Tom Allen Excited About Hoosiers' Talent Infusion

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

The 2021 season did not play out the way Tom Allen or any IU fan had envisioned. IU entered the season with a preseason ranking but they fell flat on their face in Iowa City in the opener and never recovered en route to a disastrous 2-10 campaign. Tom Allen called the 2021 season “the most difficult year in his professional career” and he knew changes were required in order to rebound in 2022. Tom Allen brought in a number of new staffers to change both the offense and the defense. He also landed IU’s highest ranked recruiting class in program history. He’s banking on that talent to help and he won’t be waiting until those players are juniors and seniors to expect an impact.

“I think it is going to help,” Allen spoke of the 2022 recruiting class to Hoosier Huddle’s Sammy Jacobs in a one-on-one interview this May. “I think it’s a lot of quality depth. I feel like it was a really, really well-rounded group on both sides of the football in different positions. That’s what I liked about the group the most.”

That well-rounded group includes a number of players that could definitely factor into play as early as September 2 against Illinois. Dasan McCullough, Dominick James, Trevell Mullen, Phillip Dunnam and Richard Thomas are all potential contributors on the defensive side of the ball.

James and Thomas are both linemen while Dasan McCullough is a versatile athlete that could be deployed as a linebacker or edge rusher.

Mullen, younger brother of current Hoosier star Tiawan Mullen, will get a chance to break into the two-deep at corner and Phillip Dunnam might be in the rotation as a safety. It is no secret the offense desperately needs two things: better line play and dynamic playmakers.

DJ “Demon” Moore is a mauler as an interior lineman and he might become a starter as a guard at some point in 2022. Jaylin Lucas could see snaps as a slot wideout or halfback and Kamryn Perry, Cam Camper and Omar Cooper are all options at wide receiver.

There is a lot of quality talent being brought in on both sides of the ball that should help IU in 2022 and beyond. However, the recruiting class should not only be viewed through the lens of the freshman class. IU focused on the transfer portal and feels they have addressed several immediate needs with veteran additions.

“I feel like we also brought in some transfers that I think met some immediate needs,” Allen said. “The portal allows us to be able to fill some holes there in the middle.”

Transfer additions are absolutely going to be counted on to feature in what Tom Allen and his coaches believe is a bounce-back season in Bloomington. IU had several players that had not made an impact in Cream and Crimson depart and have brought in 13 players, several of which are expected to start or play a lot of snaps right away. On defense, there are seven additions and at least six of them are expected to play often in 2022: Myles Jackson, JH Tevis, LeDarrius Cox and Patrick Lucas will all factor in on the line and the edge while Jared Casey and Bradley Jennings Jr. are starters or rotation players at linebacker. Brylan Lanier is a defensive back with multiple years of eligibility left that was just added in early May and it’s unknown where he’ll fit on the depth chart right now.

The top two running backs when the season begins are likely both transfers in Shaun Shivers and Josh Henderson. Emery Simmons will get snaps as a wide receiver and recent addition Andison Coby is a depth addition from Tennessee. Parker Hanna is a wild card as an offensive tackle transferring in from the West Texas A&M Buffaloes where he was an all-conference player and mechanical engineering graduate. Finally and perhaps most importantly, Connor Bazelak transferred in from Missouri and is the odds-on favorite to be the starting quarterback. That’s a complete roster makeover and Allen is hoping this talent infusion gets instant results in 2022.