Allen and Staff Preparing for All Possibilities

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

Indiana University head football coach Tom Allen spoke to the media on Wednesday about a variety of topics. The most pressing issue, but also most unpredictable and uncertain, was on the possibility of the cancellation of the 2020 college football season. While that would be incredibly disappointing, Allen was emphatic about what is most important.

“The health and safety of our players is the number one priority, period.”

Some players have chosen to stay in Bloomington during the shelter in place order, while others have returned to their hometowns to be with families. Wherever they have chosen to be, Allen is treating everyone the same. The staff is not meeting face to face with anyone as all meetings continue to be conducted through Zoom. In addition, players are only being given workout instructions for routines that can be done in their homes. While Allen does not know what is next, he feels his staff is being flexible in its preparations for whatever is coming.

“I feel like we are adapting well. I’m very encouraged by the way our staff has responded and the way our players have responded to the situation we find ourselves in to be able to communicate effectively and at a high level and have a very productive spring.”

Reports have surfaced about contingency plans and alternative ways to have some kind of a season. Several outlets have reported that schools in the SEC would be willing to start the season in January and play through March. That would present weather challenges for Big Ten schools but it would certainly be better than missing the season altogether. Tom Allen is doing his best to plan for anything and trust the decision makers to do what is best.

“We are going to listen to the medical experts, and the government officials, and the leadership of our university,” Allen said. “Those people will make these decisions, and when they tell us it's safe to come back, then we'll come back. We're trying to plan. I told our staff today it's kind of like planning in the sand, because you can draw things up and have these things all planned out but no one really knows. There's a lot of question marks that are still out there. All the meetings I sit in on, they're just trying to find creative ways to be able to do this in a way that's safe for everybody. I think the schools came out and said pretty clearly recently that we're trying to do whatever we can do to have a season, however that may look. Whether it is delayed, modified, pushed back, I don't know. I know we all want to have a season, but we all want to do it in a way that's safe for everybody involved. As a group we'll come together and make the best decision possible, and once they tell us when and where we can come back, we'll have a great plan. I feel like we have a flexible response right now that's ready to take advantage of whatever we're told to do.”

All options are still on the table but Tom Allen said something on Wednesday that is likely echoed by nearly all players and fans around the country, having no football at all would be awfully hard to deal with.

“When I talk about looking at all possible options, I can’t sit here and tell you that one of those plans is no football. I have no say in any of that, but it would be hard to accept that. It would be a tough situation for everybody for a lot of reasons.”

For now, Allen, his staff and the entire Indiana football program will continue to work hard in their preparation for the upcoming season. They don’t know when the season will be played, how many games will be a part of the season or whether there will be fans in the stadiums to cheer them on. All they can do is be ready when it is time.