The Daily Hoosier
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Trending
    • With new OC and two weeks to prepare, IU football can reassess suspect offensive identity
    • IU football fires OC Walt Bell
    • Watch: Aaron Casey and Mike Katic discuss loss to Maryland
    • COLUMN: IU football’s offense just isn’t working
    • Indiana’s quarterback competition appears to be back on going into week off
    • IU football vs. Maryland: Tom Allen postgame, highlights, final stats
    • IU football: Three quick reasons why the Hoosiers fell to Maryland
    • IU football at Maryland — Live updates and highlights (INDIANA 17 MARYLAND 44, FINAL)
    • Sign Up
    • About/Support
    • Jobs
    • Tickets
      • IUBB Tickets (Stubhub)
      • IUFB Tickets (Stubhub)
    • Shop
      • Official IU Store
      • IU Adidas Store
      • Amazon: Support TDH
      • IU Memorabilia
      • IU Press (Books)
      • The Daily Hoosier T-Shirt
    • Radio/Podcasts
    • Pro IU
      • IUBB NBA
      • IUFB NFL
      • IUBASE MLB
    • Forum
      • Disqus Forum
    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    The Daily HoosierThe Daily Hoosier
    Monday, October 2
    • IU Basketball
      • Latest IU Basketball News
      • IU Basketball 2023-24 Schedule
      • IU Basketball 23-24 Roster/Staff
      • Offseason Roster Activity Tracker
      • Scholarship Chart
      • Future Schedules
      • 2022-23 Big Ten Standings
      • 2022-23 IU Basketball Stats
      • Rankings & Bracketology
      • IU Basketball Media Guide
    • IU Football
      • Latest IU Football News
      • IU Football: The 2023 Schedule
      • Roster
      • 2023 IUFB Stats
      • 2023 B1G Standings
      • Future Opponents through 2031
      • IUFB 2023 Media Guide
    • IU Recruiting
      • IU Basketball Recruiting News
      • IU Football Recruiting News
      • IUBB 2024-2026 Prospects
      • Recruit Interviews
      • Recruit Highlights
      • CBB Team Rankings
      • IU Football Recruiting Commits
    • IU Women’s Basketball
      • IU Women’s Basketball News
      • 22-23 Schedule
      • Big Ten Standings
    • IU Men’s Soccer
      • 2022 schedule
      • 2022 NCAA Tournament Bracket
      • Indiana Men’s Soccer: Program History
    • More Hoosiers
      • Fan and Business NIL options
      • IU Baseball
        • Baseball Schedule (links to iuhoosiers.com)
        • 2021 Stats (links to iuhoosiers.com)
        • Big Ten Standings
      • IU Swim & Dive
      • IU Olympic Results
    • Hoosier History
      • March Madness Classics
      • Basketball History
      • Football History
      • IUFB Best Seasons
      • IUFB All-Time Top 10 Players
    The Daily Hoosier

    “Many would say he is the best O-line coach in the country” — IU football thrilled to have Bob Bostad on board

    Mike SchumannBy Mike SchumannDecember 23, 2022 IU Football 3 Comments
    Photo credit - University of Wisconsin Athletics
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    When Wisconsin blitzed Indiana with 338 rushing yards, and a still difficult to process 83 points in 2010, much of the damage was done by the Badgers’ offensive line.

    It wasn’t the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last.

    The turnaround of Wisconsin football began in the late 90s with a dominant offensive line, and that position group was peaking from 2008 to 2011 when Bob Bostad was in charge of the room.

    During Bostad’s four-year tenure as the Wisconsin offensive line coach, the Badgers averaged 57 points per game in four wins over IU, along with 351 net rushing yards per contest.  The Badgers averaged at least 200 rushing yards per game in each of Bostad’s five seasons as run game coordinator, leading the Big Ten in rushing three times.

    Under Bostad’s watch the Badgers had nine offensive linemen who went on to become NFL draft picks, including three first-round selections in Gabe Carimi (2010 Outland Trophy winner), Kevin Zeitler and Travis Frederick. In addition, eight of Bostad’s players would go on to be named first-team All-America.

    Back in Bloomington, it isn’t a stretch to say poor offensive line play has been the root cause of a 6-18 record over the last two seasons.

    Indiana made what most believe was a belated move when Tom Allen fired offensive line coach Darren Hiller during the 2022 season.  IU alumnus Rod Carey stepped in on an interim basis, and then Allen got an early Christmas gift when Bostad, who was coming off a second stint in Madison after spending time in the NFL, became available amid a coaching change at Wisconsin.

    IU announced Bostad as its offensive line coach three weeks ago.

    “I tell you what, so excited to have Bob join our staff,” Allen said earlier this week.  “Coach Bostad is an unbelievably highly-regarded offensive line coach in this country. Many would say he is the best O-line coach in the country. I would have to tend to agree with that the short time we’ve been around each other.”

    Allen was well aware of Bostad’s success at Wisconsin, and had crossed paths with him on the recruiting trail where Bostad had success plucking talent from the state of Indiana.

    Indiana had the good fortune to land Bostad from a timing standpoint as well, as Indiana looks to round out its 2023 high school class and address needs up front in the transfer portal.

    “As some things unfolded there (at Wisconsin), it allowed us to get Coach Bostad here with us pretty efficiently,” Allen said.  “The goal was to get him here and get to head out to recruit.”

    Job one was to retain the three offensive linemen Indiana already had as verbal commits in its 2023 class — Austin Barrett, William Larkins and Bubba Jeffries.  When Bostad was hired he became the third offensive line coach at Indiana since their verbal commitments to the program.  All three signed with IU earlier this week.

    It took some heavy lifting from Allen’s part before Bostad arrived to keep the trio in tact over the last few months since Hiller was let go.

    “I personally called them all as things transpired in each development along the way and had communications with them and their families,” Allen said.

    Indiana also added veteran Max Longman out of the transfer portal from UMass, and they’ll get four-year starter Matthew Bedford back at tackle in 2023 after a season-ending knee injury in week one.

    At this point the only significant loss along the offensive line is starting left tackle Luke Haggard, who used up his eligibility following the 2022 season.

    So while Bostad has his work cut out retooling the group, he will have some viable components to work with, and the offensive line did begin to play better as the 2022 season wore on.

    Allen believes he’s found the right guy to foster the much needed turnaround in the trenches.  And he says those recruits were thrilled with the turn of events as well.

    “We found I feel like the very, very best person for the job,” Allen said.

    “So excited about having him here and the job that he is already doing with our guys in regards to recruiting and evaluation. Then when I had a chance to tell our recruits that we had hired him, man, they were so fired up. They know the track record and the history that he has been able to produce everywhere he has been.”


    The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”

    • Find us on Facebook:  thedailyhoosier
    • You can follow us on Twitter:  @daily_hoosier
    • Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no cost to you.

    Share this:

    • Tweet

    Related

    Bob Bostad
    Mike Schumann

    Keep Reading

    With new OC and two weeks to prepare, IU football can reassess suspect offensive identity

    IU football fires OC Walt Bell

    Watch: Aaron Casey and Mike Katic discuss loss to Maryland

    Latest Hoosier News
    • With new OC and two weeks to prepare, IU football can reassess suspect offensive identity
    • IU football fires OC Walt Bell
    • Watch: Aaron Casey and Mike Katic discuss loss to Maryland
    • COLUMN: IU football’s offense just isn’t working
    • Indiana’s quarterback competition appears to be back on going into week off
    • IU football vs. Maryland: Tom Allen postgame, highlights, final stats
    • IU football: Three quick reasons why the Hoosiers fell to Maryland
    Sign Up



    Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    © 2023 The Daily Hoosier, LLC.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.