Different eras, same predicament

As IU coach Gerry DiNardo enters his third year at the helm of the IU football program, the Hoosiers are still trying to find their way out of the proverbial doldrums of the bottom of the Big Ten. \nWith the Hoosiers coming off of a dismal 2-10 campaign, DiNardo said the team has improved but remains reserved about how many checks will go in the win column. \n"We're deeper and we're more talented than we've been in the last two years," DiNardo said. "This year, we've obviously improved internally, but how that compares to our opponent, we won't know until we play."\nWhile DiNardo seeks to bring the Hoosiers back into winning form, another IU coach found himself in a similar situation as he entered his fifth and final season as head coach in 2001. \nFormer Hoosier coach Cam Cameron worked with a roster full of talented players, some of whom have gone on to the NFL, while this season is the first in DiNardo's era that he even has a full roster.\nWhat separates DiNardo's cream and crimson from Cameron's red and white other than an arbitrary and overpriced color change? \nAccording to senior wide receiver Travis Haney and junior running back Yamar Washington, the answer is discipline. Several seniors who played under both regimes said DiNardo has more of a watchful eye than his predecessor because of his experience both in the NCAA and XFL ranks.\n"I believe we're heading in the right direction (with DiNardo)," Haney said. "DiNardo's had a lot of success in his career, and the players believe in him. It's hard to rebuild a program, but I believe DiNardo can lead us there." \nWashington, who took his redshirt freshman season under Cameron, agrees with Haney's claims. \n"I think Cam was a lot more inexperienced," Washington said. "DiNardo's more of a disciplinarian, and that's the biggest difference. College football's all very intense and 100 percent all the time. In terms of those two, it's the disciplinarian that wins out."\nBut, comparing the overall performance of the two coaches might be like comparing cream to white or apples to oranges. \nCameron came into his final year as head coach with one of the most prolific Hoosiers to ever lace up a pair of cleats at Memorial Stadium -- Antwaan Randle-El. Randle-El brought unprecedented numbers, amassing 7,489 passing yards and 3,895 career rushing yards, which made him the only player in Division I-A history to reach 6,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing yards. His game was so multi-faceted, it carried him into the NFL ranks as a wide receiver. \nCameron and Randle-El led the Hoosiers to a respectable 5-6 record and, with one more win, would have broken a bowl drought that has plagued the Hoosiers since 1987. \nWhile Cameron's squad was brimming with talent, the 2004 season will be the first in the DiNardo era with a full roster of scholarship players. Junior lineman Isaac Sowells said the team's full roster allows for better practice time with less of a chance of injuring players in the starting rotation.\n"A couple of years ago, in spring ball, we only had nine offensive linemen," Sowells said. "Now with the full roster, we have 20. That's more strings of offensive linemen. And in practice, we have four strings of offensive linemen, and we've never had that for as long as I've been here." \nThe differences between the 2001 and 2004 squads don't end with the simple number of scholarship players, as DiNardo's style is also quite different from the option-based offense that Cameron brought to the table. However, this season's IU squad does indeed have its fair share of talent. From senior quarterback Matt LoVecchio to senior wide receiver Courtney Roby on offense to senior defensive lineman Jodie Clemons and junior linebacker Kyle Killion on defense, this year's roster brings a number of battle-tested veterans to the table.\nRegardless of who is at the helm of the program, optimism remains the name of the game in the Hoosier locker room. Washington said he believes the 2004 IU squad can surprise its opponents. \n"I think this should be the year," Washington said. "We have good seniors, and the team's a lot deeper because we've got 85 people on scholarship, so I think we can be a Cinderella team."\n-- Contact staff writer Dan Patrick at djpatric@indiana.edu.