My Two Cents: Indiana's Tom Allen Says 'I've Never Talked to Anybody About Any Jobs'
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The question had to be asked of Indiana football coach Tom Allen. We've talked for a year and change about how success breeds opportunity, and Allen has seen two of his coordinators get head coaching jobs since January.
We also see his own name bandied about every time a Power 5 job comes open this winter. Consecutive breakthrough seasons and a now a top-7 national rankings make Tom Allen a hot commodity. What he's done at often-downtrodden Indiana has been nothing short of miraculous. So every list of potential new coaching hires, from Arizona to Auburn and places in between, have his name at or near the top of their respective wish lists.
Tom Allen is Indiana through and through, and this is his program, smothered in his vision and dreams from top to bottom.
So when they call, what does he say? Or what does his agent say?
Nothing, Allen said.
He was adamant on Tuesday that he's not looking for another job and won't even talk about it. He's still got unfinished business with the job he has. And that's that.
"Those are just mentions, but I've never talked to anybody about any jobs here. That's the truth. I have not,'' Allen said during a conference call with the media Tuesday after the Old Oaken Bucket game with Purdue was canceled for a second time. “To me, it's just kind of probably a natural outgrowth of the success that we're having at a place that hasn't had it in a long time, and everybody wants to know why.
"To me, it's kind of like what you said at the beginning. When your staff does well and your team does well, you're going to lose those staff members to some other program. And when you're team does well, they're going to maybe look to the head coach to mention.''
They've been doing that. Often.
When Vanderbilt from the SEC fired Derek Mason, ESPN's Adam Rittenberg thought the Commodores should go after Allen.
That's not a step up for Allen, not even close. That's not even a lateral move now, considering all the good things that are going on at Indiana. Sure, it's an SEC school and Allen has SEC ties, but that would have never happened. They hired Notre Dame defensive coordinator Clark Lea instead.
Arizona has an opening after firing Kevin Sumlin, and they spend money like crazy, too. And then there's Auburn, which just fired Gus Malzahn after eight years, where he played for a national championship and beat Alabama three times and still got canned. He was making $7 million a year in a massive $49 million deal. Tom Allen makes $3.9 million in the seven-year deal he signed last December.
Auburn tends to screw up coaching hires, but respected college football analyst Matt Hayes thought they should look in Allen's direction.
“If Auburn were interested in expanding its thought process, it would take a hard look at Tom Allen. A fantastic coach, and a guy whose family philosophy — LEO, Love Each Other — fits perfectly on The Plains. He also made Indiana — Indiana! — a top 10 team,'' Hayes said
There will be others, as well, because that is truly the price of success. It happened with DeBoer, who went back to Fresno State after just one successful year as Indiana's offensive coordinator.
And now it's the same with Kane Wommack, who parlayed a great second season as Indiana's coordinator into the head coaching job at South Alabama, where he was the DC from 2016 to 2017.
All of that has a lot to do with the program Allen has created, and grown into national prominence of hundreds of players and coaches who have bought in.
"To me, it's an awesome thing to be able to be at a place where other people want what you've created,'' Allen said. 'And that's what makes this special, because this wasn't an overnight thing. This has taken a while, and it's taken a lot of just roll your sleeves up and go to work mindset.
"This place is important to me, it's special to me. What we're building here is a tribute to a whole lot of people.''
Allen understands the interest, but he made it clear that he hasn't talked to anyone, and doesn't intend to. But he also understands why people would want to know how all this success has happened at a school that has lost more college football games than any major-college program in America
"I've answered a lot of questions about LEO,'' Allen said. “What does that really mean? How is that created? How's that locker room that you guys have? How did that happen? Those are the questions that I get a lot.
"I happen to be the head coach, but I've done this with the help of a whole bunch of folks and a whole bunch of players that believed before they got here, and believed once they got here, and made a reality out of the vision of what we set forth for them before they got here.
"That's what makes it special, and that's what this is about and we'll continue to have people wanting our coaches, and that's a good thing.''
Allen is truly happy for Wommack, who's just 33 years old but has had dreams of being a head coach for a while. Allen worked with Wommack's father Dave, and those family ties run deep. They have for many years.
"I am really proud of him and excited for him and his family for this tremendous opportunity,'' Allen said. “He was just named a Broyles Award semifinalist, which is two years in a row that one of our coordinators has been in that position. And it's also two years in a row where one of those coordinators has been named head coach at the Division I level, which is a tremendous honor for them and for this program.
"For them to be able to produce those opportunities for these guys and the play of our team on both sides of the football has resulted in that. That's what you want. That excites me for these good people. But that's called building a program when people want your guys to come and create that environment and the culture that we have created here over in those places. We are excited for them and really happy for Coach (Wommack) and his whole family.''
That's what Indiana has become, a destination for players who might not normally have picked Bloomington in the past. It's also a place full of great assistant coaches and staff members who have helped Allen reach these lofty heights.
It's a program that people want to emulate now, and that's an amazing thing.
Tom Allen should win national coach of the year honors for what he's done in this 6-1 season that includes wins over three top-25 teams. People notice, and people are envious.
So yes, they will call, and they will poach coaches.
But what Tom Allen knows is that this is home to him. He has a dream and a vision for Indiana football, and that vision is incomplete. When he got here, he talked about winning seasons, and that's finally happened – in back-to-back seasons, no less.
He also talked about winning a bowl game, and that's the next challenge in a few weeks on what will likely be a huge stage in front of a national audience. And then there's that big number — that 50 he talked about to players after he was hired. It's 53 now, actually, 53 long years since Indiana has won the Big Ten.
It seemed like a pipe dream for decade after decade, but after what's happened this year, it doesn't seem so far-fetched anymore. Indiana could very well win the Big Ten in 2021, and not too many people would be surprised.
That is Tom Allen's dream, and this is his school. That phone, it's going to ring. But he's not going anywhere, for one simple reason.
Tom Allen already has his dream job.
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