When Indiana University had an opening following the departure of Kevin Wilson, then athletic director Fred Glass knew exactly who he wanted.
The man Glass wanted was already in the Indiana locker room and was non other than Tom Allen, a man who made a name for himself as a high school coach at Ben Davis High School and as a defensive coordinator at South Florida and an assistant at the University of Mississippi. Glass believed in Allen, going against the wishes from many in a fan base yearning for just being competitive and wanting a national search when he named Allen the head coach.
Immediately upon being named the coach, Allen began talking about changing the culture and taking the Hoosiers to heights they had not experienced for decades, and while some outside the program laughed, Allen and the Hoosiers never stopped believing.
Allen wrote the numbers 50, 26, and 10 on a board when he was first hired and asked his team what the figures meant.
“It’s been 50 years since we won the Big Ten, 26 years since we’ve won a bowl game, and 10 years since we had a winning season. We’re going to accomplish all three of these. If you don’t think we’ll accomplish these, you can leave,” Allen said at the time.
During his tenure, Indiana has begun chipping away at those numbers.
A season ago, the team ran off eight wins and were ranked, but fast forward to the 2020 season and Allen had high expectations for the team, which he has called "special" on many occasions.
In the season opener against Penn State, the team showed how special they could be, racing from behind to knock off Penn State, a team that had beaten the Hoosiers 22 out of 23 times, 36-35 behind the play of quarterback Michael Penix.
Not only had the Hoosiers knocked off one of the Big Ten elites, they earned a win over a top ten program for the first time in 33 years, something Allen and the Hoosiers believed could be done even if nobody else did.
For Allen and Glass, the win validated everything the two had talked about leading up to December 1, 2016, when Glass introduced Allen as coach.
The wins are coming on the heels of a pandemic that stopped spring practice and fall camp. They have come with limited live tackling taking place. They are coming with a new offensive coordinator, a quarterback that hasn't played a game in almost a year before Penn State and a defense that lost two very crucial players during fall camp.
But, more importantly, for Allen, the victories have validated everything he has preached since he took over the reigns and not only cleaned up morale, but has taken the Hoosiers to areas the program has not experienced with a constant belief that better days were on the horizon.
In the locker room after the Penn State game, an unnamed player told Allen "we love you," prompting Allen to send his body flying into the air as he crowd surfed with his team.
Allen told his players that he had been made fun of, mocked and ridiculed since taking over the program when he mentions his belief and things like L.E.O. (love each other).
"You found a way to win. You didn't stop believing. You've got to believe. Since the first day I stepped foot on this campus, I believed. I believed Indiana could do what we just did on that field. I believed it. I've been made fun of, I've been mocked, I never cared," Allen told his players, who responded by saying that was why they chose him.
But nobody was mocking or making fun after the game.
“I expected us to win this game. I believe in this football team. We found a way to win. It is so powerful to have that kind of finish and find a way to win. I’ve believed in the past. This is a huge, huge win for our guys,” Allen told the media after the game.
There are a variety of different reasons why Indiana is off to a 2-0 start, but the greatest is one that cannot be measured -- the love between Allen and his players.
Standout safety Jamar Johnson said Allen is a guy all the players truly love.
“We know he’s been through so much, you know. He brought us here to change this program, and that’s exactly what we’re planning on doing, since we got here. It’s coming together now," Johnson said.
Linebacker Micah McFadden echoed those sentiments.
“We really do love him,” McFadden said. “He’s just a guy, he sets the example. A lot of coaches can talk the talk, but not every coach lives out what they speak to their players every single day. Coach Allen brings that to the table every single day. I’ve not seen him not bringing energy or not motivating his players or living out what he says.
“We can joke about it, LEO and whatnot. But it’s true. He lives it out, we recognize it, and we follow him. He’s a true leader.”
That leadership has been evident with two wins that gives a program and fan base belief that 2019 wasn’t an abnormality and that Indiana football truly is truly closing the ranks on the elites in the Big Ten and celebrations like the one we saw are possible quite often.
“We want to get there one day and that’s the goal. We are building a program, that in my mind, wants to win the Big Ten championship,” Allen said.
Indiana, who is ranked 13th in the Coaches Poll, which matches the program-best ranking set in 1993, looks to take another big step this Saturday when it hosts Michigan at noon.
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