Column: Tough to get excited for spring football

If there is one thing Hoosiers don’t associate with spring, it’s football. Spring to most Hoosier fans means Little 500, baseball and spring soccer games.

Regardless of what pops into our heads, there is no denying that spring ball is an important time for all football programs, and spring football is officially here.

Saturday marks the annual Cream and Crimson Spring Game at Memorial Stadium.

This is when the community and fans can rally around the team and look forward to what’s to come next season.

Excuse me if I’m not the first waiting in line to rush into Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

I don’t doubt that people will be there, but when it comes to students, I would say most of us don’t really have much hope for the football team right now.

In the past four years, I saw the football team go from bad to worse.

This past year’s 1-11 record was an actual laughing point to my friends in other Big Ten schools. I’d tell them IU isn’t a football school and all the other excuses, but I would be lying if I didn’t admit I sure wish we were.

IU Coach Kevin Wilson came into Bloomington in a blaze of glory this past year. He seemed like a real go-getter and someone who was willing to do what was necessary to change the football program.

The T-shirt slogan “Win with Wilson” looks a tad bit ironic now, doesn’t it?

Granted, Wilson was not coaching his own players this past season, and he is stepping up the recruiting game, but how are you supposed to get a good football player to commit to a 1-11 team?

It looks like the answer is to promise you are changing the fundamental structure of the program. Wilson looks to change the Hoosiers’ typical offensive and defensive structures to his style.

What the Hoosiers need to do is win games. They have had a lot of close calls with a lot of good teams throughout the years but no actual additions to the win column.

People complain that the students don’t support the football team and that our seats are always empty, but you can’t blame people for not wanting to watch a bad team.

Wilson will have to prove to students that he is making changes to start getting them back in the seats. The obvious change is winning, but the other might be getting to know the student body better.

Give the students a face of the team that they can recognize around campus. Give us what we really want to cheer for.

Every Big Ten game will be David vs. Goliath, so play that up and work it to our
advantage somehow.

The fate of the next football season lies with the players and the coaches. They have to work together to succeed, even if that means a many changes.

Even though I won’t be attending the spring game, I can’t help but have hope in the Hoosiers. We never really know what any of our teams are capable of.

Let’s hope this spring season and the offseason were used well and that this fall, the football team will surprise us all.