Hoosier Huddle's Tom Allen Era Wrap and Reaction

Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)

It has been nearly 24 hours since IU announced that Tom Allen would not return as the Hoosiers head coach in 2024. Allen spent seven seasons at the helm of Indiana football and we take a look back at his tenure and what his firing means for IU going forward.

Coach: Tom Allen

Record at IU: 33-49

Record Against Purdue: 1-5

Big Ten Record: 18-43

Record Against Top 25: 3-25

NFL Draft Picks: 6

Why He was Fired: In the release from IU on Sunday athletic director Scott Dolson said that Allen was let go because “we have lost momentum and that a change in leadership is necessary at this time.” Allen went 14-7 in 2019 and 2020, but was just 9-27 over the last three seasons.

What it Means for the Program:

It is the end of an era at IU and it was an era that had peaked in 2019 and 2020 before crashing off a cliff. Allen and the staff could not recapture the momentum after a disastrous 2021 season.

It is a chance to reset the program and set up a support system that can incubate the football program. There’s plenty of debate surrounding what needs to be done to give the football program the best chance to succeed. IU needs to evaluate every part of the program from the head coaching search all the way down to game day operations. This includes facility upgrades and NIL philosophies.

Best Season

The 2020 football season was one for the ages for IU football fans (yes, it will be discounted). That season saw IU go 3-1 against top-25 opponents with wins over Penn State, Michigan and Wisconsin. The Hoosiers finished 12th in the final AP poll and played in the Outback Bowl. During a dark and frustrating time, Tom Allen and the Hoosiers gave people a reason to cheer and that cannot be discounted.

Favorite Game

My favorite game was Indiana’s 38-31 win over Nebraska in 2019. It is a close call with the 2019 Bucket Game as well, but the win over Nebraska was what college football feels like and it was awesome.

Turning Point

It is hard to pinpoint an exact moment that it all went south for Tom Allen and IU. Many will point to Kalen DeBoer leaving for Fresno State, but the Hoosiers did go 6-2 with Nick Sheridan as OC in 2020. Some will point to the Iowa game when IU entered the season ranked 17th in the country and was down 14-0 less than five minutes into the game. There is also the under the radar moment of when strength coaches David Ballou and Dr. Matt Rhea left to go to Alabama.

For me, the most tangible turning point was the 2021 Cincinnati game when Micah McFadden was ejected. I am not blaming the refs for the downfall of Tom Allen, but that moment you could feel the air leave the balloon. A win in that game maybe turns the season around, but that loss stalled the Allen era.

On top of all of these things Allen’s loyalty to assistants came back to bite him as Darren Hiller was kept far too long and several poor hires just accelerated the downfall.

I Knew it Was Over When…

My mindset started to switch after the overtime win over Akron. I did not believe that IU would pay the buyout for Allen unless it was absolutely necessary, but the Akron game changed my mind and a change needed to happen. However, I felt like it was over for Allen after the loss to Rutgers.

What I take away from a coaching change

The fact that Indiana will be paying just north of $15 million dollars for Tom Allen not to coach IU tells me that they wanted to move in a new direction and quickly. The change needed to happen and while Allen did some really good things for the program, his tenure had run its course. He finishes as IU’s 5th winningest coach, took the team to two January Bowl games while also having a final ranking of 12 in the 2020 AP poll. He stabilized a program that had burned through head coaches since 1997 and his LEO philosophy was easy to root for.

However, when things went south, he could not recover. It seemed like he took too long to diagnose problems within the program while his in-game decisions and roster management never really evolved. Another year wouldn’t change that.

Now it is time for athletic director Scott Dolson to find the best coach for the program while also selling his vision for Indiana football. There needs to be systematic changes to how IU does college football that we will get into later in the offseason, but it ranges from NIL to salary pool for assistants to facility upgrades and more. 

What’s Next

Indiana will be looking for its next head coach. The transfer portal opens on December 4th and the early signing period begins on December 20th. IU should have a coach in place before both dates.