Coach Tom Allen “Vision” for the Program Coming to Fruition

Written by @Zgreene650

When taking over the head coaching job in 2016, Coach Allen promised athletes, coaches, and fans that change was coming, and it is.

“I think it is really special, and I think it is a special bond that we have, because I sat in their home and recruited them, and our coaching staff visited them multiple times and invested in their families and sold the vision of what we believed we could build here. To see them come here, buy into that before the turnaround happened, before the breakthrough happened, is really special. Now, to see them here in leadership roles, looking at our whole defense and whole team, it is full of guys that believed and came here. It is a lot of high-quality young men and some guys have maybe exceeded what some thought they could do on the field, but at the same time we saw something in them that was special and thought they could fit with us. “

Players are buying into this program, and Tom Allen knows this. It can be seen with players such as Michael Penix and Ty Fryfogle. When recruiting, Allen visits players’ homes and pitches them on what Indiana Football is all about. One thing that he developed was the phrase Love Each Other - or LEO. One player who was persuaded to come to the program was Christopher Keys. When asked why Indiana Football was the right spot for him, he responded by saying, “They got a thing called Love Each Other, they are changing the program, and I see something special there.” I would guess that many players would say the same thing

Tom Allen changed the program on the field, but he has changed the program off the field.

 “We thought they had the qualities we were looking to develop into high-caliber student-athletes at Indiana. And that is what they are doing. These guys are breaking records in the classroom: GPA, guys graduating, and Academic All-Big Ten. Also, strong leaders and strong in their athletic abilities on the football field and the things we are doing there. It is neat to see those guys come here and believe, buy-in, help us buy-in, and now be rewarded in this opportunity.”

While I have only been at Indiana University for one year, I am spoiled and do not understand just how brutal it has been for Hoosier’s die hards when it comes to football. That said, the buzz around this team this year is just different. This week Indiana was ranked the No.17 ranked school in the country in the preseason poll. This does not change anything for the guy who sounded like he lost his voice on Thursday, only a couple of days into fall camp.

“I’m definitely not sick. This is usually the norm for me during fall camp.”

Allen is changing everything about this program from top to bottom. At the same time, he makes sure that the athletes benefit the most from their time in Bloomington. On Thursday, Allen announced they have signed a partnership deal with Altius to work side by side with the players.

“​​It is definitely something that is growing, and we are absolutely working on that. We have partnered with Altius and they met with our players and we are close to a group licensing agreement with Brandr, which is [a group] that has been used by several other top programs in the country. Our players will have those same opportunities. It is a co-branding opportunity between Indiana and our student-athletes to be able to use their NIL opportunities and the IU marks, which is where the unique part comes in. That is something that we have offered to our guys, and they have the option to opt-in or not take advantage of it, if they choose not to. I know the majority of our guys will [opt-in]. It is a great opportunity and Brandr is a company that utilizes that. I am excited for our players and the opportunities they can have to be able to do the merchandise, whether it be shirts, t-shirts, sweatshirts or whatever. I am sure it will grow into jerseys once they get all of that squared away. That is definitely something that we are excited about, and our players are too.”

Whether it’s having one of their highest pre-season ranking, creating NIL opportunities for players, or creating athletes on and off the field Coach Allen can really do it all.