IU Cornerbacks Coach Brandon Shelby: “The Best People are Going to Play”
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Jaylin Williams (23) Image: Sarah Miller Hoosier Huddle
Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)
Indiana University cornerbacks coach Brandon Shelby spoke to the media this week via Zoom as the Indiana Hoosiers staff continues to work with players remotely and prepare for the upcoming season. Shelby is entering his 10th season with the program and he loves where his position group is at heading into the summer.
“We surely have a great foundation,” Shelby said of the cornerback group. “I’m very, very satisfied with where we are going to start come the fall.”
Indiana brings back a very strong group of corners and they have the potential to be one of the deepest position groups on the squad. The word “potential” has to be used because many of the players that will be relied upon have very little experience at the collegiate level. Jaylin Williams is now a veteran that can be relied upon but guys like Larry Tracy III, Josh Sanguinetti and Noah Pierre will be mixed in with now full-time corner and potential starter Reese Taylor. Of course, the group is headlined by Freshman All-American Tiawan Mullen, a player that has the ability and the mental makeup to become one of the best defensive backs to ever wear the cream and crimson.
“I think the great thing about Tiawan, he comes from a football family. He was able to do it because he loves the game. He has some siblings, he has one that's older that plays for the Raiders and a younger one that's going to be really, really good and it's a competitive family. So, growing up I think he had that deal where 'I want to be the best Mullen out there',” Shelby said about Mullen. “Each of them possessed skills that allowed them to be successful thus far. Ultimately, down in Florida, football is kind of at a different level. He started at a young age from a high school where he was well coached and the competition was at a point where he had to adjust a little bit, but he was able to jump right in and do what he needed to do. That allowed him to play as a true freshman, along with his football IQ.”
Shelby went on to talk about what Tiawan, and his other defensive backs, need to do in order to take their games to the next level. “To take the next step I think ultimately, he needs to learn the game of football in a way that, understand how coordinators think, understand what the whole playbook encompasses. All those guys are kind of in the same group. When you look at Jaylin, Reese and Tiawan, I teach a lot of these guys to study pictures, and when you see a picture you make this check. A lot of times they don't know what this check means to everybody else. So, for him to take the next step, he needs to understand that when I say this check it makes the D-line do this, this tells the linebacker to do this. That way it can encompass the whole defense. When you're a true freshman you have to break it down. You can't give them the whole cow. You have to teach them, step by step by step. And now I think he's at the point where he wants it, and he needs to learn overall. Linebacker fits, D-line play. I think that's how he makes it to the next level. When it comes to just corner, I think it's just studying film, studying his opponent, understanding what we do throughout the week as coaches, what those reports mean and how to read them. Right now, during this time we're taking time as a team to teach, not only him but all those guys what reports mean and how they dissect that to help them out at their position. That's what he needs to do to take the next step, and that's what we've been working on during this time at home and these Zoom meetings.”
Shelby mentioned Tiawan Mullen, Jaylin Williams and Reese Taylor by name and then later said, “right now, we got three guys where if we had to play tomorrow, I feel comfortable with going out and playing, helping us continue the path that we’re on from last year.” If you put two and two together, it is fair to assume those three are Mullen, Williams and Taylor. Shelby was also quick to point out though that “iron sharpens iron and those young guys who are coming in, they know that if they come in and push these guys and they’re the better player, they’re going to play.”
Those young guys are redshirt freshmen Josh Sanguinetti and Larry Tracy III and true freshmen Lem Watley-Neely and Christopher Keys. Those two are going to be hard-pressed to break into the rotation this season because of the talent in front of them but Shelby made it very clear that the best players will play. After a good season from the group and a great debut from Mullen, Brandon Shelby wants his group to take the next step.
“I think that when it is third and whatever, and they throw the ball out to the flat and he’s (Mullen) in a great position, we need to make that tackle. Or when the ball hits our hands, to make a big-time interception. We need game-changing plays. I think that’s the next thing that we need to take that next step of being in the upper echelon of the league week in and week out.”