Indiana Football is searching for its new head coach after firing Tom Allen.
Now that Tom Allen is out as head coach at IU, the search for his successor begins. How do you start a search at a place like Indiana? Athletic Director Scott Dolson must know the floor of the program. Also, a large part of this concerns the university’s investment in the program.
The other side of the coin is, “Who wants the job?” Indiana is not an easy place to win, and the university’s commitment to football is questionable at best. However, Indiana has money because of the new Big Ten television contract.
The search involves the usual suspects: former players turned coaches, the hot Group of Five candidates, the former Power Five coach looking for one last P5 job, and the upstart coordinator looking for their first head coaching position.
Before Dolson and whoever else is involved in the search go down the more traditional “switch from a defensive to an offensive coach” route, they need to find a candidate with a solid plan. Also, they must reassure a coach of the university’s commitment to investing in the program.
They should look for a coach who can do more with less and prove they can win by developing players and embracing unique offense and defensive schemes.
Here are five candidates for the job.