IU football fires offensive coordinator Walt Bell as Hoosiers look for answers
BLOOMINGTON – IU will enter its bye week with a new offensive coordinator.
The Hoosiers have fired Walt Bell, in the position for the best part of two years, and replaced him with Rod Carey, per a news release. Carey, a former Indiana offensive lineman who built prolific attacks during his time as head coach at Northern Illinois, will be full-time offensive coordinator, rather than just interim.
It is Carey’s second midseason promotion from his quality control role in as many seasons. He was elevated in October of last year to replace fired offensive line coach Darren Hiller.
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Hired in the offseason between the 2021 and 2022 campaigns, Bell replaced Nick Sheridan with the hope of building an offense both more efficient and more prolific than the one that had managed just one game with multiple offensive touchdowns in Big Ten play in 2021.
The Hoosiers struggled last season for consistency, their rushing attack below par and their quarterbacks constantly in rotation due to injury and poor performance. It was hoped a year on improvements along that line, as well as additions via the transfer portal, would elevate a unit that finished 2022 eighth or worse in the Big Ten in rushing, passing, scoring and total offense.
Instead, stagnation deepened. The Hoosiers managed just three points against Ohio State, 14 against Louisville and 17 in Saturday’s heavy loss at Maryland. IU has the Big Ten’s second-worst scoring offense (20.8 ppg) ahead of only Nebraska. The Hoosiers have scored just five touchdowns in four games against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents in 2023.
In total, Indiana has broken 20 points in a Big Ten game just four times in 11 tries, across the past season and a half.
Bell’s two-year contract as offensive coordinator, signed in December 2021, expires at the end of this calendar year. Per the terms of that contract, Bell will be owed the balanced of his remaining guaranteed compensation, roughly $175,000, as a result of his termination
A Minnesota native who played for Bill Mallory at Indiana, Carey won 52 games as head coach at Northern Illinois. He served as the Huskies’ offensive coordinator before elevation to the head job.
From 2011, when Carey became Northern Illinois’ OC, through 2016, his offenses finished a season outside the top 40 nationally just once in total yards per game, and outside the top 20 nationally just once in rushing yards per game.
The Huskies were also consistently among the MAC’s better teams in statistics like sacks allowed and tackles for loss allowed. Carey guided Northern Illinois to five bowl games in six years, before leaving for Temple, where he coached three years before being let go.
Carey has spent much of the past two seasons serving as a quality control analyst for Indiana’s defense, bringing an offensive perspective to that side of the ball. He’ll trade in that role on the other side of the fence and attempt to fix an Indiana offense badly in need of a boost. Last year, Allen turned to Carey for help with his line. Now, he’ll hand the IU alum the whole offense.
It’s unclear at present what contractual terms Carey will work under, with those details still to be fully confirmed. Carey becomes Allen’s fifth offensive coordinator in eight seasons, following Mike DeBord, Kalen DeBoer, Sheridan and Bell.
Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana football: Walt Bell fired as offensive coordinator
