First-Year IU Football Coaches: Tom Allen Brought A New Attitude To Hoosiers

The coach will always be known for LEO - Love Each Other - a message that was needed in 2017.

Oct 21, 2017; East Lansing, MI, USA; Indiana Hoosiers head coach Tom Allen reacts to a play during the first quarter of a game against the Michigan State Spartans at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports / Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

After the 2010 season, Indiana athletic director Fred Glass made a seven-year commitment to head football coach Kevin Wilson.

By 2016, it seemed the investment had been worth it.

From a one-win initial season in 2011, Wilson improved the Hoosiers’ win total in each of his first three seasons. Getting Indiana to bowl eligibility was the big challenge, something Wilson finally achieved after the 2015 season when the Hoosiers qualified for the Pinstripe Bowl.

Glass awarded Wilson with a six-year contract extension after that 2015 season, one that ended with a 6-7 record. Wilson’s salary was increased to over $2 million-per-year as the cost of doing business in the top echelon of college athletics skyrocketed throughout the 2010s.

“It’s nice you go to a bowl, and you say, hey, you got a contract extension. We appreciate that opportunity,” Wilson told the Indianapolis Star in August 2016.

“But the belief is just that you see players you believe in more, you see them practicing better, playing better, and you see the look in their eyes – it just gives you a stronger feeling,” Wilson continued.

What Wilson didn’t know at the time is that it would be some of those very players who would bring his regime crashing to a halt.

Why Change?

As the 2016 season played out, the sole focus of most fans was on making sure the Hoosiers took a step forward from their 6-7 campaign in 2015.

The Hoosiers started 3-1, and apart from a home loss to Wake Forest, they won the games they were expected to win and lost the games they were expected to lose. Indiana got to 5-4, then lost games to ranked Penn State and Michigan. Bowl eligibility hinged on a home win over Purdue in the season finale. The Hoosiers won 26-24, earning a second straight bowl season.

While the record hadn’t improved, and there was some criticism among fans and media that things were becoming stagnant, the Hoosiers hadn’t gone backward under Wilson.

There was scant hint of any trouble as far as the public was concerned. That made it all the more shocking when Indiana announced on Dec. 1 that Wilson had resigned.

Glass cited “philosophical differences” on the day of the announcement as the reason for the change, but something was up. Wilson’s replacement was lined up immediately, and the separation only required Indiana to pay Wilson $542,000 remaining on his $15.3 million contract.

Immediately, reports surfaced of player mistreatment, particularly regarding Wilson’s attitude toward injuries and a hierarchy within the team that punished players for being “soft.” While some players denied it, more players came forward in the months after Wilson resigned. It was revealed that Indiana had initiated an external review of Wilson during the 2016 season.

Wilson moved on to Ohio State, where he was offensive coordinator from 2017-22. He is currently head coach at Tulsa.

Enter Allen

Glass had no wish to embark on a national search to replace Wilson. After all, Indiana still had a bowl game to play – the Foster Farms Bowl. Glass felt he had his man-in-waiting on Wilson’s staff.

Tom Allen was named as Wilson’s successor. There would be no waiting period, no interim tag. He was the next Indiana football coach.

“It’s hard to believe. This day has been an absolute whirlwind,” said Allen, who was informed the night before Wilson resigned that he would ascend to the top job.

Allen, probably best known within the state as head coach at Indianapolis Ben Davis High School from 2004-06, had been named defensive coordinator after the 2015 season. The Allen effect on Indiana’s defense was immediate. The Hoosiers ranked 117th nationally in scoring defense in 2015, giving up 37.6 points per game. In 2016? Indiana improved dramatically, as it conceded 27.2 points and ranked 57th nationally.

Most of all, though, Glass really appreciated Allen’s approach to coaching.

“(Allen) may not have been the first person for people maybe nationally to think of, but he was for me,” Glass told the Indianapolis Star.

Indiana lost 26-24 in the Foster Farms Bowl on Dec. 28, 2016, Allen's first game as head coach, but it was full steam ahead for 2017.

Year One

Obviously, going from Wilson – who exuded toughness – to Allen – who exuded enthusiasm – was the change in tone that Indiana sought to keep the locker room together and for public relations.

Allen’s mantra, “Love Each Other,” defined his tenure. Shortened to “LEO,” it was featured on Indiana’s uniforms and became an important part of the way the football team was marketed.

“It’s all centered around the fact that it’s not all about me. It’s centered around the fact that I’m going to do things that allow the guys around me to have success,” Allen explained during Indiana’s football media day in 2017.

“Everybody talks about family. Every program in America talks about that. A lot of times it’s just that, it’s talk. I want it lived out. I want it to be able to be felt,” Allen continued.

Player-wise, Indiana had a mixed outlook entering 2017. Quarterback Richard Lagow returned and so did three-fifths of the offensive line. Nine starters were back on the defensive side.

A four-game losing streak at mid-season would be too much for the Hoosiers to overcome. A season-ending loss at Purdue prevented the program from achieving its third-straight bowl-eligible season. While the first year fell short of expectation, things would swing Allen's way in short order.

How it ended

After another 5-7 season in 2018, the Hoosiers took off under Allen in 2019. Indiana improved to 8-5 overall and had its first winning season in the Big Ten since 1993. A loss to Tennessee in the Gator Bowl did nothing to dissipate enthusiasm for the job Allen was doing. LEO was all the rage.

The COVID-19 pandemic intervened in 2020, but Indiana was undeterred. The Hoosiers finished 6-2, their best winning percentage since 1967, and were 6-1 in Big Ten play. Included was a dramatic 36-35 overtime win over Penn State in the season opener, famous for quarterback Michael Penix Jr.'s stretch to reach the pylon on the game-winning touchdown. Indiana’s only regular season loss was a narrow 42-35 defeat at Ohio State.

By the pandemic rules adopted before the season, a team could only be eligible for the Big Ten title if it played six conference games.

Due to COVID-19 cancellations, the unbeaten Buckeyes only played five games while the Hoosiers completed seven conference contests. By original rule, Indiana should have played in the Big Ten championship game, but on Dec. 9, the conference waived the rule.

It was a blow, but it took nothing away from a season where the Hoosiers peaked at No. 7 in the Associated Press poll and had a final ranking of No. 12. Indiana lost to Ole Miss in the Outback Bowl, but excitement was at a fever pitch.

With several key cogs back, Indiana entered the 2021 season ranked 17th in the preseason poll, but the success of 2019-20 couldn’t be sustained.

Indiana would plummet to a 2-10 record. Injuries played a role as Penix only played five games, but the drop in competitiveness was shocking. Only two of Indiana’s nine Big Ten games were decided by 20 points or less.

By now, changes in college athletics – both the unlimited transfer portal and Name, Image and Likeness – were becoming entrenched. Neither played to Allen’s strength as a culture-building coach who built brick-by-brick, one recruiting class at a time.

Allen went 7-17 in his final two seasons and was let go after the 2023 season with a final record of 33-49 at his home state school. Allen has since been hired as defensive coordinator at Penn State.

Enter Curt Cignetti. What will his story be once all is said and done?

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