As he enters his fifth season at the helm of the Indiana University football team, Tom Allen has allowed himself a moment to look back at what has been accomplished and what still is left to be done for the Hoosiers.
In a recent one-on-one interview with TheHoosier.com, Allen talked about how he has changed as a coach and what is left for him to accomplish with his team.
"I just think you grow. You grow as a coach, time teaches you things. You make mistakes and you grow from it. Even when it comes to evaluating our players, I think we've gotten better with some of that over time and trying to find guys size-type wise that fit certain positions," Allen said.
After a successful run as a high school assistant and head coach both in Florida and Indiana, Allen began growing and learning as an assistant coach at Wabash College as Chris Creighton gave him his first college job. While at Wabash, Allen served as the secondary coach and special teams coordinator.
"Chris and I got to know each other and we were very aligned. I think I was a great fit for his staff because of the things he valued. He showed me how to build a team and a culture and is a great team builder. He saw somebody that fit his culture and saw someone who cared about the things he cared about. It also taught me the value of how to put a staff together and personalities that are different," Allen said.
Those lessons would continue at various coaching stops, including Ole Miss and South Florida.
When then-coach Kevin Wilson hired Allen to be the defensive coordinator of Indiana's defense in 2016, the learning and growing continued. After becoming the head coach in December of 2016, Allen called the defense during the 2017 and 2018 seasons while also serving as head coach.
He said he learned valuable lessons during that time.
"You talk about going from the defensive coordinator to the head coach and that was a huge decision and I think it's helped me grow and be a more effective head coach," Allen said. "I am a big relationship guy and having that one-on-one time with our guys is special. When I was the defensive coordinator, there was only so much time in a day you could spend on that because I was watching so much film and I wasn't always able to meet with our players. I still watch a lot of film today, but now I am able to walk out of meetings and meet with guys and that has been a very important next step for me as a coach."
The learning and growing still continues, especially on game days.
As a defensive coordinator, Allen was focused primarily on the defense and may not have found himself bogged down in the decisions that come with what to do with the offense on fourth and inches or when to call a timeout.
All that has changed now for Allen, who says he has gotten more accustomed to the decision making process that comes with being the head coach only.
"I've grown with game day management. What to do with the clock and timeouts and those decisions I can now focus more on being the head coach and not having to also call the defense. There is a comfort level with that now," Allen said.
The learning and growing will pick back up on Sept. 4 as Indiana travels to Iowa for the 2021 season opener.
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