Former Indiana OC Kalen DeBoer raves about Nick Sheridan: 'He's an extremely bright, young mind'
With Kalen DeBoer taking the head coaching job at Fresno State following the end of the 2019 regular season, Indiana head coach Tom Allen was left with a vacancy at the offensive coordinator position. Replacing DeBoer, who completely revamped the Hoosiers offense this past year, would not be easy.
Allen suggested that his phone was “blowing up” with interest in the job. After an 8-5 campaign, interested candidates felt the need to take a shot at joining the staff in Bloomington. But instead of hiring an external candidate, Allen opted to promote someone from within the program.
That someone was tight ends coach Nick Sheridan.
Sheridan will be entering his fourth season on the Indiana staff, but this will be his first time in a coordinator role. But his predecessor DeBoer thinks the Indiana offense is in great hands heading into the 2020 season.
“He is an extremely bright, young mind,” DeBoer said of Sheridan during an interview on Indiana Sports Beat with Coyle and Leary. “He puts every ounce of energy he can, aside from his family, into the game and getting himself as best prepared as he can for these opportunities. I just relied so heavily on him in so many different ways.
“It isn’t just about the Xs and Os, it’s about how he handles the players, he’s just so good with them. He’s so far beyond his years. I just think about where I was at in my career [at his age] and where he’s at. The future is extremely bright for him and I think Coach Allen has made a great decision to continue on with what’s happening there and put Nick in that position.”
At the end of the season, Indiana ranked second in passing offense in the B1G, averaging 302.4 yards per game. The Hoosiers also ranked fifth in scoring offense, posting a 31.8 points per game average.
When DeBoer took the job at Fresno State, Allen reiterated that he didn’t want to get too far away from the structure that was built in one season in Bloomington. It sounds like Sheridan is the right guy to continue building on the foundation that DeBoer left behind.