Written By: Nate Comp (@NathanComp1)

Wherever Tom Allen has gone, success on the defensive side of the ball has followed. There was no better example of this than on Wednesday, when a program record seven total players on defense were awarded All-Big Ten honors. Four of these players represented the secondary: Jamar Johnson (first team), Tiawan Mullen (first team), Jaylin Williams (first team), and Devon Matthews (third team).

“Great job done by Kane Wommack and the entire defensive staff,” said Allen. “These are guys that we have all recruited to come here out of high school. It is neat to see them come here, be developed, and flourish.”

Now, Allen and his staff have ammunition when they’re back on the recruiting trail looking for the next bunch of playmakers. Before, they were selling the potential of success. Players like Mullen and Johnson had to believe that Indiana could accomplish things it had never come close to in their lifetime. Now, with Indiana names popping up on every awards list, a January bowl game under its belt, and a shot at a New Years Six bowl still in play this year, Allen can simply ask ‘do you want to be next?’

“You are able to point to these guys and tell their story,” added Allen. “We can tell them 'that can be you.' If you come here, buy in, do the things that we ask you to do, you make the sacrifices necessary to be special, you do all of the things that we want you to do in the film room, on the practice field, in walk-throughs, in the weight room, and all of the things that it is going to require to build that performance on game day, you lay it out for them and you tell them it can be you.”

Three more defensive backs signed this week on National Signing Day in hopes that they can be next – Larry Smith III, Jordan Grier, and Maurice Freeman. All guys that perfectly fit the mold of player Allen is looking for.

“We are really excited about the three defensive backs we added today,” Allen said about his newest group of Hoosiers. “We are looking for the kinds of guys that are like that, guys that we can utilize and mix-and-match to fit our system.”

And unlike the past, it’s an easy pitch.

“We are all in this together, we are coming here together to do this and to help build Indiana Football. I would get them on the phone I would say, ‘hey we are doing everything we say we are going to do’, and it gave it a chance just to solidify everything that we had talked about to the families to them when they came to visit.”

Because although they may not be the first great in this era of Indiana football, Allen will happily lead them to be the next.

“If you choose to come here, believe, buy in, and work the way these guys have been willing to work, [it can be you].”

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Defensive Secondary Success Brings Easy Recruitment Pitch

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