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Tom Allen continues recruiting momentum by promising more of the same

Indiana head coach Tom Allen has been able to find ways to promise more of the same from his program, in and out of the recruiting sphere, despite suffering crucial losses after a historical 2019 season.

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As dominos begin to fall due to the effects of COVID-19 on the 2021 recruiting cycle, a couple fell Indiana’s way with the commitments of Valparaiso defensive end Cooper Jones and Bloomington tight end Aaron Steinfeldt.

With no sign of when the NCAA-mandated recruiting dead period will end, many prospects and teams have caved and either committed or accepted commitments while the irons were hot, which shifted the foundation of the 2021 cycle and sped up the process nationwide.

This has worked out better for some programs than others. For example, SMU, who landed the No. 4 dual-threat quarterback in the class (Preston Stone) in January, received the commitment of high-tier three-star all-purpose back Montaye Dawson on Saturday, pushing its 2021 class to No. 33 in the nation after its 2020 class was No. 72. Ohio State also landed four commitments in three days just a week into the dead period in March. Teams that remain on the outside looking in are Illinois, Oklahoma State, Arizona State, Arkansas, Colorado, TCU and others, who are all still looking to crack the top-50 nationally. Even Alabama hasn’t brought in its second commitment of the class yet.

Indiana finds itself squarely in the mix after the initial wave of recruiting inertia has crashed upon shore. The Hoosiers, as of Sunday, are No. 41 in the country with just three commitments. Teams like Ohio State (15 commits), Clemson (10), Florida (13) and North Carolina (12) – wow, Mack Brown! – are all running away with the class nationally, but only six teams ahead of Indiana have three or fewer commitments. Eight Power Five teams behind Indiana have at least three commitments.

Somehow, even with the outbreak of coronavirus and an inability to get prospects on campus or in front of the staff, Indiana has found momentum. The reason is simple – Tom Allen has found a way to promise more of the same from his program.

When No. 7 in-state prospect Rodney McGraw committed to Indiana in January, it was directly cited that he chose Indiana because of David Ballou, Mark Hagen and Tom Allen. Two of those three are no longer coaching in Bloomington. Valparaiso High School head coach Bill Marshall, who coaches No. 6 in-state prospect and defensive end Cooper Jones, even admitted when Hagen and Ballou left, there was some concern.

“Which direction are they going to go?” Marshall told TheHoosier.com about Jones’ thought process during the coaching changes.

There has been a perpetual waiting for the bottom to drop from under this Indiana football program as it has many times before, whether it be the 3-9 season after losing in the Insight Bowl, fumbling heartbreakers against ranked opponents in Memorial Stadium during the Kevin Wilson Era, or, more recently, losing the Gator Bowl by one point. There was a hint of that anticipation when the likes of Hagen, Ballou, Matt Rhea, Kalen DeBoer, William Inge, Peyton Ramsey, Coy Cronk and Ronnie Walker had all announced their departures before Sampson James entered – and later withdrew from – the transfer portal.

But Allen quickly found footing, bringing in Kevin Peoples, who he said is the best defensive line technician he’s ever seen, and then drawing Aaron Wellman away from the New York Giants’ strength staff. Suddenly, the language used around Indiana’s strength and conditioning staff warped away from crediting Ballou and Rhea and into marveling at the commitment to strength and conditioning by the Indiana program.

Because when the sand falls through the cracks and settles on a common denominator, that denominator is Allen’s vision for his program and his ability to guide his team toward that vision – that ability also being facilitated by massive investment from the athletic department.

“Two years ago, pretty much, nobody knew those guys in this room,” Allen said about Ballou and Rhea in early-March. “We found them, and we brought them here, and they did a phenomenal job. So I said, ‘I'm just going to ask you to trust me.’”

When Allen prevented that metaphorical bottom dropping from underneath his program, it was enough to make Jones, who is one of the most sought-after prospects in the state with offers from Ohio State, Michigan, Iowa and Purdue and interest coming from Notre Dame as well, shut down his recruitment. Local tight end Aaron Steinfeldt made the call the next day too, giving Indiana three commitments within the top-11 recruits in its own backyard.

Both Jones and Steinfeldt had differing reasons for committing to Indiana, but both reasons are rooted in the idea that Allen will continue the basics of his program’s success in 2019 – develop a deep stable of defensive linemen for Jones, maintain a similar offensive scheme for Steinfeldt, and, for McGraw, ensure the strength and conditioning program remains steps ahead of most other top programs in the country.

For a program that has shown a commitment to in-state recruiting in the last two cycles, has a No. 41 class ranking on the shoulders of three in-state commitments and is already sitting well with other members of an Indiana class that will see Power Five signings outside of its top-20, Indiana will find more success in the 2021 class, thanks to Allen and his first steps toward smothering crisis to his vision.

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