The former Baylor strength and conditioning coach replaced Mark Hill, who will be joining another program.
Those three things, he said, will be essential in helping the team consistently compete in the Big Ten. His plan will also help in changing the defensive culture IU Coach Kevin Wilson expressed desire to progress in the signing of new defensive coordinator Tom Allen on Saturday.
“We’re going to start with habits,” Caton said about the defense. “Making sure they start behind the line and finish through the line — running drills full speed all the time. That’s going to be our focus these first few weeks. If we can do that and those three things I mentioned earlier, we will improve a ton.”
Caton has served 17 years as a strength and conditioning coach during his career, coaching at Western Kentucky, Missouri, Elon, Auburn, Southern Mississippi and Baylor.
Caton said the IU offense runs a similar high-powered game like the Baylor Bears did in Waco, Texas. The Bears put up a lot of points on the board in a fast-paced offense, tallying scores as high as 70 last season and scoring higher than 50 points in six games.
Both IU and Baylor led their respective conferences in scoring offense and total offense. They both had two thousand-yard rushers, as well, with sophomore running back Devin Redding and junior running back Jordan Howard ran for IU and junior running back Shock Linwood and sophomore running back Johnny Jefferson ran for Baylor.
Baylor was ranked fifth in the AP Preseason Poll last season and was expected to end the season within the top-four and play for a chance to win the National Title. Injuries, however, plagued the Bears, dropping the Bears to No. 13. Baylor defeated North Carolina in the Russell Athletic Bowl, 49-38.
In four years, 2012-15, with Caton, the Bears earned a 40-12 record. In those same four years, IU went 19-29.
“There are a lot of things that we did down there that can definitely be used up here,” Caton said. “(Wilson) really liked the things we did down there, so that’s one of the reasons why he kind of called me up. A lot of the same ideas and similarities, but he wants to bring some of the new ideas that I’ve learned from the last couples years as well.”
A big factor in his decision to come to IU was because of the Hoosiers’ progression through Wilson’s tenure. Wilson’s six-year extension also weighed “a ton” in the decision process of junior All-American Dan Feeney, who announced Monday he will return for his senior season.
“Like, he said, it was a deciding factor and made him feel good about coming back, It was big for everybody,” Caton said.
Since that he’s been in Bloomington for a short amount of time, Caton said he and the other five members of the nutrition and strength staff are still figuring out their plan for the future. Caton did not deny he would bring in new members of staff. With one day of workouts under his belt, Caton said he has seen hard workers at IU and is excited to get started in a new place he can call home.
Feeney said he does not believe the football program is quite turned around yet, but that this coming season should be the year that IU completes its transition. Caton said it’s just wins he is searching for.
“We have a great opportunity,” Caton said. “An inch here, an inch there. A detail here, a detail there. We’ll be able to win a bunch more ball games.”
