Hoosier Early Enrollees Focused on Building Strength Before Spring Practice

Indiana welcomed six new players on Thursday, four of which are freshmen early enrollees. Image: Indiana Athletics

Written By Lauralys Shallow (@ShallowLauralys)

Indiana football’s mid-year enrollees are focused on getting bigger, faster, and stronger.

Ronnie Walker, Mike Penix, James Head and Jacolby Hewitt graduated high school a semester early, and are enrolled in the 2018 spring semester, making them eligible to participate in spring practices.

Running back Ronnie Walker Jr. is from Virginia. Wide receiver Jacolby Hewitt is from Tennessee. Coming from even farther south are defensive lineman James Head Jr. and quarterback Michael Penix Jr., both out of Florida.

While these players come from various places and play different positions, they are all acclimating to IU, and buying into the system. The players already trust that their new coaches are going to help them improve.

The jump from high school to college has a lot of changes: new coaches, new conditioning and a new environment.

Take the wintry mix that blasted Bloomington last weekend, that’s one way to be introduced to a Midwest winter. While the players said they are adjusting fine to the weather, that does not mean they like it.

“A fan of the snow? Nah,” Penix said.

Winter is in full-swing and so is conditioning. A constant topic the newcomers discussed was the weight room and strength coach, David Ballou. The players mentioned that Coach Ballou has been on them, making sure they are getting enough reps in and gaining muscle.

The workouts were consistently described as tough, but they will only get stronger from that level of intensity. “The conditioning is way harder. It’s nothing I could’ve even expected,” Head said.

Strength is a necessity to compete at a high level in the Big Ten Conference. This new group on campus has learned quickly the importance of strength training in a collegiate setting.

Individually, Walker said he wants to improve catching the ball out of the backfield. Getting stronger and putting a bigger emphasis on practicing catching balls are the ways the running back plans to enhance his catching skills behind the line of scrimmage.

Penix said the biggest advantage of spring practice is getting to know the other quarterbacks and becoming comfortable with the system. Working out with other quarterbacks such as freshman Peyton Ramsey and sophomore Mike Fiacable, Penix said they push each other every day and motivate one another. Building a relationship with other players in his position and quarterbacks coach Nick Sheridan will help newcomer Penix grow accustomed to IU’s system.

Also adjusting to the IU offense is Hewitt. The wide receiver attributes most of that successful transition to Passing Game Coordinator Grant Heard. Hewitt has come to know a lot of new faces, but Coach Heard is a familiar face. Heard heavily recruited a top-rated wide receiver Dillon Mitchell out of Memphis in 2014. Hewitt and Mitchell had a close relationship, and Hewitt has known Heard since he recruited fellow Memphian Mitchell a few years ago.

“Coach Heard’s gonna push you to the limit, but he’s all tough love,” Hewitt said.

IU football’s youngest players are acclimating to the school, coaches, and program, and they are eager to put in the work necessary to contribute to a Division 1 Power 5 football program. These players add talent and depth on both sides of the ball, and they are only going to get bigger, faster, and stronger.

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