“Who would have ever thought?”
That was how Toronto Argonauts linebacker Aaron Casey reacted when asked by Argonauts.ca how it felt that his alma mater, Indiana University, was about to play in the NCAA National Championship Game.
“I knew after last season that they were going to be better than what other people were thinking they were going to be, I think they had them at the bottom of the Big 10 coming into the season and I was, like, how?”
Casey spent six years as a Hoosier, playing until 2023, the season he took his game to an even higher level than when he was named Honourable Mention All-Big 10 in 2022. As a redshirt senior he recorded 109 tackles, 20 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks, led the FBS with 19 solo tackles for loss, and was named First Team All-Big 10.
Not bad for a kid from Douglasville Georgia, a half-an-hour drive west of Atlanta, and still the place he calls home.
His time at IU prepared him for a chance to play in Cincinnati. The Bengals signed him as a undrafted free agent but he was a late release in training camp. A year later he found himself in Toronto.
He didn’t sign early enough to attend training camp, but the Canadian game seemed to come quickly to him. Casey made his debut in Ottawa in late June, played 15 games, and finished with 6 sacks, just one behind team leader Andrew Chatfield Jr.
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The 25-year-old admits it took a little while to adapt to the three-down game, though it didn’t show in his play.
“The biggest thing that affected me the most as a linebacker was the 12 men on the field and getting used to seeing four receivers to one side of the formation,” he explained. “One of the other big things was the one yard off the ball because in our defence I was blitzing a lot, so getting the timing right and not wanting to be offside took some adjusting as well.”
He’ll enter camp with a year under his belt and more of a feeling of how he fits in the locker room. His leadership skills were mentioned often at Indiana, but he didn’t force that part of his personality as a rookie.
His focus is getting more wins this season. He’s spoken to both Mike Miller, the new head coach, and Greg Quick, who will serve as both his defensive coordinator and positional coach, and he is excited about both hires.
But before he reports to camp, before the Argos add to the roster through agency, Casey will be focused on the CFP National Championship Game between the Hoosiers and Miami Hurricanes which will be played on the ‘Canes home field. Despite being the visitors, the team from Bloomington has been established as the favourite by roughly a touchdown.
The once ugly duckling of the Big-10 is at the end of its greatest season ever, but should the Hoosiers win “The Natty” it may lead Casey to rep his alma mater more than he already does.
“I’ve already been wearing my IU gear around the (Argos) facility, but I definitely will make sure I stay on top of it, I definitely have to support IU.”
Casey keeps in touch with several of his former teammates who still play for the team. He was able to see them play live last week as their win over Oregon in the semi-final was played just down the road in Atlanta, but he won’t be making the trip to South Florida this week.
“I wish I could go,” he said. “I’ll make a night out of this. I do have some friends and some former teammates from Indiana here, so we’ll probably meet up and watch the end together like we’ve done before earlier in the season.”
In a conference dominated over the years by Michigan and Ohio State, Indiana won the Big-10 this year for the first time since 1967 and will now compete for its first-ever national title. The season almost has a feeling that Norman Dale should be coaching the team.