Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

The Indiana Hoosiers will have a new defensive play caller in 2023 as head coach Tom Allen said he will be handing the reins of the defense over to new co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Matt Guerrieri at his introductory press conference on Saturday morning.

“So excited to have him with us. Going to be a -- the situation is the way that I would like for this to be organized. Really, I want to follow the pattern we used in 2019.” Allen explained. “I'm going to have -- Coach Guerrieri will be calling the defense, much like Coach [Kane] Wommack did. And I will be heavily involved, but he will be the play-caller on game day. That way it will allow me to be a better head football coach to it this team. With everything that we have and the dynamics of college football today, I really feel like that's the best direction to go but had to have the right person for that particular role.”

Allen took over the play calling for the 2022 season as defensive coordinator Chad Wilt adjusted to hi first year at the position. The Hoosier defense finished 120th nationally in scoring and 119th in total defense in the 2022 season.

Allen and the Hoosiers want to replicate the success they had in 2019 and 2020 when Allen handed the reins over to then-defensive coordinator Kane Wommack (current head coach at South Alabama).

“I can equate it to what we did in '19, that it's going to be our system and someone that really believes in it. And just from all that time together and then just obviously, you know, you watch people play and the things that they do and there's certain philosophical alignments that you have in, how you attack things, what are your answers in situations, and you have to have that core belief that that's how do you it.” Allen said.

Guerrieri has similar philosophies to Allen and believes he will be able to take IU’s defense to the next level.

His philosophy “aligns directly with Coach Allen's. We've been a base 4-2-5 for a number of years. I've played in numerous different -- I played in the 3-4 defense. I've been in a 4-3 and a 3-3-5 and 4-2-5. I think it goes to from a philosophy standpoint, Coach Allen would say tackling, take-aways, and effort. Those are the three pillars of who we are. That's not going to change from that standpoint.” Guerrieri said on Saturday.

The Hoosiers are set to open spring practice on March 4th culminating in a “Spring Football Event” on Saturday, April 15th.

The Huddle

Allen Hands Defensive Play Calling to Matt Guerrieri

Hoosier Huddle