Could Saturday be Tom Allen’s swan song at Indiana Football?

Athletic Director Scott Dolson could look for a new Indiana Football coach. 

Here’s an interesting factoid about the Indiana football head coaching job: the last four head coaches who were fired won the Old Oaken Bucket. Bill Mallory (1996), Cam Cameron (2001), Bill Lynch (2010), and Ken Wilson (2016) all defeated Purdue on their way out of the door. Could current head coach Tom Allen join their ranks?

First, he needs to win this weekend. The second part is more complicated than merely parting ways with the current head coach.

Allen, an Indiana native, came to Bloomington after being defensive coordinator at South Florida. The move made sense. Allen spent much of his early career coaching Indiana high school football. He began his journey as a college head coach in Indiana at Wabash College.

That said, Allen has not had much success in Bloomington. He’s sandwiched two winning seasons around five losing seasons, including a ten-loss season in 2021. Allen is 33-48 as head coach, including an 18-42 record in Big Ten play.

Dolan and the decision makers in Bloomington need to determine what they feel is the floor and ceiling for the football program. The university receives an influx of cash because of the new television contract; that doesn’t mean they want to spend it getting rid of a coach.