When Tennessee’s new coaching staff pulled Michael Penix, Jr.’s offer in late 2017, he had a decision to make.
Ironically, a key figure central to Penix choosing Indiana at that time played quarterback at Michigan and is now an assistant coach at Washington — the two teams competing in Monday night’s national championship game.
When he was on the staff in Knoxville, Nick Sheridan helped influence Penix’s commitment to the Vols. But Sheridan followed Mike DeBord to Indiana in 2017, and stayed in touch with Penix. When Penix landed back on the market, Sheridan’s long-term belief in the big-armed lefty paid off.
Everyone was happy about Penix joining Indiana’s 2018 recruiting class — except his father.
“Coming out of high school, I’m going to be honest, when I committed to Indiana University, my dad, he didn’t really want me to go there,” Penix said as the Washington quarterback and Heisman runner-up began preparations to face Michigan in the national title game. “He didn’t understand why I was going there. So that was something that was hard for me, just having somebody that I love the most not really, he didn’t see my vision. But obviously it led me to here.”
Penix’s journey is well documented but still difficult to comprehend, looking at it from the Indiana vantage point.
His 2018 freshman season, Penix played under DeBord and Sheridan, who were the IU offensive coordinator and QB coach, respectively. Penix eventually appeared to earn the starting job that season, but was injured no sooner than he took over during a home game against Penn State.
During that offseason, IU head coach Tom Allen fired DeBord and replaced him with Kalen DeBoer at offensive coordinator for the 2019 season, a decision that connected DeBoer with Penix and would ultimately put Washington in tonight’s national title game. DeBoer coached Penix and the IU quarterbacks in 2019, and Sheridan coached the tight ends, a role he now holds for the Huskies.
After one successful season at IU, DeBoer was hired by Fresno State as their next head coach following the 2019 campaign. But before he had decided to leave Indiana, DeBoer was singing Sheridan’s praises to Allen.
“Kalen came to me actually even before he knew he was leaving just about what Nick brings to our staff, the mind that he has, the offensive abilities that he has,” Allen said of the internal dialogue regarding Sheridan during the 2019 season.
With DeBoer’s turnaround of the offense being a major story line in Indiana’s first eight win season since 1993, his opinion carried a lot of weight with Allen.
“Kalen was just raving to me about him, what he felt he brought to our staff and the way he thought and saw things, both schematically and in personnel,” Allen continued.
Sheridan was widely seen as an intelligent up-and-comer in the coaching profession, and Allen promoted him to offensive coordinator at the age of 31 ahead of the 2020 season.
Sheridan was sending the plays in to Penix when Indiana defeated his alma mater Michigan in 2020 — their first win over the Wolverines in 33 years.
Led by Penix, IU started that 2020 season with wins over Penn State, Michigan and Michigan State. But a third straight season ending injury would cut short Penix’s junior season, and that second major knee injury heavily influenced a disappointing 2021 campaign.
As a result, Allen fired Sheridan after the 2021 season, Penix entered the transfer portal, and they were reunited in Seattle when Washington hired DeBoer.
Now the gang is all back together in Washington, playing in the national title game against Sheridan’s alma mater. Everyone, that is, except Allen, who was fired after the 2023 season and is now the defensive coordinator at Penn State — the team Penix beat in 2020 with an unforgettable diving two-point conversion that made him a national household name.
Penix has nothing but positive things to say about his time at Indiana, playing for Allen.
“Yeah, he’s (Allen) a great coach. He’s a coach that it’s easy to love him because of the guy he is, the person he is,” Penix said this weekend. “I feel like he cares about his players. He cares about the person more than the player. I feel like he’s a guy that will definitely do great things at Penn State. He’s going to bring great leadership. He’s going to bring great energy, intensity each and every day.
“He was always the same guy every day and always had that same energy, same spark, trying to help the team be better in any way that he could. I feel like they’re definitely getting a good coach.”
Although it wasn’t what he had in mind, Allen was the guy who made Monday night possible for Penix, DeBoer and Washington.
Despite suffering four season-ending injuries in Bloomington, that’s something Penix understands as he gets set to face Michigan for the national championship.
“Me being at Indiana allowed me to get here,” Penix said Saturday. “I feel like if I didn’t go to Indiana, probably wouldn’t have met Coach DeBoer and probably wouldn’t be here. My whole path, I wouldn’t change it for anything. I’m super blessed to be here, and I feel like everything happened for a reason.”
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