Countdown to Kickoff: 49 Days (Greg Gooch)

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Greg Gooch will get big time playing time at LB in 2015 Image: Twitter.com

Greg Gooch will get big time playing time at LB in 2015 Image: Twitter.com

Written By T.J. Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

#49

We are now more than halfway through the Hoosier Huddle countdown and the Hoosiers kick-off the 2015 season in 49 days! Today, our countdown turns its focus to #49, sophomore linebacker Greg Gooch.

Greg Gooch

  • Height: 6’2”
  • Weight: 250 pounds
  • Hometown: Longwood, FL (Lyman High School)
  • Year/Position: Sophomore
  • The IU coaching staff has put a major emphasis on recruiting the state of Florida. Several members of IU’s 2015 team hail from the Sunshine State and several of those former Florida prep stars are set to make an impact in Bloomington. One of the more promising of those players is a sophomore linebacker from Longwood, Greg Gooch.

Gooch played both inside and outside linebacker at Lyman High School. As a senior, he tallied 77 tackles, seven sacks and 26 tackles for loss and earned a spot on the Orlando Sentinel’s All-Area team. Gooch was ranked as the #30 inside linebacker nationally and chose IU over offers from Arizona, Iowa State and other high-major programs.

As a true freshman in 2014 Gooch appeared in all 12 games. He had 11 tackles with one interception and 1.5 tackles for loss. The interception came against Penn State and his performance against the Nittany Lions earned him defensive player of the week honors. Gooch is a big linebacker that provides an intimidating presence in the middle of the defense. He figures to be a prime candidate to fill the spot previously occupied by David Cooper at inside linebacker. Gooch, along with Tegray Scales, TJ Simmons, Nile Sykes, Clyde Newton and Marcus Oliver, the Hoosiers appear to be in good position on the LB 2-deep.

Gooch’s best traits are his size and physicality. He exhibited his tackling on a couple of plays during the Spring Game and I expect we’ll see him see quite a few snaps as a member of the linebacker rotation during the 2015 season.

Come back to Hoosier Huddle tomorrow for more preseason coverage as the countdown chugs right along!