Hoosier Turmoil

It is spring time, college football teams all over the country are on practice fields gearing up for the 2008 season. It is a chance to start new, the records are all 0-0, oh what a great time of year for most.

Unfortunately it has not been that way for us Hoosier fans this year. Turmoil off the field has and will lead to turmoil on the field. We start this spring minus our two senior leaders on defense, both of those players were in the skill positions, and not easily replaced. Then an athletic and talented safety gets moved from defense to offense. Why you may ask? Well that has to do with missing personnel on the offensive side of the ball.

Oh the offense. What a mess this is. James Hardy decided to skip his senior season and become eligible for the NFL draft. Who can blame him, after all he already owns the records in most major categories for an IU receiver, and is projected to be a mid to late 1st round draft pick. He will be missed, but the coaches have always talked about the depth at receiver, so we should be fine.

We should be, but will we? The depth at receiver looks shallow to me. It was reported yesterday that James Bailey has decided to transfer from IU to another school that has not yet been named. While Bailey had his problems on and off the field, the experience of a 5th year senior and 3 year starter can’t be replaced easily.

But we have Andrew Means who played in Bailey’s slot last year! Well, maybe. Means is a college baseball player who runs routes and catches passes in the off season. He is currently lighting up pitchers all over the Big Ten with a near .400 batting average, and is not sure about his return to the team this fall. His dream is to play in the Majors, and if a MLB team is calling, Means is going to answer.

That leaves us with only two receivers who have seen playing time in more than 5 games at IU. Couple this with injured lineman, running backs running track, and the fact the starting QB for the past two seasons is currently suspended and his return to the team at this point is not certain, makes you wonder just what the spring practice is worth this year.

On the upside, you don’t prepare for an entire season in the limited practice time you get in the spring, and with the injuries, departed and suspended players, the coaching staff will get a chance to plug in some younger guys, get to evaluate some redshirt players, and hopefully build more depth at each position.

While other schools are polishing the edges, Coach Lynch and his staff are working with grinders. Hopefully the long spring won’t lead to a longer fall.

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