Aaron Casey Taking on More Responsibilities as Leader of the IU Defense

Written by Zach Greene: (@zachegreene)

Redshirt senior Aaron Casey is pinned as the leader of the defense heading into the upcoming season. He hopes to fill the void of former Hoosier and captain Cam Jones who declared for the NFL Draft. Casey has large shoes to fill but is sticking with his fundamentals and hopes to be more vocal.

“For me I just feel like I have to be more vocal. Especially more encouraging. Holding guys accountable. Being that encouraging guy on the defense. Picking guys up and teaching guys the defense. How and why, we do the things we do,” said Casey when asked about what he’s needs to do to be a leader.  

Last year, head coach Tom Allen tapped Cam Jones as the captain and play-caller of the defense. This year, this role will be Casey’s. He reflected on what he learned from the former captain who hopes to be drafted at the end of the month.

“He always brought the energy. He taught me how to handle situations a little bit differently. You can’t handle all the situations the same. I noticed it steeping into that role. You can’t talk to people the same way. That’s pretty much what he passed onto me.” Casey said after a spring practice.

Casey is taking the Hoosiers veteran linebackers who they added from the transfer portal this off-season (Darryl Minor (UTEP), Jacob Mangum-Farrar (Stanford), and Joshua Rudolph (Austin Peay)) under his wing. He sees these linebackers making improvements learning a new defense so far.

“Those guys are growing fast. I can see it when we first started with the install to now. There’s been a whole lot of progression and understanding. I feel like they are starting to play faster and get more knowledge. These guys are really starting to come out of their shells and preform fast on the field and everything.” Casey said of the newcomers.

Being a leader comes with more responsibleness for Casey. He was asked if he is going to change his playing style. His response, “For me I want to be the same player. It’s just the leadership aspect of being more vocal and things like that. Stepping up in those type of situations. Being that type of person for the defense like he was,” referring to Jones.

Casey, who enters his sixth year in the program, has grown into a man on and off the field. He has learned little does that dictate where the ball carrier will be. He was asked about this Thursday.

“For me it depends on the play. I have different keys that I go off. If it’s a tight end or the way the D-Line sways. I see that and then take my eyes to whoever has the ball.”