Indiana's Tom Allen, Coordinators Prepared to Take the Next Step in 2021

Back-to-back successful seasons has Indiana thinking big in 2021, and Hoosiers coach Tom Allen continues to trust the process as the program grows into a title contender.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Tom Allen's vision for where this Indiana football program can go was met with deaf ears early in his tenure as head coach. But in the past two years, the bandwagon is starting to fill up.

And sometimes there's a cost to pay for that.

After Indiana's 8-5 season in 2019, standout offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer was hired away to be the head coach at Fresno State. And last year, after a Hoosiers' 6-2 season that put them in the top-10 for several weeks, defensive coordinator Kane Wommack was hired to the be the head coach at South Alabama.

But the train keeps rolling down the track with Allen, and the goals keep getting bigger and bigger. The No. 17 Hoosiers, ranked in the preseason Associated Press poll for the first time since 1969, are talking about winning championships now.

And for Allen, who's starting his fifth full season as the head coach at Indiana, he's continued to grow as a head coach, too. All that knowledge comes in handy as the Hoosiers prepare to open the 2021 season on Saturday at No. 18 Iowa. (3:30 p.m. ET, TV: Big Ten Network)

It's a learning process, even for someone like Allen.

"I think the thing that you learn is just the true value of staying true to the process and how you get your team to perform, because it's all about consistent performance and how you get to that,'' Allen said Monday. "Whether that's through high expectations, low expectations or everything in between, how do you get your team to perform at a high level each and every week to be able to block out those distractions?

"In the past, those distractions have been negative distractions, people telling you what you can't do and judging you based on your past. And now you have to be able to block out the positive distractions, too. Now, maybe some people are saying that they're expecting you to do more things than you've maybe done in the past. You still have those that continue to doubt, but that's a part of it and that's OK.''

Allen said the key to dealing with higher expectations is communicating about it. It's one thing to talk about winning Indiana's first Big Ten title since 1967, but it's another thing to put in the work to do it. 

One leads to the other, not the other way around.

"I think it's important to understand how to address that with your guys. You don't shy away from it,'' Allen said. "If there are things that are assumed and not addressed in both positive and negative situations, I don't think it creates a very positive outcome. I think you need to address things. So we have tried to address this and talk about it as a team and being able to allow ourselves to consistently prepare at a high level.''

Allen has been a big believer setting goals and talking about the effort it takes to attain them. There are signs all over Indiana's football complex that ask a simple question: "What have you done to win the Big Ten today?'' 

Indiana, if you need reminding, hasn't won the Big Ten since 1967. But in the past two years, they've gone 11-5 in league games, and have beaten programs like Penn State, Michigan and Wisconsin that they haven't been able to hang with for decades now.

Times have changed. But the drive to succeed doesn't. Not with Allen, and the people who coach with him and play for him.

"That's why 'Chase' was the word chosen in 2021 at the beginning of the year because you don't just get better because you have a lot of guys back and you've got to a lot of guys that are supposed to be playing at a certain level,'' Allen said. "It's what are you doing every single day? So I think it's just been just a confirmation of how you do that, and I've been fortunate to be a lot of places where I have been a part of turnarounds, and then you have success and then you have to play to those standards.

"I think it's just the people, it's leading a team, it's building a team and those principles are consistent and the same, no matter what the level is. But I think it's the discipline to be true to who you are every day and not fall victim to listening to the outside noises occasionally. I think that, to me, is really the key to all this. And what time teaches you is to trust that, to not try to go out and reach for things that you think might be what they are. I think sometimes we over complicate situations and it's not easy, but it's a simple process. ''

VIDEO: Tom Allen on Handling High Expectations

Allen goes into battle with a new defensive coordinator this year, longtime SEC veteran Charlton Warren. He was hired last winter to take over Allen's defense, not start over with something new. He's done that, embracing the system, adding a few wrinkles and learning what every player is capable of contributing.

This is the deepest defense has had in a while, with All-American candidates Micah McFadden and Tiawan Mullen leading the way. 

Warren has learned his personnel throughout spring practice, the summer and then fall camp. He's comfortable, and ready to go on Saturday.

"I think we know the personality of our team and character of these guys out there,'' Warren said. "We know what makes them tick, so as any coach, you're anxious to see them go out there with live bullets and everything counts and see how they respond, and how they react to adversity.

"From a standpoint of who they are and how hard they can play, I think we have a pretty good gauge. You want to know as a coach when things don't go to script and when things happen, how will they respond?  I think we know, but I'm anxious to see it on Saturday.''

Nick Sheridan is in his second year as Indiana's offensive coordinator, but he's been on Allen's staff from the beginning, and he has a relationship with his starting quarterback, Michael Penix Jr., dating back to Penix's high school days in Tampa, Fla.

Indiana's offense did a lot of good things last year, especially through the air, and Sheridan should be even better as a play-caller in his second year. The running game should be better, with USC transfer Stephen Carr now the starter and Deland McCullough on the staff as running backs coach.

Sheridan talked Monday about scripting a game plan to attack No. 18 Iowa's experienced defense.

"Whether it's the opener or any week, we usually collaborate towards the end of the week as a staff about what our favorite plays are, and we also communicate with the quarterback about what he likes and what he feels most comfortable with,'' Sheridan said.

"That's something that we've done. It's not a hard-and-fast rule as far as staying on that script. Certainly, situations can get you off that. We have a pretty good idea of what the first 10 or 15 plays might be. If you need to adjust throughout that process, you do.''

The excitement level that surrounds this season is palpable. Everyone feels it, including current students, Indiana alums and, certainly, former players. 

"There's definitely a lot of that and that's awesome and but, yeah, the expectations are what they are,'' Allen said. "Like we said in the beginning, we came here with a vision to be able to change the expectations and create belief. That process is ongoing and so we're embracing it. 

"But you've got to be able to have those earmuffs and blinders. That part doesn't change, and you have to be able to create the focus that you want to be able to be an elite performer on game day.''

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