The Anthony Tucker and Walt Bell Brotherhood Out to Help IU's Offense Find a New Gear

Written by: Zachary Greene (@zachegreene)

Anthony Tucker was introduced as the co-offensive coordinator/wide receiver coach on February 28th. Tucker's decision to move to Bloomington from his previous position as offensive coordinator at Utah State had to do with his trust in the people at IU as Tucker has worked with Walt Bell in the past at Arkansas State and Maryland respectively.

“I think the biggest thing is I believe in investing in people. Everyone in the process of getting to know someone, they're going to, you have a point of reference when you're speaking to someone and also the longer, you're in this profession, the circles are smaller, so I couldn't find anyone to say anything different than what I was led to believe in the conversations that I had with Coach Allen.” Tucker said. “I truly believe in people. People will make or break your experience, just in life in general. I think from my assessment, he's about the right things: how he builds his program, how he invests in young people. I believe in a lot of the same things. So, football aside, obviously there's the football checks and balances and things you need to go through to make sure that you're a good fit but I really believe it's about people and I think that's most impressive about him.”

On the other side, for IU Football, bringing Tucker allows the offense to have another set of eyes. Tucker has a history of being a great recruiter and a knack for finding talent.

“He's a great person. He's a great evaluator. I think one of the things Anthony does a fantastic job of is the in-person evaluation in the recruiting process, on top of being a really good recruiter. [He has] great rapport with student-athletes, and, I think, most importantly, he does a great job with the development of the players in his room; whether that be running backs when he and I were together, the quarterbacks he had at Utah State, or wideouts now. He has always done a great job with young developmental talent. Really excited to have him here, to have him with us.” IU offensive coordinator Walt Bell said.

Tucker’s ability to make work with what he has was apparent this past season at Utah State. He led the Aggies to a Jimmy Kimmel Bowl appearance against Oregon State in 2021 while playing three quarterbacks during the season.

In 2022, Tucker’s offense had to use four quarterbacks, but qualified for the First Responders Bowl against Memphis

“Last year, got really beat up at the quarterback position, but still found a way to a bowl game with his third and fourth string quarterback,” said Bell.

From Tucker’s perspective, the program has all the things in place to turn things around this season. He believes in Allen because of how he has built the program. Tucker is surrounded by a hungry team that’s been beaten up on these past two seasons.

“Obviously, really excited to be here and enjoying Coach Allen's staff. He has put together a great staff. I have not been here that long, but very impressed with how Coach Allen runs his program.” Tucker explained. “I do have familiarity with Coach Allen, actually last time I was here in Bloomington we took a nice [loss] to Coach Allen. I have always had respect for the way he runs his program and the way his players play. In the short time I have had an opportunity to spend time with him, there are a lot of like-minded things, he believes a lot of the same things that I believe in. Again, just really excited to be here.”

Tucker is excited to get to work. His philosophy is pretty standard, but he has a lot of experience under his belt and has practically coached every position other than offensive line. Tucker was in the NFL before his coaching days with the New York Giants and St. Louis Rams.

Tucker’s “offensive philosophy is score points, don't turn the ball over, explosive [plays], whatever that looks like. Just going back to the previous question, there's times where that's just going to look different. Sometimes you can spread it out, throw it all over the yard based off what the defense is giving you, at times maybe you're in a tempo offense, at other times maybe you're in different personnel and you're running the football. So, I think it's just a matter of understanding what your identity is, the things you can and can't do, and what gives you the best opportunity on Saturday to score points, don't turn the ball over and come out with a win.”

Lasty, Tucker agreed that relationships in football are built on the field but also off the field. His relationship with Walt Bell is one of years of experience whether that’s in the film room or on the field. Having a young mind in Bell and tagging it along with Tucker the Hoosiers hope to stay ahead of the constantly evolving game of college football.

“This game is constantly evolving, we're both evolving and, in this profession, no matter how long you're in this game and that respect. But first and foremost, we just have great chemistry working together. Familiarity is really important.” Tucker said. “There's more recall than introducing new things, you know what I mean? And as we move forward and explore new things together that makes it easier there because lines of communication have already been established.”

The Hoosiers hope Tucker can help elevate the offense that ranked 10th in scoring and 12th in total offense.