New coach brings new excitement

After enduring another tough season in which IU lost eight of its last nine games, getting to a bowl game seemed light years away for the Hoosiers. But with the hiring of new football coach Terry Hoeppner, players are looking to now for their bowl aspirations rather than later. Despite IU not going to a bowl game since the 1993 Independence Bowl and not playing in the Rose Bowl since 1968, players believe Hoeppner is the man to bring Hoosier football back.\nOn the eve of the spring semester, Hoeppner and the new coaching staff held their first team meeting, and the team's initial reaction mirrored their current one — excited.\nIn a meeting that lasted about an hour and a half, players learned what the team culture would be as well as changes to be made to the program. Some were made public at the initial press conference; players declined to comment about any further changes.\nOne of the efforts discussed Sunday night is to get players out in the community more often, junior offensive lineman Adam Hines said.\n"Being an athlete, you are already tagged ... it would be nice for the community to know us as people," Hines said. "As coach said, 'Football is what we do, not who we are.'"\nHoeppner brings many intangibles that have the players excited, but the obvious reason is his winning record. In Hoeppner's six seasons at the helm in Oxford, he led Miami University of Ohio to a 48-25 record. In those same six years, the Hoosiers managed only 16 wins.\nHaving a proven winner come in is a step in the right direction, said junior offensive lineman Isaac Sowells. \n"I actually cannot wait until spring ball to see what that spread offense is all about," Sowells said. "(Hoeppner) was real successful (at Miami) and he has had a real good record there, I'm just excited he is here."\nHaving a good system is almost as important as the right personnel, and Hoeppner's spread offense already has the players buzzing about the possibilities. Hoeppner's Redhawks had been one of the top offensive teams in college football since he became coach. This season the team averaged more than 30 points per game en route to the Independence Bowl. 2003 was even more productive under Hoeppner as Miami averaged 43 points per outing.\nEven though teams knew how dangerous the Redhawks were, it wasn't until 2003 that Miami splashed onto the national scene.\nAfter a season-opening loss to Iowa, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger guided the Redhawks to 13 straight wins and a 49-28 victory in the GMAC Bowl against the University of Louisville, finishing the season No. 10 in the country. \nConsidering Hoeppner's success with quarterbacks, freshman quarterback Blake Powers said he feels optimistic as he competes for the vacated position with true freshmen Grant Gregory and Mike Vlahogeorge.\n"With a new coach you don't know exactly what kind of system it is going to be like," Powers said. "He seems like a great leader and motivator and that is exactly what we need."\nAlong with winning comes tradition, and that's one thing IU has been lacking for years. The Hoosiers hope that's about to change with the arrival of Hoeppner, who is hoping to start that tradition by making a connection with the students.\nAt his initial press conference, Hoeppner announced that the football players would participate in "The Walk." Players will be dropped off two hours before the start of the game and will walk through the tailgating area to encourage fans to make it beyond the tailgating fields and to the game. Hoeppner did this at Miami as well. There are also plans for the team to sing the fight song after home wins in front of the Crimson Crew, IU's student section. \nMost recently Hoeppner addressed the crowd during the men's basketball game against Wisconsin at halftime. He gave a short speech addressing the students, encouraging them to be a part of IU football. He stressed the importance of the student body and their support of the players and coaches. \nWinning and having fun, something Hoosier football fans haven't experienced recently, are things that go hand-in-hand, Hoeppner said. \n"I am going to allow my guys to have fun coaching and playing football and we are going to win," Hoeppner said. "We need to wake up our echoes. We have some great echoes here and we need to wake them up and we are going to do that starting this spring."\nThe bottom line of winning hasn't been forgotten after the Hoosiers' devastating loss to Purdue in the 63-24 season finale. The loss inspired Hoeppner, upon arriving in Bloomington, to tell the seniors to make it to a bowl game before they graduate. \n"Hopefully, since it is my last year, we can get this done in a hurry, because I would like to go to a bowl game. Perhaps even the Rose Bowl," Sowells said. "That is a common goal for us now, not just a bowl game, but it's the Rose Bowl. Now our expectations are even higher and we are going to work hard to achieve that goal."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Dan Click at daaclick@indiana.edu.