IU Safety Tandem Aims to Lead the Locker Room

Written by Ethan Roberts

IU starting safeties Louis Moore (senior) and Josh Sanguinetti (redshirt-senior) took to the podium this week and let their established role on the team be known.

“Telling them every day—we just go out there and work,” Sanguinetti said. “If we play within our scheme and play our defense right, we’ll stop anybody. It doesn’t matter if it’s Ohio State, Purdue, or anybody. All we do is just play our defense, play within our scheme, and we’ll beat anybody.”

Sanguinetti has 27 appearances in his playing career at IU, so he plans on using his experience to help lead the younger players in the locker room. It all starts with creating a bond.

“Just trying to create a bond with everybody,” Sanguinetti said. “When you go out there and play with them you know ‘I’ve got your back, he’s got my back’. Just doing stuff after practice together, whether it’s hanging out or going and watching extra film, or going over extra plays on the film, or going over plays on the field after practice so everybody can be close on gameday.”

Moore transferred to IU from Navarro Community College (Texas) before last season. He played wide receiver and safety with Navarro. He appeared in all twelve games last season and downplayed the full transition to safety.

“It didn’t take that long,” Moore said. “I feel like I’m a ball player. I played defensive back in high school too. Making that transition, making plays is easy.”

While Sanguinetti prefers a hands-on approach to leading a locker room, Moore emphasized the importance of hard coaching from co-defensive coordinator Matt Guerrieri.

“The thing I like the most about coach Guerrieri is he coaches really hard,” Moore said. “I love that, honestly. I don’t want a coach to take it easy on me. He corrects everything. He just coaches hard, and that’s what you want. You don’t want players getting by because at the end of the day, we’re just on the field together. Knowing we’re getting coached right, we know our responsibilities, and it’s going to make us better.”

The new Hoosier tandem will be tested early in the season with future high draft picks Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka out wide for the Buckeyes. Good performances against those receivers can make or break the momentum of the season.