11/23/2022 football Edit

The harsh reality of college football pushes Allen to finish strong

Keegan Nickoson • TheHoosier

Staff Writer

In my senior year at Indiana studying Sports Media and Sports Journalism. I live for the most outlandish takes on the IU boards. Fat Dan's has the best food in Bloomington.

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College football in its current state has obviously piled on to a coach's responsibilities compared to before. NIL, the transfer portal, and a newfound "instant-gratification" mindset among collegiate athletes often put head coaches in an impossible situation.

Now, zoom in on the Indiana Hoosiers, a 3-7 team before their trip to East Lansing last Saturday, with little to no prospects of a more promising future. Financially tied to a head coach that looks to be slipping with each passing season following his 7-year, $27.3 million contract extension after the 2019 season, including a $20 million buyout if dismissed before December 2023.

Fast forward to today, Allen finds himself in a weekly attempt to keep his head above water, and the Hoosiers win over Michigan State last weekend definitely bought him some more time.

Starting a dynamic, dual-threat Atlanta native quarterback in Dexter Williams raised the eyebrows of many. If not the quarterback of the future, he is at the very least a more fun watch compared to the gun-slinging transfer Connor Bazelak.

Williams was only tasked with using one phase of his quarterbacking arsenal, rushing 16 times for 86 yards and a score. However, when called upon to stretch the field through the air he found reliable veteran tight end, A.J. Barner, for a big play preceding a Shaun Shivers score to take the lead during the extra period.

Allen's team became the first Indiana group in the last 53 years to win back-to-back games in East Lansing. A raucous locker room that saw Allen receive the game ball from athletic performance coach Jordan Hicks appeared a large sigh of relief from the former Indiana high school football coach, knowing he had bought himself some time.

Now, as the high of last week's win starts to turn into the anxiety of being confronted by a 7-3 Purdue team this weekend, Allen has to return to earth and do everything possible to finish his 2022 campaign at 5-7 with two huge wins that could positively impact his football program for years to come.

"I don't know that you could put a value on it that would explain it," Allen said on the significance of his team's win in East Lansing. "I think we are in a different era, it's unlike anything I've ever experienced. Never thought it would ever become this when you first start coaching. Probably even five or six years ago, never even thought about anything like this. Everything you do is just trying to find a way to make sure the guys that are on your team understand their role, their value, how we see them developing for their future, and you have to be constantly selling that."

Allen made news the week of Indiana's matchup with the Spartans going on an over 8-minute rant on the current state of NIL and the transfer portal, at one point explaining how important it is to not only sell your team to donors and boosters but also to transfer portal players and the players already on your roster.

"That's how the game is played; the game of recruiting. Both getting them to your school and retaining them, which is now a whole other level," Allen explained to Don Fischer during the Inside Indiana Football Coaches Show.

"I want guys that still fit with us. I want guys that are high character and they have the kind of values that we value, they care about their education and will play their tails off," Allen said. "Now, you have to have all that and the opportunity to maximize their NIL opportunities... If you don't have that variable, I'm telling you, they can love you as much as they want, they can think you're the most awesome person, they can love your culture, and they'll say, 'coach it's been great to meet you, I'm going to go somewhere else and get my money,' and that's the reality."

Now, Allen will enter the offseason, likely for the second straight year not reaching a bowl game, having to put effort into keeping some of his best players. Two notably Jaylin Lucas and Dasan McCullough, true freshmen who appear to have very bright futures. They have given no signal other than their unbelievable play on a subpar team that they will enter the portal. However, Allen foreshadowed this exact situation during his Wednesday night rant.

"It's what's demanded now to be able to get your roster, and not just to get them here, it's keeping them," Allen said last Wednesday night. "The word poach was already used within our conference for one of the best players in our conference... the head coach had to address it. That's the reality, you develop a guy and now you have to keep them. Because someone is going to come and take your best players."

This last game might just be a sales pitch to the players he wants to retain. Heading into the unknown while being able to boast about wins over Michigan State, and Purdue with your shiny new dual-threat quarterback will at least peak the interest of some.

"You thought about it as a built-in part of what you do, but to have a conversation with guys to try to keep them. Before you're always trying to meet them, map out the next step for them. What's the next few months going to look like when we come back after the season's over.

"Now you have conversations about convincing them to stay," Allen said during Monday's press conference. "And sometimes it may be pretty blunt conversations. But at the same time, it can't just happen right then... You used to think, hey, when the season finishes, you go out and recruit your class. Now the season ends, and you do that, and you have to recruit your own, which is a whole new -- it's never going to change. It will be this way from now moving forward."