Indiana Athletics announced that athletic director Scott Dolson has fired head coach Tom Allen, per release on Sunday.
“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. "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 and the university settled on two installments of $7.75 million to buyout the contract, resulting in a $15.5 million total. Athletic department donor funds will be used to pay for the buyout.
The original terms of Allen’s contract stated that Indiana would obligated to fulfill Allen’s contract to its entirety, $20.8 million, if fired without cause before Dec. 1, 2024. Ensuing that date, the buyout would decrease to a substantially smaller amount at $7.95 million.
Allen’s total buyout of $15.5 million makes it the sixth-highest buyout paid in college football history. Original terms would have made it the third-highest buyout in college football history.
The search for the next coach has begun immediately.
Allen's release was first reported by Indy Star's Zach Osterman on Sunday.
Indiana thought it had found a generational coach in Allen, extending his contract in March of 2021 throughout the 2027 season, worth $27.3 million. The extension followed the historic 2020 season that looked to be the turning point for the Hoosiers, but the subsequent years left much to be desired.
In his time at Indiana, Allen went 33-49 (18-43 in the Big Ten). The bulk of those conference wins came at the beginning of Allen’s tenure, winning only three of the last 24 conference games. Allen lost all three bowl games Indiana was featured in.
The decision comes after a loss at rival Purdue to wrap up a 3-9 season.
The final stint of Allen’s time at Indiana saw many unfortunate trends that Indiana could never seem to right. From 2021 to 2023, Indiana has started eight different quarterbacks. In 2023, seven games went to the final minutes of the fourth quarter and two resulted in wins. Similarly, in 2022 the Hoosiers were within one score of the opponent in the fourth quarter in seven games, yet only won three of them.
Indiana’s defense has ranked last in the Big Ten for three consecutive years. The offense has not done much better, hanging towards the back of the conference ranging from ninth to 13th.
The misfortune began post-contract extension in 2021. Prior to the extension Allen took Indiana to three bowl games, set program records and produced multiple high-caliber players.
Hired in 2016 by previous head coach Kevin Wilson as a defensive coordinator, Allen made his debut as head coach in the 2016 Foster Farms Bowl. His first two seasons went 5-7 and showed promise for a bright future.
After a strong 8-5 season in 2019, Allen and his Hoosiers shocked the college football scene in 2020 going 6-2 (a shortened schedule due to COVID-19). The Hoosiers defeated No. 8 Penn State, No. 23 Michigan, Michigan State and No. 16 Wisconsin for the first time in a single season in school history. The team was ranked in the AP Poll for 10 consecutive weeks, finishing at No. 12 — the highest since 1967.
Allen was awarded multiple honors that season — the 2020 American Football Coaches Association National Coach of the Year, and both of the 2020 Big Ten Coach of the Year awards, one voted by coaches and the other voted by media.
Alongside Allen, the 2020 team was headlined by the now-Heisman candidate and University of Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. Ty Fryfogle became Indiana’s first Big Ten Receiver of the Year in 2020. Micah McFadden was drafted by the New York Giants. Taiwan Mullen became Indiana’s first cornerback to get first-team All-American honors.
Despite the return of most of the 2020 team, the 2021 season did not follow suit, winning only two games and zero in the conference.
Allen formulated many attempts from different angles to get back on track, but came up fruitless in the end.
One approach came in recruiting. Allen’s effective recruiting abilities are credited to the strong culture Allen developed at Indiana, revolving around the idea of “loving each other” or as Allen refers to it as “LEO.” The “LEO” culture accompanied by Allen’s strong Christian faith made Indiana desirable to both players and parents.
The 2018 and 2019 recruiting classes were among the top Indiana had seen. In 2022, Allen made school history again with the best recruiting class which included eight four-stars and ranked Top-25 nationally, with the hope of progressing the team.
Indiana remained futile despite successes in recruiting and the transfer portal, forcing the Hoosiers to turn to coaching changes.
Allen fired the offensive line coach Darren Hiller in 2022, replacing him with Bob Bostad who was successful in making improvements in the offensive line room. Before Bostad, at least one Indiana quarterback had suffered a significant injury due since 2018, so Indiana prioritized protecting the quarterback.
Matt Guerreri was brought in to the program in February as co-defensive coordinator beside Chad Wilt, who joined the program in 2022.
Offensive coordinator Walt Bell was fired mid-season in 2023 because Allen felt the team needed “a new direction on the offensive side of the ball”. Rod Carey was promoted to offensive coordinator and the play-calling seemed to work better for the Hoosiers with his “do what works” philosophy.
However, those upgrades were not enough to resurrect Allen’s success at Indiana, thus the 2023 season would be the bookend to the Allen-era in Bloomington.
