Story Links
By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Football ain’t science.
Or is it?
Consider Cam Jones, Indiana’s senior linebacker. He’s taking advantage of a COVID-created fifth season intent on going out on winning terms.
Ending his college career with last season’s disappointment wasn’t going to happen.
And that, as it turns out, leads to science, of a sort.
In the off-season, head coach Tom Allen hired Chad Wilt as his new defensive coordinator.
One of the things they do, Jones says, is, “Challenge us on a daily basis.”
That’s mental as much as physical. Wilt’s new ideas include an equation he wrote on the board for all to see:
E + R = O.
Event plus Response equals Outcome.
Granted, it’s not as change-the-world notable as, say, E=MC2, which means Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared, which basically means energy and matter are different forms of the same thing, which never made a Knute Rockne speech, but that misses the point.
Winning defense is.
Jones offers clarity.
“We don’t have a lot of say about the event (such as a scheduled game),” Jones says, “but our response to the event weighs more than the actual event.”
In Wilt’s view, the event is worth 10 percent, the response is worth 90 percent, which equals 100 percent for the outcome.
The motivational benefits are already kicking in, Jones says.
“Not only does this defense continue to respond, but the offensive side as well. It’s the whole team.
“We’re taking it day by day; building it brick by brick. We are responding to the challenges we have to overcome.”
The 6-2, 22-pound Jones has built a Hoosier career on responding and overcoming challenges.
He was a team captain in 2020 and ’21. In 42 career games, including 18 starts, he’s totaled 154 tackles, six sacks, two interceptions…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Indiana University Athletics…