Spring Game Q&A: Indiana players talk spring practice

Indiana football offensive linemen Carter Smith and Pat Coogan, as well as linebacker Aiden Fisher and defensive back D’Angelo Ponds, spoke with reporters on Thursday night following the conclusion of Indiana’s spring game.

Below is their full Q&As, as well as partial transcripts for their conversations — once they become available.

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Pat Coogan | OL | R-Sr. 

On what he thinks he improved the most on in the spring…

PC: I think just that overall gelling with my teammates: you know, coming into a new system, a new brotherhood, a new locker room. For me, honestly, I didn’t have that much time until spring ball, so these past four or five weeks have been huge for me to just gel with my teammates and get to know each other better. Obviously getting to play next to each other is one way to speed up that process. Just the O-line, I think we’ve taken strides in every aspect of the game, but there is plenty of room to work, and that’s very exciting come the summer and come the fall, because we got plenty to work on for sure. 

On what guys he thinks will play a big role in the defensive line after playing them in December…

PC: Overall, super talented, like talented across the board. Obviously, you got Mikail [Kamara], who is going to make plays cause he’s a playmaker. He is going to wreck offenses, and they’re going to have to solely game plan around him. And then on the other side, [Hosea] Wheeler and Tyreek [Tucker], really tough hard nose football players that are going to play really important snaps for us and make plays in the backfield. So really exciting going against those guys every single day has definitely made me a better player as well. 

On what he thinks about the run game so far this spring…

PC: It’s an explosive run game, which is super exciting. We can come at you with the ground and pound, but like we saw tonight we can also pop a few for big chunk plays. That was really exciting to see. That was a process that we had to build throughout the spring. Obviously on day one, day two, day three you might not get those huge chunks, you might be just a little bit off on certain things, but as you go through the spring that’s where 11-on-11 really starts putting it all together. Honestly, you can’t really gauge run games, because it is a whole different system, new players. But I’m overall super excited about the progress we’ve made and where we’re headed because it’s going to be a great run game for sure. 

Aidan Fisher | LB | Sr. 

On growing pains this spring with so many new faces…

AF: It’s definitely come a long way, just little details in the defense and how these young guys used to play, see ball, go get ball. But it’s changed here, you have to take a lot more advanced steps to get to the ball. So that and then personality wise, a lot of reality checks happened. I think a lot of freshmen and the young guys got humbled and from then on, they kind of put their heads down and started work and you know, you saw that process every single day. It was the best for them, and I think it was a really good thing to happen. They’ve gotten a lot better.

On Rolijah Hardy’s growth this spring…

AF: First of all, the ball just finds that dude. I don’t know how he does it, I don’t know what he does, but the ball is always in his hands. So that’s a good thing to have as a linebacker. But throughout the entire spring, you saw him take a step every single day. Whether that’s beating a block, getting more surface area on tackles, he did something every single day to get better. I think he showed it a lot tonight, a TFL, stuffing guys coming down hill on the pick six. Just really proud of his development and I think this summer it’s really just going to skyrocket and by August 30 he’ll be ready to go.

On just observing tonight and his role from a different perspective…

AF: It pushes you to be in an uncomfortable position. I think with the role that I have here with being a leader, that’s when I can show it the most. It’s easy for me to go there and I’m going to make an explosive play and have everyone rally around you. What are you going to do when you can’t be the center of everybody? My biggest thing is to make sure I’m supportive, I’m not taking my eyes off anything, making sure I’m watching the linebackers play, because at the end of the day they’re going to run off the field and ask me what happened. How can I improve this? So, I want to make sure I’m there to help them and let them see it like I see it. Make sure I’m not taking any plays off mentally so I can help them sharpen their game.

D’Angelo Ponds | DB | Jr.

On the spring output of Jamari Sharpe…

DP: Yeah, I think it definitely motivated him and he has done that [made an impact during the spring]. He’s come a long way since the start of spring. I feel like he’s going to have a great year for us. He’s come a long way and made a lot of progress.

On the key to the defensive improving headed into the summer…

DP: I mean more of getting the new guys to learn the scheme and get them some reps in the game just so they can know the scheme in and out. For new guys, it’s hard to learn new things but with more reps it builds repetition and they’ll get the hang of it.

On true freshman Byron Baldwin Jr. and Seaonta Stewart…DP: Those guys bring a lot of energy every day. Sometimes we have to tone them down a little bit with hitting and stuff like that. Those guys will learn, and they are learning quickly. They came in wanting to learn, so I like those guys. I think they will help us in some type of way this year.

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