Indiana Fires Coach Tom Allen After 7 Seasons
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana has fired head football coach Tom Allen, a source confirmed to HoosiersNow.com Sunday morning.
Athletic director Scott Dolson acted quickly, making the move less than 24 hours after Allen and the Hoosiers lost 35-31 in Saturday's Old Oaken Bucket game against Purdue. Indiana ended the season 3-9, the worst record in the Big Ten, and lost its last three games in the final minutes to teams with losing records.
Per release, the university and Allen have agreed on a financial settlement of two $7.75 million installments that will be paid through the department of athletics donor funds.
"After continued evaluation of our entire football program, I have determined that we have lost momentum and that a change in leadership is necessary at this time," Dolson said in a release. "I want to thank Tom for all of the contributions he has made to IU in his seven years leading our program. His passion, character, and class made a positive impact on our student-athletes. We wish him well in his future endeavors.”
Allen's seven-year tenure came with some of the program's best moments, and his players always spoke highly of him, seen through his "Love Each Other" LEO mantra. But that success quickly disappeared after losing to Ole Miss in the Outback Bowl in January 2021.
Allen was the defensive coordinator when he took over for former head coach Kevin Wilson at the end of the 2016 season, and he was head coach when Indiana lost to Utah in the Foster Farms Bowl on Dec. 28, 2016.. He established a baseline of 5-7 records during the 2017 and 2018 seasons as he built the program's foundation.
Then, starting in 2019, Indiana football took off. Building a team loaded with more than two dozen Florida recruits from his former home state, Allen led the Hoosiers to an 8-4 regular season record that year, the program's most wins since 1993 and one of just eight seasons in program history with eight or more wins. Allen called the Hoosiers' 38-31 win at Nebraska a "breakthrough" win for the program, and IU went on to defeat Purdue in the Old Oaken Bucket game. Indiana lost 23-22 to Tennessee in the Gator Bowl, letting a fourth-quarter lead slip away with backup quarterback Peyton Ramsey, but the momentum was palpable.
Indiana head coach Tom Allen carries Indiana wide receiver Whop Philyor (1) across the field after defeating Purdue, 44-41 in double overtime to win the Old Oaken Bucket, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2019 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette.
Nikos Frazier | Journal & Courier via Imagn Content Services, LLC
With budding star quarterback Michael Penix Jr., Indiana was ready to win big in 2020. Despite the shortened season with no fans in the stands due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Indiana went 6-1 in the regular season, defeating Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin in the same season for the first time in program history.
That season included Penix's iconic dive for the pylon to defeat Penn State in overtime in the season opener, a wire-to-wire drubbing of Michigan, and a narrow 42-35 loss at No. 3 Ohio State, their only loss that included an amazing 491 yards passing and five touchdowns from Penix. They were a late touchdown away from an unbeaten season.
Perhaps the most memorable Tom Allen moment came after the Hoosiers' 14-6 win over Wisconsin on Dec. 6, 2020, which improved their record to 6-1 and moved them all the way up to No. 8 in the next Associated Press top-25 poll. As Allen was interviewed on the field postgame, players hugged him in celebration, making comments like, "Recruits, come play for this man. Best coach in America."
Indiana's 2020 season ended with a COVID-riddled 26-20 loss to Ole Miss in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla. — Allen's former hometown — without Penix, who suffered a torn season-ending ACL injury a week after the Ohio State loss. Backup Jack Tuttle played most of the bowl game with a separated shoulder.
Allen was still named 2020 AFCA Coach of the Year, a national award. The Hoosiers peaked at No. 7 in the AP poll. Indiana's 14-7 stretch in 2019 and 2020 represented the program's most wins in a two-year period since 1993-94, despite playing just eight games in 2020 due to COVID-19.
Following the 2020 season, Indiana gave Allen a hefty contract extension, which included a $1 million raise in annual salary and would add another year to the contract for every year he reached a bowl game.
Indiana Hoosiers head coach Tom Allen and his team enter the field before the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium.
Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
But as soon as Indiana reached its pinnacle with Allen, it all fell apart. Indiana entered the 2021 season No. 17 in the AP poll but began the year with a 34-6 loss at Iowa. The Hoosiers hosted No. 8 Cincinnati a few weeks later and blew a late lead, losing 38-24. The schedule was packed with four more top-10 opponents, and Indiana ended the year with a 2-10 record, its worst since 2011.
To make matters worse, Penix suffered the fourth consecutive season-ending injury of his Indiana career in 2021. That triggered a quarterback carousel that engulfed the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons, while Penix was building a Heisman Trophy campaign at Washington during the latter two.
Indiana's 2022 season was a rebuilding year, as Allen lost many of the core players from the 2019 and 2020 teams. Indiana hired new staff members Walt Bell, Chad Wilt, Paul Randolph and Craig Johnson, along with recruiting a massive transfer portal class. But the team finished near the bottom of the Big Ten in scoring and total yards, both offensively and defensively. And with another tough schedule, Indiana finished 4-8, firing offensive line coach Darren Hiller along the way.
The 2023 season felt like a make-or-break year for Allen after two disappointing seasons. That's exactly what it turned out to be. Indiana extended the quarterback competition between Brendan Sorsby and Tavyen Jackson into the regular season and fired Bell, the offensive coordinator, after a 44-17 loss at Maryland in Week 5.
Sorsby took hold of the job for good in Week 8, and there was a window where Indiana had a legitimate chance to salvage the season and perhaps Allen's job. After nearly upsetting No. 10 Penn State on the road, Indiana stood at 2-6 with games against Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan State and Purdue remaining – all winnable games.
Indiana defeated Wisconsin 20-14 at home. But the dream of bowl eligibility ended the following week with a 48-45 overtime loss at Illinois in a game Indiana once led 27-12 but allowed 662 yards to Illinois and backup quarterback John Paddock. Indiana lost again the next week on the last play of the game, this time as Chris Freeman missed a game-tying field goal in a 24-21 loss to Michigan State. And in similar fashion, Indiana blew a 10-point fourth quarter lead Saturday, losing to Purdue, 35-31.
Allen finished his Indiana tenure with a 33-49 overall record and an 18-43 mark in Big Ten play. What got him fired was a 9-27 and 3-24 stretch from 2021-23, which featured several losses like Saturday's at Purdue, where finishing strong became impossible.
After successful 2019 and 2020 seasons, Indiana's failures under Allen ultimately stemmed from the downfall of its once-feared defense, failed coordinator hires, instability at quarterback, a struggle to adapt to the transfer portal and NIL, difficult schedules and injuries.
The Tom Allen Era at Indiana will be remembered for some of the program's most successful moments, especially in the last 30 years, followed by a drastic decline that resulted in a roughly $20 million buyout -- one of the largest in college football history. But with the program hitting bottom and donors and fans disgusted, the university calculated it could not afford to stick with Allen any longer.
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- JACK ANKONY COLUMN: Indiana will pay one of the largest buyouts in history to fire Tom Allen. That demonstrates the school is more serious about football than it’s ever been, but that commitment must continue in a new era of the expanded Big Ten, NIL and transfer portal. CLICK HERE
- TOM BREW COLUMN: Tom Allen spent seven years as Indiana's head coach, and he did a lot of good things. He's a great man who loves Indiana, but in the past three years he didn't win enough football games and made a lot of poor decisions on and off the field. He was fired on Sunday, and it was the right decision. CLICK HERE
- ALLEN COMMENTS ON JOB SECURITY: Following a 35-31 loss to Purdue in the Old Oaken Bucket rivalry game, Indiana coach Tom Allen was asked about his job security. The Hoosiers finished 3-9 this season, the worst record in the Big Ten. CLICK HERE
- IU-PURDUE GAME STORY: Indiana’s defense struggled to contain Purdue quarterback Hudson Card’s running and Hoosiers quarterback Brendan Sorsby threw three interceptions in a 35-31 loss in the Old Oaken Bucket game. CLICK HERE
