Hoosiers Head Coach Tom Allen Named to Dodd Trophy Preseason Watch List

Image: Indiana University Athletics

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

It’s mid-July and that means it is “Watch List Season”. On Tuesday afternoon Indiana head football coach Tom Allen was named to the Bobby Dodd Trophy Watch List. Allen led the Hoosiers to a 6-2 record in 2020 and took home the American Football Coaches Association National Coach of the Year as well as the 2020 Hayes-Schembechler Coach of the Year (Big Ten coaches vote) and the Dave McClain Coach of the Year (Big Ten media vote). He was also a finalist for the 2020 Bobby Dodd Trophy.

This year’s list includes 17 of the nation’s top college football coaches representing all Power Five conferences, as well as the AAC, Sun Belt and an independent.

Managed by Peach Bowl, Inc., The Dodd Trophy, college football’s most coveted national coaching award, celebrates the head coach of a team who enjoys success on the gridiron, while also stressing the importance of scholarship, leadership and integrity – the three pillars of legendary coach Bobby Dodd’s coaching philosophy.

“The Dodd Trophy is the most coveted coach of the year award because it looks beyond just the results on the field and measures the overall impact these coaches have had on their players, universities and communities. This was never more pivotal than last season,” said Jim Terry, chairman of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Foundation. “Each of these coaches showed unwavering commitment to the award’s three pillars of scholarship, leadership and integrity, despite all of the obstacles and challenges they had to overcome this past year in the face of the pandemic.”

Entering his fifth full season as the Hoosiers head man Allen has a record of 24-22 (15-19 in Big Ten play) and has coached IU is three bowl games. The Hoosiers finished 12th in the AP Poll following the 2020 season. The Hoosiers open their 2021 campaign on September 4th against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City.