacking core will be pretty young outside of Tyler Replogle next year but it could provide the needed experience that allows a few of them to really shine in two years or so. See the video below of an interview this summer of Damon Sims. (He is the second half of the interview)

Defensive Tackle outlook 2010

The defensive tackle position will most likely be the strongest part of our defense next year. Going into the year it was the biggest question mark because of how much inexperience we had. This year I think they definitely exceeded expectations and there play will only get better for the next couple of years. We return pretty much everybody at the position and should have 5th year senior Jarrod Smith healthy for next season. True freshman Adam Replogle, who won a starting job as a true freshman, was very good and will only get better with experience and an off-season of lifting and conditioning. I thought Larry Black Jr. was arguably the biggest surprise out of the young tackles. He is a bigger body that we haven't had the luxury of having for the past few years. Larry and Adam combined for 61 tackles, 12.5 TFL and 5.5 sacks. Like Adam and all the other defensive tackles, they will only get better with more experience and more time in the weight room.

The best part about this position for the upcoming years is the depth. Back up red shirt freshman Nick Sliger and Mick Mentzer are also very talented and you can almost interchangeably use the four young tackles. Being able to rotate defensive tackles without having a large drop off in skill will allow us to stay fresh throughout games and will prevent opposing offenses from running down our team late in the game. Not to mention Jarrod Smith coming back to provide depth and leadership experience. With another year under there belts the defensive tackle position will clearly be one of the strongest points of our defense for the future. The biggest thing that they will bring for the next couple of years is size and depth.

Agree? Disagree? Feel free to leave your thoughts.

Defensive End outlook 2010

This will be the first installment in the outlook for each position for next season. Obviously it will be very difficult to replace the production we have gotten from Jammie Kirlew and Greg Middleton. They were both very good players here at IU and good ambassadors for the program. However, I don't think our production will drop next year as much as some people think. Two things that people must keep in mind is that Darius Johnson and Fred Jones were injured most of the year. Darius made the switch this season from LB to DE and when he played I think he played pretty well. He is a bit undersized for a DE but he has a great motor and will only get better this off season. His quickness could pose a big problem for some slower tackles our there. Fred Jones was hurt all year and came back I believe for the Penn State game. He made some pretty good plays against Purdue and I think this could be a good off season for him. We also return Deonte Mack and Coach Lynch hinted that some of the tackles may shuffle around on the outside as well. We also have some young guys who have made some great strides this off season. Javon Cornley possesses some good quickness off of the line and he put on 15 pounds since he has been at IU. He could be a young player who gets an opportunity to show off his skills next year. I think the combination of a healthy Darius Johnson and Fred Jones along with the return of Deonte Mack and some younger players our defensive ends will surprise some people next year. I don't think it will be as bad as some people think. I also wish the best of the luck to both Kirlew and Middleton in the pursuit of the NFL.

Agree? Disagree? Share your thoughts.