Indiana football: Worst head coach hires in program history

Oct 28, 2023; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Indiana Hoosiers head coach Tom Allen reacts on the sideline during the fourth quarter against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium. Penn State defeated Indiana 33-24. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-USA TODAY Sports /

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24 Oct 1998: Head coach Cam Cameron of the Indiana Hoosiers (left) talks to head coach Lloyd Carr of the Michigan Wolverines following the game at the Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Wolverines defeated the Hoosiers 21-10. Mandatory Credit: Tom Pidgeon /Allsport /

DiNardo didn’t check in at No. 1 because he was put in a bad situation by Cam Cameron. In 1997, Cameron took over Indiana after Bill Mallory’s successful tenure came to a disappointing end. Mallory only won five total games across his last two seasons, but the remnants of the program that had five winning seasons under Mallory were still there.

Cameron made sure that the program completed its fall from the moderate successes of the late eighties. In his first season, Indiana went 2-9 and 1-7 in the Big Ten. He was given five years to build a winner and the best he could do was 5-6 in 2001, his final year.

Over those five seasons, Cameron amassed 18 wins to 37 losses and ensured that the program would not have another winning season until 2007. Indiana still hasn’t won a bowl game since Mallory won the 1991 Copper Bowl.

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