The re-recruitment of Jaylin Lucas: A snapshot of college football in 2023

INDIANAPOLIS — With signing day just a month away from the end of Indiana’s disappointing 4-8 season, Tom Allen knew he’d have to hit the recruiting trail hard in his final push.

Oh — and that he would have to start with players who were already on his roster.

Allen’s first postseason stop was down to Houma, La., where he knew he needed to convince first-team All-American return man Jaylin Lucas to stick with the Hoosiers.

“Usually you do that for recruits,” Allen said.

As with recruits, part of the sales pitch is mapping out the player’s role.

In the case of Lucas, that means the Hoosiers will step up his role on the offense. Lucas isn’t just an All-American returner — now Indiana wants to use him in the same vein as his undersized but speedy heroes, De’Anthony Thomas and Tavon Austin.

“They are putting me all over the field this year,” Lucas said. “They’re utilizing me at slot receiver. They’re utilizing me at running back. I’m able to run routes now. My skill set is just advancing each week, depending on what defense any team brings.”

The other element is the money. What was once prohibited is now welcomed, provided it moves through a third party.

And so the largest element of Allen’s sales pitch was sharing what an entity he does not control could offer Lucas financially.

“We had to make sure we would do a great job of helping him get rewarded for his performance,” Allen said. “He’s a first-team All-American. That’s pretty special as a true freshman. That doesn’t happen very often. And that’s a relationship piece. They trust us, and I trust them.

“And that’s the neat part of it this whole opportunity. He’s able to be part of some things now that are helping out his family. And they’re really good people. It’s been a huge blessing for them to have this opportunity. So that excites me.

“But I knew what I had to do. If you don’t do anything with it, you could lose him. That’s the world we’re part of now.”

Allen didn’t ask Lucas straight up whether other coaches were trying to poach him from Indiana’s roster. But he didn’t need to.

“I never said, ‘Have you gotten an offer from anyone else?’ I knew he did,” Allen said. “I was born at night; but I wasn’t born last night. That’s why I was down there as soon as I could to get together with that family and show them how we felt about him and what we’d try to be able to do.”

Poaching with no game warden in sight

Indiana is a team that’s particularly prone to the risk of having players poached.

It’s a Big Ten roster that’s gotten stronger under Allen, so there’s always a handful of players who could make it on any team. But the Hoosiers, who haven’t won the Big Ten since 1967, are not a traditional power. More tradition and/or more money can easily entice talent away from Bloomington.

This offseason, Indiana lost tight end AJ Barner to Michigan and edge rusher Dasan McCullough to Oklahoma. And in fairness, both moves made sense without there being any financial considerations.

Michigan’s smash-mouth offense gives tight ends more to do than Indiana’s. McCullough’s dad was on IU’s staff when he was recruited to the program. The elder McCullough is at Notre Dame now. There was no more family tie to bind him to the Hoosiers.

Generally speaking, though, it’s hardly a secret that coaches are actively inducing players to leave their current teams.

“The tampering piece is going on, and it is bad,” Allen said. “At the same time, I want to do the best job of what I can control: Create an environment they want to be part of.”

Lucas has that environment at Indiana. He could be an All-American special teams ace anywhere. The Hoosiers have the liberty of allowing him to become something more unique.

“I feel like it’s unfinished business here at Indiana,” Lucas said. “We’re trying to win a Big Ten championship. I feel like I’m good where I’m at. I just came from off a freshman All-American season. There’s more to add to that. And I also want to break records at Indiana.”

Allen knew losing a guy with that attitude — and a 4.29-second 40-yard dash — would have been a major blow.

“When you have an individual like Jaylin, we’ve got to make sure to be proactive,” Allen said. “The nature of where things are right now, you have to be aggressive and don’t assume anything.”

Allen has dipped his own toes into the transfer waters plenty of times this offseason. Indiana has a B1G-leading 23 transfers on the roster. Nobody else has more than 15 transfers.

Lucas does not technically count towards that total. But in the reality of college football in 2023, his presence on Indiana’s roster is a recruiting win.

Alex Hickey

Alex Hickey is an award-winning writer who has watched Big Ten sports since it was a numerically accurate description of league membership. Alex has covered college football and basketball since 2008, with stops on the McNeese State, LSU and West Virginia beats before being hired as Saturday Tradition's Big Ten columnist in 2021. He is an Illinois native and 2004 Indiana University graduate.