Follow the leaders

When practice for the IU football team came to a close Wednesday night, apparently nobody told Tracy Porter it was over. Even if someone had, chances are the senior cornerback would have stayed out on the field. After the rest of the team left practice, Porter remained to work with junior wide receiver James Hardy and sophomore quarterback Kellen Lewis in preparation for Saturday night’s opener against the Indiana State Sycamores at Memorial Stadium.\n“I think Tracy’s been taking it upon himself (to improve) since last winter,” said IU football coach Bill Lynch. “He knows as a senior, he’s back and he’s a guy who has a great chance to be a leader on this team, and I think he did that over the summer.”\nLike Porter, fellow captain and senior fullback Josiah Sears has put in the extra work throughout his career at IU. After joining the team as a walk-on, Sears earned a scholarship and had his best season as a Hoosier last year, rushing for 232 yards on 40 carries while finishing second on the team with four rushing touchdowns.\nBoth Porter and Sears were voted captains by their teammates for the 2007 season, a responsibility they said they were proud to receive.\n“I think that it’s a tremendous honor that your teammates think that highly of you, and that they would acknowledge you as someone to lead the team and they would like to follow you,” Porter said. “It’s an honor I will cherish for the rest of my life.”\nThough both are seen as leaders on this year’s team, Lynch said their demeanors have changed over the last few years as both players have become more vocal and improved their work ethic. When Lynch first arrived at IU, he said that while Porter was a talented football player, he tended to be quiet and kept more to himself.\nLynch said Sears also had the same quiet demeanor but is now open with his teammates. This openness has not only propelled Sears into a leadership role but also helped develop a sense of camaraderie among team members. As evidence of his position as a team leader, Sears was IU football’s representative at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new athletics facilities – an event held the day coach Terry Hoeppner died. \n“As you go, you gain points in terms of leadership in the football program, and he certainly has done that with his teammates as well as us, and that’s why he’s going to be really important in a lot of different areas when we play on Saturdays,” Lynch said. \nLast year, center Justin Frye had a profound effect on Sears, as the recent graduate took the fullback under his wing and helped improve his offense.\n“I spent a lot of time with him in film studying together, which was not a huge leadership thing on his part in front of the whole team, but it was big for me,” Sears said. “He took one guy, and it was me. We had what we called ‘date nights’ every Tuesday where we just watched film.”\nThough not actually on a date, Sears said it was a good way to improve in different areas of the game. One year later, it is Sears who is playing the role of Frye, and he said he will be looking for a younger player to develop a rapport with.\nTo Porter and Sears, the word “captain” now brings along the responsibility to set positive examples for their teammates and say, as Sears put it, “the buck stop here” when games or situations get out of hand.\n“We’ve been leaders by example,” Sears said. “But now it’s time to step up and be leaders by mouth as well, since the team has said ‘we want you to lead us.’”