OC Walt Bell details QB competition, who has impressed in spring practice

In less than four months, Indiana Offensive Coordinator Walt Bell has already learned a lot about the Hoosiers.

Though a feeling-out period was likely to be expected this spring with a new Offensive Coordinator leading the way and a slew of fresh faces, Bell and the Hoosiers offense haven’t shied away from working through the growing pains.

But in order to do so, Bell has had to begin by evaluating the Offensive personnel and Talent on Indiana’s roster, from quarterback all the way down.

“We’re trying to identify who can do what,” Bell said. “And to me that’s what spring really is, it’s kind of trying to identify what ultimately is going to allow us to be at our best on game day Saturday in the fall.”

For a program that has undergone a significant revamp this offseason, including Bell’s hiring in late December, competition in spring practice is likely a good thing. After putting together one of the worst Offensive seasons in recent program history last fall, Bell and the Hoosiers can’t afford to have a repeat.

Among the many ways in which Bell got he’s plotting to turn Indiana’s offense around, he especially emphasized the need for competition. Whether it’s the quarterback depth chart, the running backs, the wide receivers, or any other position, Bell is seemingly keeping an open mind this spring in hopes that competition will ultimately breed success.

“I think it goes two ways,” Bell said. “I think number one, it creates unbelievable competition and that’s ultimately what you want at every single position. Number two, I think because it creates competition you’re able to get the best out of everybody. Number three, because guys are mixing and matching around, they’re having to learn conceptually as opposed to kind of this is my spot, and that’s been everywhere, that’s kind of been with all 11 guys. “

One position group that is sure to have plenty of intrigue surrounding it this spring and heading into fall is the quarterbacks. For the first time in several seasons the Hoosiers appear to have a fully-healthy quarterback room participating in spring practice, allowing Bell to truly sort through his options in a timely continent.

At the Forefront of Indiana’s quarterback competition are redshirt senior quarterback Jack Tuttle and Missouri transfer Connor Baselak. While Tuttle has the most signal-calling experience of any quarterback on the depth chart, Baselak joined the program this spring following three notable seasons in the SEC.

In both Tuttle and Baselak, Bell got inside starting qualities in both players, although their skills aren’t quite the same.

“Individually, Jack Tuttle … just how he prepares, how invested he is, what a great teammate he is, he’s got enough ability that you feel really good when he’s out there,” Bell said. “I think Connor Baselak, really good arm Talent, continuing to work with him about being diligent with his eyes, the suddenness of the body twitch required to get from A to B.”

However, the competition won’t just involve Tuttle and Baselak as the Hoosiers also have three more capable Scholarship quarterbacks on the roster, plus true freshman Brendan Sorsby set to join the program in the summer.

After suffering a tower ACL last spring that sidelined him for the entire 2021 season, redshirt sophomore Dexter Williams has received high praise for his Emerging arm Talent and developing maturity.

The same can be said about redshirt freshman Donaven McCulley, who was thrust into starting action last season and gained valuable experience, and now has the opportunity to be involved with the program for an entire offseason cycle.

But with both McCulley and Williams, Bell got there still lots of room for growth despite their obvious talent and skillset.

“Dexter Williams is doing a really nice job, he’s got big arm talent – same thing, kind of getting his eyes and his feet in the right place from rep to rep,” Bell said. “Donovan Mcculley, just an unbelievable athlete, a guy that if he’s the quarterback the game will be played differently, but he’s got a good ability.”

Though it’s likely that one of Tuttle or Baselak’s ultimately starts behind the center for the Hoosiers when the 2022 season begins, it’s the collective work ethic of all of IU’s quarterbacks that has caught Bell’s eye this offseason.

And if that competitiveness and work ethic can manifest throughout Indiana’s offense, then Bell’s vision and expectations could be align as soon as this fall.

“When I first got here, just the amount of preparation those guys have put in well before we ever got to spring practice,” Bell said. “They’re all easy learners … they all possess a winnable set of tools even though some of their tools are different than others. So I think we’ve got three or four guys that give us an opportunity to play good football. “