New IU head coach Tom Allen is expected Ole Miss receivers coach Grant Heard onto his staff to help orchestrate the offense, Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports said Friday.

Allen and Heard briefly shared time on the same staff at Ole Miss.in 2012.

Heard's hiring will be the first major chance Allen has made to his staff in the post-Kevin Wilson era. Previously, Allen said he was going to keep his staff intact through IU's appearance in the Foster Farms Bowl. That's expected to remain the case.

There is no word as to who Heard will replace on Indiana's staff or what his position will be, but it's expected he'll work with the passing attack. Shawn Watson currently coaches IU quarterbacks while Kevin Johns works as the offensive coordinator and receivers coach.

Heard played for Ole Miss in the late 1990s under Tommy Tuberville and David Cutcliffe before a brief playing career sent him to the NFL and abroad.

Heard spent the last five seasons on the Ole Miss staff coaching receivers after being hired by Hugh Freeze in January 2012. In his time with the Rebels, Heard turned their receivers into one of the deepest, most talented groups in the country. Among his recent products are Laquon Treadwell, an SEC standout in 2015 before being drafted in the first round by the Minnesota Vikings, and Indianapolis Colts receiver Donte Moncrief, among others.

Initially, Heard headed for the NFL to play in a few preseason games for the San Francisco 49ers in 2001 before being signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2002 and sent to play in NFL Europe.

That same year, Heard began coaching quarterbacks, wide receivers and the special teams unit at Jackson Preparatory High School in Jackson, Mississippi. He moved to Hargrave Military Academy in 2002 before joining the college ranks as an offensive graduate assistant at NC State in 2004.

After a year at NC State, Heard returned to Ole Miss to be a graduate assistant from 2005-06 working primarily with the receivers and tight ends. He jumped to Western Michigan in 2007 for his first full-time coaching job after being a student to coach receivers.

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