Countdown to Kickoff: 77 Days (Dimitric Camiel)

Written By Nick Holmes (@HoosierHolmes)

#77

There are now 77 days remaining until the Indiana Hoosiers kick-off the 2016 season in Miami against the Florida International Golden Panthers. Join us each day for each part of our 100-day countdown to the opener! Currently, offensive tackle Dimitric Camiel is wearing the number 77 for the Hoosiers.

Dimitric Camiel @MrCamiel77 (Redshirt Senior)

-Height: 6’7”
-Weight: 310 pounds
-Hometown: Houston, Texas
-Position: Offensive Tackle

It doesn’t get much bigger than this. Or should I say, on the Indiana football team, they don’t get much bigger than him. Offensive Tackle Dimitric Camiel is a big man, standing at 6-foot-7, and 310 pounds, both top five on the team. The fifth-year senior certainly personifies the old saying, “Everything is bigger in Texas.”
 
The native of the Lone Star State played his high school at Westfield, where he starred on an offensive line that blocked for a rushing attack that piled up 3,187 yards, which ranked in the top-10 in the state of Texas in 2011 and was second best in school history. His effort garnered scholarship offers from the likes of Mississippi State, Arizona, Kansas, among some mid-majors, but Camiel decided that playing for Coach Greg Frey and the Hoosiers was too much to pass up on.
 
Camiel made his way to Bloomington in 2012, as part of Kevin Wilson’s second ever recruiting class, arguably one of his best to date, but that’s for another day. Despite redshirting that first fall in Bloomington, Camiel still made his presence felt on the practice, earning scout team player of the week once, during the team’s preparations for Penn State.
 
The following season Camiel saw action as a reserve in all 12 games, and once again earned a scout team player of the week honor, this time against Minnesota.
 
As a sophomore his role expanded, going from key reserve to five game starter while playing in all 12 games once again. The Hoosiers offense was quite predictable after an injury to quarterback Nate Sudfeld, but that did little to slow down its ground game, which set a program single-season record with 3,163 rushing yards. Camiel, along with the many other talented athletes upfront played a huge role in that accomplishment.
 
As a junior he became the full-time starter a right tackle, never looking back. The Hoosiers offense set numerous offensive single-season records, with 475 total points, 6,556 total yards, 3,820 passing yards, 337 first downs and 168 passing first downs. Additionally, the team only surrendered 13 sacks all season, tied for seventh nationally and was one of only two Power Five conference teams with two 1000-thousand yard running backs. Camiel played well all season, but his efforts were singled out against the Hoosiers close loss against the Wolverines.

He also held another position with the team in 2015, playing the role of videographer as the team prepared to head out to New York City for the Pinstrip Bowl. It was brief glimpse of what traveling with the Hoosiers is really like, and from what I could tell, does not look half-bad.
 
Entering his final season with the Hoosiers, Camiel will once again be the starter at right tackle, this year opposite of sophomore Brandon Knight instead of Jason Spriggs. With the graduation of both Spriggs and Zach Reed, the battle-tested Camiel, along with Dan Feeney, will be asked to provide guidance to the many of younger guys moving their way up the depth chart. This includes Knight, who has yet to actually see the field at left tackle, or any offensive line position for that matter.
 
While Camiel may not garner the same amount recognition as some of his fellow offensive lineman, namely Spriggs and Feeney, there’s no doubt that Indiana’s offensive efficiency and effectiveness would not have been possible without his performance upfront. 

Share any memories or recollections you have of Dimitric Camiel as a player in the comments section (or on the message boards) and be sure to come back to Hoosier Huddle each day during our countdown!