Long and winding road for the unlikely faces of Indiana football at Big Ten Media Days

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana football safety Noah Pierre didn’t get much more than a smile from linebacker Aaron Casey the first time they met.
The introduction happened back in 2018 when they were moving into the dorms as freshmen, a story Pierre told on Thursday with Casey looking on.
“Aaron talks a lot more than he did in the past,” Pierre said, with a laugh. “When I first met him, he was a really quiet guy. There he is right here, he’s probably got the best smile at Big Ten Media Days. He showed that off when we first met. He wouldn't say much, but would smile though."
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They both had plenty to smile about walking into Lucas Oil Stadium alongside Jaylin Lucas as the faces of Indiana football for this season.
Casey and Pierre are the only players left on Indiana’s roster from a 2018 recruiting class — coach Tom Allen’s first full class at Indiana — that included 26 signees and that fact wasn’t lost on coach.
“You couldn't have two better guys representing this program,” Allen said. “They represent the grit and perseverance that IU football is all about."
Casey and Pierre were former three-star recruits
The defenders followed a similar path to their shared moment in the spotlight by redshirting as true freshmen and spending multiple years mostly playing special teams. They made their first career starts within two weeks of each other, but they waited until midway through the 2021 season to reach that milestone.
Why the long wait?
For Pierre, it came down to a factor that holds a lot of recruits back — his size. He was listed as 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds as a senior coming out of Champagnat Catholic in Florida and that scared most power five teams off.
Indiana was the exception.
“There was something about him that I knew was special,” Allen said. “Matter of fact, my wife reminded me of this. She said, you told me this kid was going to be a really special player…He is undersized, but what's inside of him is something you can never measure.”
Casey drew more interest as a three-star prospect at Alexander High School in Georgia. He had 21 scholarship offers that included ones from Iowa State, Rutgers and West Virginia. He landed at Indiana where Allen recruited him to play a position he never played in high school.
“He was playing the high safety position the whole time, he never played in the box much,” Allen said. “You had to teach him those things.”
Casey and Pierre both talked about overcoming doubts along the way as many of the classmates they came in with left the program.
"My freshman year I didn't think there was a chance I would be able to play in the Big Ten with how things were looking,” Casey said. “I had conversations with coach Allen about what my role would be and how it would start to develop. Over time, it started to fall in place."
Casey and Pierre have combined to appear in 87 games
He was a full-time starter last year at linebacker and led the team with 86 tackles (50 solo), 10.5 for a loss, 1.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. He was also picked to wear No. 44 in honor of the late George Taliaferro.
Pierre made seven starts and had 39 tackles (25 solo), three sacks, three forced fumbles and one pass breakup. He’s played all over the secondary during his career, but last year settled in at the husky position.
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The 2022 season would have been their last ride if not for the NCAA granting an additional year of eligibility to all student-athletes that played through the COVID-19 pandemic.
There were only three other players of the 42 announced attendees who were sixth-year seniors and only two of them had spent their entire career with the team they signed with (Minnesota tight end Brevin Spann-Ford and Rutgers defensive back Deion Jennings).
In Pierre’s final moments at the podium on Thursday, he broke into a big smile of his own thinking about his journey.
"I woke up this morning and said a little prayer, and thanked God for everything I've been granted,” Pierre said. “This is special."
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on Twitter @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.