Hoosier Huddle's Q&A with IU Color Analyst Rhett Lewis

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

The following is a transcript of Hoosier Huddle’s question and answer session with NFL Network and IU Radio Network' Analyst Rhett Lewis.

All right, we're talking with Rhett Lewis from NFL Network also the color analyst for the IU radio broadcast red in the first year in the IU radio broadcast last year. What were your takeaways from the 2022 IU team?

Well, my takeaways from the booth were that we had a hell of a crew up there especially in the stats and information research department. We appreciate it. I appreciate it having you sit right next to me for the whole ride is a lot of fun man. Being back up there with Don and I'm really looking forward to next season but as far as you know, last season goes. I mean, it felt like a tale of two seasons really it was the first three games, and you know the last nine, right?

You had those dramatic. Sometimes come back and wins in those first three games and then you know the last nine, obviously with the reprieve in East Lansing, which was a lot of fun. But you know, I think it brought about a lot of questions and you know, while that could be perceived as a negative, I feel like it's really provided some excitement going into the season. You know, what's this offense going to look like? Right? We had essentially two different offenses last year, like completely different. One we saw in East Lansing and with Dex(ter Williams) at quarterback and when he was healthy, and the other one Connor (Bazelak) was in an era as we started the year so I'm really curious to see what Walt Bell has up his sleeve and which quarterback runs out there to start.

Going back to that Michigan State game. And the year 4-8 but is that when give change the tone at the end of that season?

I think it did. And I think you know if Dex stays healthy I think we you know, we could have been talking about a win streak to end the year. You know, based on what was going well we were trending towards against Purdue. You know, it's unfortunate that that obviously happened for decks and for the team in the way they wanted to end the year. So, you know, look every year is new, especially when you have as much turnover as you know, Coach Allen was able to generate this year through the portal with, essentially a quarter of the roster. You're going to be completely new players. Right, and many of which will be counted on heavily to start next year. I mean, you know, talking about Andre Carter for one. You look at the linebacker core that's now been revamped, and we will have essentially an entire new starting secondary with the exception of Noah Pierre and Jeff Sanguinetti, the wide receiver room is completely overhauled as well, as Cam Camper tries to come back from the ACL. And so, I think that they're what you'd like to say there's carryover terms of momentum. You know, as coaches will tell you every year is new. Every season is new, every team is different. So, it'll be up to them to try to carry that over.

Going into 2023. Do you feel like Tom Allen's on the hot seat? What does he have to do to you know, extend his tenure in Bloomington?

Yeah, you know, I think I've heard I've fielded those questions from a ton of media outlets over the last you know, couple of months. You know, doing my work for Sirius XM and other places and I look I understand the question, I mean, you have two years, you know, of sub-.500 and not making a bowl game after back-to-back January bowl appearances when you've set the bar high. And not meeting that bar or exceeding it. And it brings up those questions. And, look, I think you can't talk about Tom Allen in the vacuum of the last two years. You do have to take into account that you had a bowl streak going here and a January bowl streak going here. You know, we're one breath and a stupid rule away from playing in Indianapolis and the Big 10 Championship game in 2020. National Coach of the Year. He didn't all of a sudden become a bad coach.

You have certainly had some things stacked against you and injuries happen with every team and I you've certainly seen their fair share in the last two years. But I'm with you. I don't think that that Tom Allen is on the hot seat. I think he's done enough to prove that he can win here. And that's why the word for the season is built because you know, we're building back to that standard and building new and a bunch of different ways. So Tom's the right man for the job.

A quarter of the rosters new two big additions come on the coaching staff as well by boasted on the offensive line and Matt Gurrieri at defensive coordinator. Let's talk about the offensive line first, because that has held IU back the last two years. Are you optimistic that coach Bostad can turn it around?

Yeah. And you know, well build was the word for '22 toughness is the word for '23 from Coach Allen and Bob Bostad fits that bill to a tee. That's what he brings to this team into that offensive line group. Matthew Bedford coming back makes that group tougher. And you know, the continued improvement of young players like Josh Sales and Kahlil Benson. Together with vets like (Zach) Carpenter and (Mike) Katic. Like with that veteran leadership and tutelage of a guy who's been there and put dudes in the NFL at a really good clip like Bostad has at Wisconsin. It's a really good mix. We talked about chemistry a lot. That's one that comes out of the test tube feeling pretty good. And I think you've started to see some of the fruits of that labor in spring and I think you'll see a ton of it this fall. So I'm really excited about what that group has to offer.  Giving our quarterback whoever ends up being back there a little bit more time. A little bit more space for Jaylin Lucas and Josh Henderson and and company to get out there and make some moves.

On the defensive side of the ball. Coach Allen has given up defensive play calling, Matt Guerrieri who's coming in who's defensive coordinator, Duke last year was the defensive analyst at Ohio State, what does he bring to the table? And why is it a good move to give up the play call?

Yeah, it's a good question. Because it's obviously one that we've asked Tom now two different times, right. First one he gave play calling to Kane Wommack with fantastic results, right. The most successful this program has been, you know, the century in those years. And then you know, again, when you know Charlton Warren came in and it didn't work as well. There was a contrast of ideology on how to best run the core principles of that defense. And now, based on the interactions that I've witnessed myself, I'm not telling tales out of school here. There's real collaboration. Coach Allen is still in there and he's still a part of what this defense is going to look like. But he is now he now has the trust. And both Chad Wilt and Matt Guerrieri to be there and to continue to run this defense with the principles that made it so good in ‘20 and ‘21 and 19.

And so I think that's what we're gonna see but we'll see more we'll see innovation from Coach Guerrieri. I mean, just a really sharp guy and together with Coach Wilt, they're going to they're going to come up with great game plans and all the while. It's gonna give Coach Allen the freedom to spend maybe a little bit more time with the offense being a little bit more time you know, working recruiting and figuring out the big picture goals is going to get this program back to where it needs to be

Looking at the offensive side of the ball a lot of questions about quarterback. Yeah. How do you see that competition playing out?

You know, I think it's really interesting because you have two quarterbacks that are, you know, essentially were neck and neck in this competition with the spring and Brendan Sorsby and Tayven Jackson have similar skill sets. Both guys are mobile enough to get the job done with their legs and then you know, have really good arms. And I mean, that was the reason why, you know, Brendan Sorsby went in the game against Penn State was first in the game when Jack Tuttle got hurt, as a true freshman. Right. And like maybe the game was a little big for him at that point, but I think now with a year under his belt with a spring under his belt I think we're gonna see continued improvement there and that only helps Tayven and Tayven only helps Brendan like I see this as a as a win-win right now both guys are competing. Both guys are getting better because of the competition. And it's gonna give IU the best possible player for that QB one role when we kick things off on September 2nd at the Rock against Ohio State.

The wide receiver group had become kind of not one dimensional, but it was like one body type at that position. It seems like they've gotten a little bit more diverse with you know, Cameron Perry coming in. Jaylin Lucas being out there and then having big bodies like EJ Williams Cam Camper when he comes back and the DeQuece Carter coming in from Fordham. Now there's not a ton of depth there. But can this wide receiver room give the offense a little bit more of a dynamic look?

Yeah, I think um, you know, the body types are you trying to build the basketball team? I feel like with the receiver group, right, you know, you get some of the big bodies you get some of the small forwards you get some of the shooting guards like we got with Kam Perry and company and even if you see Jaylin Lucas out there in the slot to be able to work in into the passing game, you know, split out wide certainly has that capability. And then you look at the guys that have come in I see DeQuece Carter is a guy who can move the chains kind of like Cam Xamper did in just different ways. And so I mean if Cam is back to where he was to start the year last year, I mean he's guy who was you know, he was lead the lead receiving Yeah, he was 100% gonna be 1,000-yard receiver and so I think you'll be back to that. And I'm really excited about the different ways this wide receiver group can attack defenses.

But the biggest thing is, who's going to win one on one matchups? Who's going to win man to man coverage? We did not see that enough in a more consistent basis last year for the offense the way that Coach Bell wanted to run it. And that was asking the guys to run it. And it just it didn't work out. And so teams were like alright, you want to go fast. We'll just line up and we'll dare you to beat us. We need somebody to beat and so I think we've got some guys now that can do that can win.

I think the player that most people are most excited about is Jaylin Lucas. A lot of the criticism last year was why didn't he get the ball as often as possible, especially against Nebraska game. How do you see Jaylin Lucas is being used in the offense is he going to be running back, all-purpose back, wide receiver?

Yeah, punts kicks, runs, receptions, I don't know throw the ball too. Just get the ball into that man's hands and we can. I know that's been the edict from Tom Allen really, from like week 2,3,4 on last year and like it was a little it was a little difficult. You know, you think about the way that running backs are also asked to compete and pass protection. And I think that was part of what held Jaylen Lucas back early on last year. It was like alright, you know, he's a smaller guy to begin with. And he's a true freshman has not had the opportunity to kind of build that body strength that you need to stick your nose in there and keep your quarterback for being on the flight have his back. And so I think you'll he'll be better in that regard if he's asked to do that.

But I think the offense will also be a little bit more creative in finding ways to keep him on the field in those situations, even if they're not using him as that last line of defense as a pass protector. But then again, you know, Josh Henderson's back we go into the transfer portal again in the running back room to provide some more depth and I think that group has a chance to be really special.

Going over the defensive side of the ball. You lose Cam Jones at linebacker. Yeah. But you bring back Aaron Casey. How does the linebacking position play out?

You got to be a sideline-to-sideline linebacker in today's game, and I think he's certainly a guy that can do that. And, you know, then you look on the opposite side of the spectrum in terms of size, and you got Jacob Mangum-Farrar, you know, who is built to be a traditional thumper of a linebacker right at 6’3”, 240 pounds, right. And I think that's something we haven't seen from that position with this program a long time. So I'm excited about what he brings in his experience from Stanford as well. Of course, not the only Stanford guy we got on the roster, we get some a tight end there from that room as well. I was actually talking to a former Stanford coach David Shaw about both those guys and he thinks that there's some real gets from the transfer portal for IU this year.

So excited about that. And yeah, I think, you know, the linebacker room is very important in his defense, right and to have a guy like Ace (Aaron Casey) back to kind of help some of the newcomers find their footing is really important. And when he told me last year that he was going to come back for another year and take that extra year of eligibility, I was like, Alright, I know we're losing Cam, but the fact that you've got a steady presence like Ace, who knows not only where he's supposed to be, but a lot of times where the ball is going before it snapped is so huge in this defense.

Andre Carter is going to headline the defensive line. He looked unblockable in the spring game, he looked unblockable at Western Michigan. Does he get that pass rush going? 

Oh, yeah, I think that is Coach Allen has said that body type, that strength, that kind of just grown man ability on the edge and along the defensive line is something we haven't had in a while either. And so that body type is going to be huge, playing that defensive and opposite the Bull position to be able to get after the passer with those you know, with those 3,4,5 guys up front, depending on how many you end up sending after the quarterback is going to be so huge, especially when you're breaking in likely two new corners, right on the outside. You know, and then you're gonna have some new contributors in the back end, you know, whether it be for the safety spot or you know depending on what happens with the husky and no appear and all that so I think getting pass rush from those guys up front and there's some other guys that could do it now without car now comes over from West Virginia is a natural pass rusher to there and Myles Jackson's back. There's a lot to be excited about from pass rush perspective

In the secondary a lot of turnover, you lose guys like Tiawan Mullen, Jaylin Williams, but you bring in some transfers who could play? Is that a position outside of quarterback that you're worried about depth?

You know, worried, is it? I mean, I think it's fair, I would say I'm just intrigued. I'm intrigued to see what it ends up looking like and who ends up you know, earning the right to guard Marvin Harrison Jr. Week one. And Emeka Egbuka. And Julian Fleming. And, you know, whoever else the Buckeyes want to try out their wide receivers. So I think everyone understands the challenge there. And I think that is going to be a challenge. But again, with the way this defense is designed, they're going to be able to have eyes on Kyle McCord, whoever the quarterback is for Ohio State. And that's when you know guys who may not be as adept in, you know, man-to-man coverage can play some of this vision coverages that we like to do at IU and allow them to kind of see the ball right and to then make plays in the ball. And create turnovers and when we're creating turnovers, we're creating more opportunities for the offense. We're getting the defense off the field, it creates that continuity that we saw in ’19 ‘20 and ‘21.

Get you out on this question. IU has a successful season if?

Yeah. Good question. If the turnovers come back on defense, if we take care of the football on offense, it really it really becomes that simple because we have enough playmakers on offense now to find our way into the endzone playmakers on special teams to create an edge in the special teams game. And so, ball security and then ball manipulation on the defensive side of the ball is going to be so huge. And then lets you know how effective we're going to be in the run game. Right. And you know, we saw it kind of come to fruition late last season that starts and is a little bit more effective early on. I think it's only going to help a young quarterback.

Do they get to a Bowl Game?

Six wins to start there. I really think that is an absolute possibility here and then once you get to six, then let's see what happens. Right? I mean, like that's the first goal. let's get back to six. And then let's see where else because I don't think that's a I don't think that's the end here. that's that I think that's obviously the minimum that you're expecting. And I know that's, that is the minimum expectation, you know, within the program, but that's not the only expectation.