DeBoer Has Learned a Lot From Allen in 11 Months

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — It was never Kalen DeBoer's plan to come and go from Bloomington in just 11 months. "We bought a house here. We didn't rent,'' Indiana's departing offensive coordinator said Friday after meeting with the media. "It was our plan to be here a while, but things can change quickly in this business.''

It sure has for DeBoer, who was hired Tuesday as the head coach at Fresno State, a place where he had success as an offensive coordinator for Jeff Tedford for two years before coming to Indiana. Tedford retired a few weeks ago because of medical issues and DeBoer was their first — and probably only — choice to come back home.

"We've moved a lot in the last 5-to-10 years, but this will be one of the easier moves because we already know people there,'' DeBoer said. "It's still a move, but that's OK. We're all very excited about it.''

The move will have to wait until after Indiana's Jan. 2 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl game against Tennessee in Jacksonville, Fla. Unlike most coaches who take head coaching jobs, he wants to stick around and finish off this memorable season. Indiana has won eight games for the first time in 26 years, and winning a ninth at the Gator Bowl would be something that hasn't been accomplished at Indiana in 52 years.

That's worth sticking around for, and burning the candle on both ends for a couple of weeks is well worth it.

"Well, fortunately, we have a staff here that has done a great job getting us up to speed and carrying it through the last couple days (of practice),'' DeBoer said. "We'll be working both ends, but the best thing is it's a three-hour time difference, so I can do all my work here and mesh it along with the stuff on the other end of the country and work on the Fresno State stuff later in the evenings, because it's a lot earlier out there.

"We'll get it done. This is all about these guys, and this year. This is about having a special season and finishing it off the right way."

DeBoer's offensive assistants have gotten a lot of work done here in Bloomington the past week while he finalized his deal in Fresno. He was back for Friday's practice and will be here for all the workouts through Tuesday morning as the Hoosiers start to install their game plan for Tennessee. Then he'll travel with the team to Jacksonville for Indiana's first-ever Florida bowl game.

"The Fresno players are leaving campus too, and the coaches are out on a break, so there's not a lot of reason to be out there right now,'' DeBoer said. "A lot of what I need to do in the next week or so, I can do over the phone.''

DeBoer had high praise for Indiana head coach Tom Allen, who followed a similar path to being a head coach. He's learned a lot from him in a short period of time, and he'll take a lot of Allen back to Fresno with him.

"To me, he just reiterates the passion that you have to have,'' DeBoer said of Allen. "You have to be convicted in who you are as a person and when you do that, you can be who you are around your team. You can do what you love and have a lot of fun doing it, and getting the whole group around you to follow in one direction is an amazing feeling.

"I can just see the confidence he has in himself. And now that we have players that are playing at a high level, it's starting to come out in our team at another level. I just think with the recruiting end of it, and how hard he works as a recruiter, I think he's one of the best that's out there for sure."

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