Kamryn Perry Has Breakout Potential for Indiana Football in 2023

Simply calling Perry "fast" understates his value. He has stop-on-a-dime agility. A team captain looks to him for route-running advice. And overall, he's an under-the-radar breakout candidate for the Hoosiers, thanks to his improved knowledge of the offense.

"[Indiana coaches] just want my role to be playing fast,” Perry said. “They say in one-on-one coverage, no one can run with me.”

Perry’s love for football is easy to see in the way he carries himself, because it started naturally at a young age.

His cousin, Ramarcus Brown, played cornerback for the Georgia Bulldogs from 2005-08 under former head coach Mark Richt. Perry, although not even in middle school at the time, remembers standing on the sideline during Georgia games to watch his cousin. He met players like Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno, igniting his motivation to one day play at that level.

“I didn't know who [Stafford] was at the time, but it was real cool meeting him,” Perry said. “And just seeing like, 'Dang, these guys are kinda big. I gotta get bigger.’”

A few years later, Perry started off as a defensive back. But around eighth or ninth grade, he realized he didn’t have the size to defend bigger wide receivers. The logical move was to receiver, where he could better utilize his skillset and not worry about making tackles.

It felt different at first, Perry said, mainly because of the signals and play calls he had to learn within the offense. But he also recognized how opposing cornerbacks might defend him, given his prior experience on defense.

“I like how [playing wide receiver] is flashy,” Perry said. “You can make people miss, score touchdowns, celebrate with my teammates, and it's also a thinking position, too. You've got to read coverages for defenses, and I just like being a receiver. It's fun … I just love the game. It's just a part of me for real. It's my heart."

By the time Perry attended Marietta High School, just outside of Atlanta, he excelled at the position. As a senior, he racked up 63 receptions for 1,116 yards and 20 touchdowns. Perry was a first-team all-region selection at the 3-AAAAAAA level, Georgia’s top class and third region.

Indiana receiver E.J. Williams recalls attending the Cam Newton 7-on-7 tournament in Atlanta, where he first saw Perry’s potential.

“He's one that obviously stood out just from his route perspective. He’s running and he's so open,” Williams said. “You just can't miss him. The way he's running routes, he's just so open, just a smooth kid. He's a smooth dude."

But perhaps due to his stature, Perry received just five Division I scholarship offers: Indiana, Kentucky, Central Michigan, North Carolina A&T and Western Carolina. He was ranked No. 259 among wide receivers and No. 1607 nationwide in the class of 2023, per 247 Sports. Perry originally committed to Central Michigan but flipped to Indiana on Dec. 17, 2021, filling a role Allen emphasized on the recruiting trail.

“We were just looking for more dynamic players, and I just loved the burst that he had,” Allen recalls about Perry’s recruitment. “I knew he was playing high-level high school football against some really top talent in the country, and he impressed me with his ability to make plays in space. His ball skills were really elite, and I felt like he had a burst to him that we wanted. And he’s fast, so it was more speed, athleticism. He’s a little undersized, which probably affected where he was being recruited to. But at the same time, we’ve had some really good players be a little undersized here, so he fit the bill and we went after him.”

For Perry, his decision to attend Indiana started with Allen.

"It was easy for me,” Perry said. “Coach Allen is probably one of the greatest people I've ever met in my life. He really changed my life. I wasn't highly recruited in high school, so he just took a chance on me and I owe him everything.”

When Perry first joined the Hoosiers, like most freshmen, he slotted toward the bottom of the depth chart. Though his college debut on Nov. 5 against Penn State marked his only in-game experience in 2022, Perry considers his freshman year a success.

He spent most of his time learning the offense and practicing against Indiana’s first-team defense. He was named offensive scout team player of the week heading into the Hoosiers’ season opener against Illinois and now feels much more prepared within Bell’s offense. Perry often watches film of NFL wide receivers like Antonio Brown, Jalin Hyatt, Tank Dell and Josh Downs, all similarly built pass-catchers who succeed due to their speed and agility.

Heading into his redshirt freshman year, Indiana coaches challenged Perry to have a stronger understanding of the playbook and defensive coverages. Since being hired by Indiana in February, wide receivers coach Anthony Tucker saw Perry stack days of growth on top of each other throughout the offseason.

“He's a highly motivated guy,” Tucker said. “He's got a good work ethic. He's always doing things on his own. He's texting me and asking questions about certain things because he's really inquisitive. He loves being here, loves being a part of this team. His development from when I got here to where he is now is, to me, night and day.”

Perry consistently told himself to lock in during spring practice and fall camp, knowing he had an opportunity, and the talent, to impact the offense. Early on, Perry feels this commitment is starting to pay off.

“I felt more comfortable coming out on the field, felt Coach Bell trusted me throwing me the ball, putting me in position for me to make plays,” Perry said. “It's just time to show people this season."

Although he has played in just one game, Perry is starting to earn respect from veterans. Cam Camper, who was recently named a team captain, is working his way back from an ACL injury. He watched most of spring practice from the sideline, noticing Perry make a “huge jump” in his play.

And once it was time to get back to running routes, Camper looked to the redshirt freshman for advice.

“I go to him if I need help with something at this point,” Camper said. “He's real polished, and I know just getting back from not playing for months, I knew that's who I would need to go to. He just kind of helped me out throughout this whole process."

Perry likely won’t be Indiana’s go-to wide receiver in 2023, at least at first, but he has potential for a breakout season. Indiana has a trio of tall, lanky wide receivers on the outside in Cam Camper, Donaven McCulley and E.J. Williams, but the slot positions are more up for grabs.

Indiana brought in DeQuece Carter this offseason, a transfer from Fordham who totaled 3,035 yards and 31 touchdowns in his four-year career. He figures to carry a significant role for Indiana this year, but he will have to adjust to the Big Ten.

After serving mostly as a running back and return specialist last year, Indiana also wants to add slot receiver to Jaylin Lucas’ long list of responsibilities. While his move to receiver could take away from some of Perry’s targets, Lucas feels he and Perry could be a dangerous duo in the slot.

“He's just going to add some juice,” Lucas said. “He's another animal. It's like a Thing 1 and Thing 2. Kamryn Perry, man, he's a hell of a route runner. He's a guy that always has an edge. He feels like he has something to prove.”

Indiana has questions and inexperience at quarterback, but maximizing Perry’s skillset doesn’t necessarily require elite-level throws or reads. It could be as simple as bubble screens or handoffs, or even leading Perry with a ball only he can run down.

A few weeks ago during fall camp, Perry made a devastating cut that left his defender in the dust during a one-on-one drill, freeing himself for an easy catch. Seconds later, a buzzer sounded, signaling a break in practice.

As players caught their breath and walked to the water coolers, Perry was seen dancing off the field to the tune of Kodak Black’s song, “How You Did That” – a question Indiana fans and opponents might often ask after watching Perry this fall.