BLOOMINGTON – Indiana University has fired head football coach Tom Allen. The search is underway for a new head coach in Bloomington.
The move came after the Hoosiers ended their 2023 season with a 35-31 loss at Purdue – the third straight game IU lost a late lead. They finished the season 3-9 overall and 1-8 in the Big Ten.
“Proud of our guys for battling and fighting and competing to the bitter end,” Allen said after Saturday’s loss to Purdue. “But you know, it’s about us as coaches doing a better job of making a better call in those situations. And obviously, every week you try to adjust and adapt to what you’re gonna see. And guys stepping up and making plays in those situations …
“Disappointing is not even the right word. It’s just devastating. Our guys work so hard and I’m just so proud of our guys for believing and staying with us.”
Allen remained confident in his guys until the end. It just wasn’t enough.
“They didn’t waver, so I really respect them for that,” Allen said. “And just, it’s hard. It’s hard to win games and you have to find ways to close out finish. So it takes all three phases to do it … But you know, obviously a lot of things to work on and get better at without question. But the bottom line is, is that you just gotta, you know, coaches and players we got we got it together. We got to be able to finish.”
Indiana went 33-49 overall and 18-43 in Allen’s seven seasons as head coach.
After going 5-7 in his first two seasons, Allen led Indiana to bowl games in 2019 and 2020, the pandemic-shortened season when the Hoosiers went 6-1 in the Big Ten and finished the season ranked No. 13, earning Allen the league’s coach of the year award.
But things spiraled downward quickly. Indiana began the 2021 season ranked No. 17 in the nation but went just 2-10 overall and 0-9 in the Big Ten.
The next two seasons, IU managed just three Big Ten wins, ultimately costing Allen his job.
Indiana University will have to pay Allen a $20.8 million buyout, among the most expensive in college football history.
Had Indiana kept Allen through Dec. 1, 2024, the buyout would have been just under $8 million, based on a contract extension signed in 2021.
Allen took over as Hoosiers coach in December 2016 in the wake of former boss Kevin Wilson resigning from the post after an investigation into player mistreatment. Hired from South Florida in January 2016 to serve as defensive coordinator, the school promoted Allen to the full-time position after he engineered one of the most overall impressive defensive turnarounds in the country.
Since the 2020 season, Allen’s teams have gone downhill. The Hoosiers went 2-10 in 2021, 4-8 in 2022, and 3-9 in 2023, leading to the change. The Hoosiers were 3-24 in conference play.
