‘He loves to coach us and we love to play for him’

Bill Lynch was angry. \nIt didn’t matter that he was only three days removed from his first victory as head coach at IU; three days after overwhelming Indiana State 55-7. The man now in charge of defending the rock was not happy. \nLynch wasn’t upset at the result of the game, but the effort of his team during the first practice after the win. \nWhat did he do about it? When practice reached its conclusion, he ordered everyone on the team to run wind sprints. In full pads, in more than 90 degree weather – and they were timed.\n“Coach is kind of laid back, until you push his buttons,” junior running back Marcus Thigpen said. “We’ll be doing good in practice, and if somebody messes up, he’ll just let it go. But if you keep messing up, he’ll snap on you, and when he snaps, it’s like that the whole practice.”\nAlthough this particular practice ended with an angry head coach and a tired group of players, it hasn’t been the norm this season. It was an anomaly in what has so far been a season full of optimism and hard work. \n“These kids have really worked hard and have endured a lot,” Lynch said. “I’ll be honest; we really like this football team. There are some teams that you just get a feeling for and this is a good group. I think they’ve grown together and they’ve grown together through some tough times. And I think they believe in one another.”\nThe toughest of times came in June, when former head coach and Lynch’s good friend Terry Hoeppner died due to complications from a brain tumor. Hoeppner, a beloved coach by both players and fans alike, passed away before seeing his dream – for the Hoosiers to play in a bowl game or “play 13,” as the motto says – come to fruition. That is the goal of the 2007 squad, and Lynch is in charge of leading the way.\n“Any time you’re in a situation like that, the morale of the team is going to be low,” sophomore linebacker Will Patterson said. “But I think he handled it really well as far as staying committed during the summertime and having us do what we needed to do to come out better than what we did last year.” \nWhile the summer was filled with uncertainty and sorrow, the beginning of August brought the start of fall practices. Since the first day of fall practices, IU has finally been able to focus on football and achieving its goal of making that elusive bowl game. Lynch, who led Ball State to the Las Vegas Bowl in 1996, believes the only way IU can accomplish its goal is to stay constantly focused on the immediate task at hand. \n“Our whole focus – and has been since we started fall camp – and you can walk around our locker rooms you’ll see signs that say ‘One at a time.’” Lynch said. “Because everyone else is going to talk about the big picture and what the ultimate goal and what Hep wanted. I think it’s real important that we don’t get ahead of ourselves.”\nAfter losing its Big Ten conference opener to Illinois, the Hoosiers are 3-1 of the way to achieving their – and coach Hep’s – goal. And the occasional timed wind sprints aside, the relationship between the team and their new head coach is off to just as fast of a start.\n“He likes us to be physical and play fast, and that’s what I love to do,” Patterson said. “He’s very passionate. You can tell that he loves to coach us and we love to play for him.”