Written by Andrew Walker

Senior members of a college football program practically make the world go round. To even make it four-plus years in a college football program is an honorable feat. But it’s not just the tough annual grind college football players endure that makes senior members so valuable. It’s all the other things. The relationships, hardships, and their ability to persevere through the years, not only on the field, but in the classroom is what makes these 16 redshirt juniors, seniors and fifth years being honored so special.

These senior members of this Indiana Football team were on some special groups as freshmen in 2015 and 2016 for two consecutive bowl games under former head coach Kevin Wilson.

Tom Allen knows how important these players are to the team, and he’s especially proud of how they’ve grown.

“A special group of guys that are really special to me because of what they have, the change that they have created here,” Allen said. “Several of these guys came to me last year when the year was over and we talked heart-to-heart, man-to-man, one-on-one. And just really neat to see them respond, number one, and continue to believe, number two. And then just be rewarded for staying with us and staying with the fight and the grit and all those things that these guys show.”

Tom Allen has always been a big proponent of senior leadership. He put a sincere emphasis on the importance of convincing those guys to buy into a program that he didn’t recruit them to. Some of the fifth year guys like Simon Stepaniak, Hunter Littlejohn, and others had to be convinced to buy in.

Allen’s commitment to the game and his job lead to him sharing an incredible understanding with these guys he didn’t recruit. They’re all here to do one job. “These are, it's family and so you got their son, one of their prized possessions is their son and how you handle them and build relationships with them. And they want to, they came here to do something, get their degree, play in the Big-10, do something special, create change, they all came here for those same reasons, even if I wasn't here back then.”

These seniors have been through the literal highs and lows of Indiana Football through the years they’ve been here. They have witnessed one, and in a few cases two bowl losses. They’ve witnessed losing seasons, coaching changes and now an already bowl eligible, winning season under a coach who cares about them outside of their football career.

In 10 years, after (hopefully) Indiana’s 10th consecutive winning season, these senior members of this Indiana Football program will be regarded as extremely valuable. These were the ones that, after being recruited by a different head coach, bought into Tom Allen’s system and made this team flourish.

These are all 16 players being honored this Saturday before the Michigan Game.

WR Justin Berry
CB Andre Brown Jr.
S Khalil Bryant
OL Coy Cronk
DE Gavin Everett
WR Donavan Hale
LB Reakwon Jones
K Logan Justus
C Hunter Littlejohn
OL DaVondre Love
CB A-Shon Riggins
K Jared Smolar
DE Allen Stallings IV
OL Simon Stepaniak
RB Connor Thomas
WR Nick Westbrook.

The Huddle

On Saturday 16 Seniors Who Have Created Change at Indiana Will be Honored

Hoosier Huddle