New IU Football OC Mike Shanahan Wants to Attack All Areas of the Field

Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

New Indiana football offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan was the latest guest on the series Under the Hood with Indiana Football hosted by Rhett Lewis. On the show Shanahan gave a glimpse of his philosophy on offense regarding the wide receiver room.

“We want to be able to attack all areas of the field. Do it horizontally, vertically. And that is something that whether it's our slot receiver outside receivers. We're going to cross train those guys to do as much as they can out from all areas in spots on the field.” Shanahan explained.

The Hoosiers wide receiver room brought back an important piece in Donaven McCulley who broke out in 2023 with a team leading 48 receptions, 644 yards and six touchdowns. Shanahan is excited to work with the big play receiver.

“I just saw a big long guy who can stretch the field vertically.” Shanahan said. “He can make tough touches. He has all the ability to run all the different routes. Then you meet the kid. He's got a big time smile on his face all the time. He's got a great personality, you know, just gives off very positive energy and that was like ‘okay this is another reason why we really want this guy to come back’”.

There will be several new receivers joining the room that Shanahan is excited about. The question heading into spring practice in March is where will people play and how will the staff manage repititions.

“I think that stuff will play itself out. Who's playing where. How we're going to move guys around, but I do think that one of the things that we always take pride in as coaches is utilizing each guy's skill set to the best of their ability.” Shanahan said.

He views the receiver room like a basketball team. They need different people to play different roles.

“I've always kind of viewed our receiver room as as a basketball team to some degree. You want to have your back bars or your slots you want to have your power forwards and centers.” Shanahan explained.“So I feel like we did accomplish that kind of bringing in guys with some different traits that will be able to help us in different ways.”

The Hoosiers are set to open spring practice on March 21st.