Position to Succeed: Notable Changes For Hoosiers Defense

Hoosier players work on tackling techniques Image: Sammy Jacobs Hoosier Huddle

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

The primary job of the coaching staff in any sport is to put their players into the best position possible to succeed. Spring practice is underway and defensive coordinator Kane Wommack and Indiana’s coaching staff have carried out that foremost responsibility by switching the positions of a few players. Raheem Layne has been moved from cornerback to safety, Bryant Fitzgerald has moved from safety to Husky, Josh Sanguinetti has moved from safety to cornerback and Jamar Johnson has switched from Husky to safety.

Kane Wommack spoke to the media after the second spring practice of 2020 and stressed the moves were about giving players chances to make more impact plays and a chance to use their instincts.

“First and foremost, Josh (Sanguinetti) is a very instinctive football player. We want to make more plays on the outside and he’s got a whole lot more weight to put on if he wants to play safety in the Big Ten. Right now, at 172 pounds, he can play corner for us because he’s got the speed and athleticism. He plays with instinctive vision and we want to improve in playing with more instinctive vision so that we can make more plays on the back end,” Wommack said of the redshirt freshman. The Florida native appeared in two games in 2019 but he was a proven playmaker on both sides of the ball in high school.

Jamar Johnson had a far larger impact on the field in 2019 as he split time with Marcelino Ball at the Husky position and showed off his ball skills on multiple occasions. Wommack sees a similar instinctive ability in Johnson and the change to safety will allow him to make more plays on the ball.

“It’s the same thing with Jamar Johnson to that back end free safety. We thought him playing a bit more top down, you know he’s one of our most instinctive player. Let’s get him in the back end and let him play everything top down to make more plays than you can from that Husky position in terms of the vision of it,” Wommack said.

Johnson is now a junior and he appeared in all 13 games at Husky a season ago. He had three sacks, two interceptions with one of them returned for a touchdown and one forced fumble. Raheem Layne also shifted to safety which opens the door for Bryant Fitzgerald to move from safety to the more natural position of Husky.

“Then (Bryant) Fitzgerald,” Wommack told media, “he’s so good around the box that we’re able to activate him a little bit more coming off the edge, bring him on pressure. He’s that hybrid safety linebacker guy that we just wanted to get more active in the run game.”

Bryant Fitzgerald had to be at least slightly disappointed in his 2019 sophomore campaign as he started only five games and had 27 tackles. However, moving him to Husky makes a ton of sense as it can accentuate the strengths of his game: physicality and reading the run. This move should also help free up Marcelino Ball to play more situationally near the line of scrimmage as opposed to being asked to help in pass coverage. This appears to be leaning towards using the Husky as more of a run stopper and extra rusher and then perhaps playing an additional cornerback in the spot in obvious passing situations.

Kane Wommack is putting his imprint on the defense as he heads into his second season at defensive coordinator. The defense is a year older, has added additional talent and has all the makings of a much improved unit. The Hoosiers hope these position changes will put the entire unit in a better position to be successful when the 2020 campaign begins.