Indiana’s defense has a new voice in the middle, and Isaiah Jones is settling into it fast.
With Aiden Fisher off to the NFL, Jones has moved into the spot that carries extra responsibility in Curt Cignetti’s defense. The redshirt senior linebacker will wear the green dot this season, putting him in direct communication with coaches on the field and making him the player tasked with helping steer the entire unit.
Cignetti said during fall camp that Jones is built for it.
“He’s a natural leader,” Cignetti said about Jones during fall camp, “and he is the green dot guy and cut from a very similar cloth to (former linebacker) Aiden Fisher. Just a really smart, instinctive player and a student of the game.”
That kind of trust did not happen overnight. Jones spent his time in Bloomington learning how Fisher handled the role, how he carried himself and how he fit into Indiana’s standard under Cignetti. Now Jones is the veteran in the room, the one younger players are expected to watch closely.
For Jones, that means more than talking. He says the job is as much about behavior as it is about instruction.
“For me it’s just being not only a vocal leader but a leader by my actions,” Jones said during fall camp, “and that’s pulling young guys into the film room. It’s leading by example.
It’s when some guys maybe want to go take a break, maybe a break sounds nice but I can’t put my hands on my hips, can’t look tired on the field. Young guys look up to you.”
His new assignment also comes with a shift in where he lines up. Jones is expected to spend more time at middle linebacker, adding to his workload even as he says the adjustment has been manageable because of how much he has already worked across different spots.
“I wouldn’t say you have to change a lot,” Jones said, “last year I repped at Sam (strong-side linebacker) and Will (weak-side linebacker) in the games but in practice I was practicing Mike (middle linebacker), Will and Sam… it’s just different run fits, but it’s all schematic and when you know the scheme, you play fast.”
That comfort showed in Indiana’s season opener against North Texas, where Jones led the team with 12 tackles. Byron Baldwin Jr. and Rolijah Hardy were next with seven apiece.
Jones sees the responsibility clearly now: he is not just explaining the standard, he is expected to live it. Without Fisher, he has become the player others look to first.
“I would say that’s been my biggest change with Aiden (Fisher) not there. Now that you’re the guy that people look to, you have to up your standard,” Jones said.
And Jones is still chasing more. He says improvement is a daily task, one measured in tiny gains rather than big declarations.
“I think that as a player I’m always trying to improve,” Jones said, “I’m always trying to get one percent better. You’re never perfect, you never have a perfect game or a perfect practice and I think every person that wants to get better is trying to find that one percent to get better, so for me it’s just a daily process of trying to find that one percent.”
As Indiana’s underclassmen continue learning the program, Jones is doing two jobs at once: absorbing a bigger role of his own and passing the standard along to the next wave.
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