Chainkeen Exchange-Indiana fires football coach Tom Allen despite $20 million buyout

BLOOMINGTON,Chainkeen Exchange Ind. – Indiana on Sunday dismissed football coach Tom Allen, after seven seasons in charge in Bloomington, a person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to IndyStar, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Allen finishes his Indiana tenure 33-49, and 18-43 in Big Ten play.

After the remarkable highs of 2019 and 2020, Allen finished his final three seasons 9-27, 3-23 in the Big Ten, with no Power Five nonconference wins among them.

Ultimately, despite a contract buyout exceeding $20 million due across the next four years, current athletic director Scott Dolson determined a change of direction necessary. Dolson’s search for a new football coach − Indiana’s third in the past 13 years − will begin immediately.

IU coaching candidates:Who will Indiana turn to replace Tom Allen?

Allen's tenure began under strained and unusual circumstances. He was hired full time from his defensive coordinator position on the same day the Hoosiers parted ways with former coach Kevin Wilson. Allen had been a central figure in the second of Wilson’s two bowl campaigns, reviving a badly struggling defense to help the Hoosiers reach 6-6 and a Foster Farms Bowl berth.

DOYEL:IU can't afford Allen's buyout, but can it afford program bottoming out?

For that work, then-AD Fred Glass elected to elevate Allen without a coaching search, announcing his decision in an evening news conference Dec. 1, 2016.

"He is a leader of men," Glass said that night, "which I think will transcend beyond the defense across this entire team, and may be the missing link, may be the secret sauce to get us from being close to maybe getting over the hump a little more often."

Glass’ words proved prophetic initially. After coaching the Hoosiers through that initial bowl game and a 5-7 season the following fall, Allen turned over a roster rebuilt between 2018-20 largely through his recruiting and development efforts. Whether pulling players from in state or southern talent hotspots like Memphis and Tampa − areas where Allen’s coaching history gave him deep recruiting roots − Allen built a team that finished 19-14 across those three seasons.

That stretch included berths in the Gator and Outback bowls, marking Indiana’s first two appearances in January bowl games played in Florida. Losses in both games did not seem to dampen the momentum of consecutive winning seasons not just on the field but in conference play, and engendered by a buy-in to Allen’s "love each other" mantra that gave Allen’s program agency beyond simply wins and losses.

Those did not hurt, however.

There was a four-game win streak in October and early November 2019 that included road wins at Nebraska and Maryland, and secured IU’s first winning season in 12 years.

Allen’s masterpiece would come a year later when, during the COVID-hit 2020 season, his team opened with a dramatic overtime win against top-10 Penn State, before carrying that momentum forward to a 6-1 record and wins over Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin.

Expectations for the following year were exceptionally high by historical standards, and the Hoosiers falling dramatically shot of them began the slide that ultimately cost Allen his job. Indiana finished 2-10 − with no Big Ten wins − in that 2021 season it began with a national ranking, before managing just two and three conference victories across the following two seasons.

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on X at @ZachOsterman.