Hampered by Injury, Sampson James Gearing Up for 2021 Campaign

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

Sampson James was a four-star prospect in Avon High School and used to dominating on the football field. He flipped from Ohio State to Indiana and was the highest-ranked recruit in the 2019 class for the Hoosiers and expectations were sky-high for the running back from the Hoosier state. However, things don’t always go as planned right away. Stevie Scott dominated the carries out of the Indiana backfield during the 2019 season and James struggled to make his way onto the field. When Stevie Scott was injured prior to the regular-season finale against Purdue, James took advantage of his opportunity. He rushed for 118 yards on 22 carries and helped the Hoosiers seize the Old Oaken Bucket.

Heading into the 2020 season, it appeared James was poised for a larger role but Stevie Scott was healthy and the sophomore was inactive for much of the season dealing with a personal issue. Sampson James carried the ball just 32 times for 96 yards and then running back coach Mike Hart left for the University of Michigan. His future with the program was uncertain until the Hoosiers hired Deland McCullough from the Kansas City Chiefs.

“Sampson was one of the first people I talked to when I got the job,” McCullough told the media recently. “Just hearing him be honest about where he is and what he wants to do, being so open to some of things I told him. I just told him a couple of things about what I would bring to the table as far as some of the reads and different things like that and I have a pretty good reputation for as far as making it easy for guys and then giving them applicable drills that transfer over to 11 on 11 football.”

Tom Allen knew that the next running backs coach would be an important hire and finding a man that could develop a relationship quickly with a key member of that group was important.

“I know Sampson (James) really, really well and we’re close and we talk a lot. I know how excited he is to have Deland McCullough as his coach. I know how much he’s responding to him and I feel very, very strongly he can help Sampson just continue to elevate and take the next step that we’ve challenged him. I feel like Coach McCullough is a great fit for that,” Allen said on Wednesday.

Sampson James has dedicated himself this offseason to becoming a leader in the running back room. Stevie Scott opted to head to the NFL and there are a ton of carries to be picked up by James and the others in the position group. Despite being slowed throughout spring practice by a scope on his knee, James is working to be heavily involved.

“He was involved more as a participant today in practice and did some good things. Sampson is a leader in our room and he knows what’s going on,” McCullough said about the junior. “Obviously, we’ve got a couple of new wrinkles that we’ve added to the mix and he’s picking those up. He’s like another coach out there at the times when he’s not practicing. He’s very involved and very vocal. I think he sees a light bulb going off and some things that we are doing and some concepts and different teaching approaches that we’ve taken to our room.”

A key for James will be getting healthy and staying healthy. If he can do that, he’ll battle David Ellis, Tim Baldwin and a couple of incoming freshmen for carries during the 2021 season. History would suggest that Deland McCullough will spread carries around more than Mike Hart chose to so there should be opportunities for Sampson James and the other backs to show what they are capable of. Against a tough early schedule, finding the right combination of players quickly will be important and the time for a star-turn from the former four-star recruit may be quickly approaching.