New O-Line Coach Bob Bostad Brings a Record of Winning Football to the IUFB Program

Written by: Zachary Greene (@zachegreene)

Offensive line coach Bob Bostad met with the media for the first time on Sunday before the Men’s Basketball game against Michigan State. His eyes showed the exhaustion of recruiting, but his tone was one of determination. Bostad knows all facets of the game but none better than the offensive line.

Indiana hired Bostad over a month ago. He spent the last six seasons in Madison coaching the Badgers and developing quality offensive linemen including three first-round picks. Read more about his bio here. Bostad Hire

“Well, I mean besides the obvious, I’ve run into Coach Allen quite a bit and I know people that know him. I’ve been doing this a long time and you get to a point in your career where you want to work with high-quality people and he’s absolutely that. Working with Coach Allen is huge for me,” Bostad said in his opening remarks during Sunday’s presser.

His tone stood out the most. He sounds exactly how you think an offensive line ne coach should sound.

 “I think that you need to find out who you have. Who are the players. What can we do. How are they built. What do we have here to do certain schemes well. I don’t like playing musical chairs and moving around guys a lot.” He explained about what creates good offensive line play.

The past two seasons the Hoosiers have really experimented and moved a whole lot of guys around on the offensive line. It would be nice to create a line that sticks and creates good-quality chemistry together. This is what Bostad hopes for.

“I’ve mostly been on the road recruiting, so I haven’t had a ton of time. I’ve certainly met with my guys one on one and as a group. It has not been a lot. I watched them on film. I’ve formulated somethings. Right now, I’m just trying to get to know the guys. Once we’re off the road it will be really fast forward,” Bostad said when asked if he’s had a chance to meet with the players and create a plan for spring practice.

He hopes to develop a relationship with his players, but he also needs to recruit new linemen to the program. Maybe this is why he eyes looked so baggy. Showing signs that he is very tired from all the recruiting he’s been doing.

“I want high school guys.” Bostad said of his recruiting philosophy. “I want the chance to develop them. I want the chance to teach them the things that are important to my team. There is always going to be that element,”

Lastly, when asked about his coaching style and reputation Bobstad acknowledges that his system and ideas have a track record for working.

“I feel like I have a pretty good reputation for running the ball. Teaching these guys, the techniques and the systems that work. I feel like we can come in here and plug in a system that was tack le to tackle and be a more effective unit. I’ve got a pretty good track record of that and a good chunk of experience with that.”

Bobstad left a good impression after his press conference, and I think that Allen is due to hit on this hire. It’s important to know that Allen is the main reason Bobstad is here. More importantly, he knows how to run the football which is something the Hoosiers haven’t been able to do the past two seasons.