Love each other. LEO.
For those that know Indiana head football coach Tom Allen, they understand that he lives by those words. Since taking over full-time as head coach from the bowl game the Hoosiers had reached in 2016, the phrase has become the motto of the program.
Now, more than ever, people across the United States are struggling to fulfill that “love” for each other. Protests around the country have erupted following the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man that was killed by a Minneapolis police officer last Monday.
After gaining approval from the soon-to-be retired Indiana athletic director, Fred Glass, Allen felt that he could no longer stay silent on the matter— he wanted to speak out— this time, turning to Twitter to spread his message.
“My heart is telling me I need to say something, that sitting in silence is wrong,” Allen said in an interview with Bruce Feldman of The Athletic. “I just feel like the silence was wrong because of who I represent and what our team is made up of.”
Allen’s current team for the upcoming season, as he alluded to, includes 58 players that are African-American— accounting for over 56 percent of players on the entire roster.
“These are tough times. Some of these guys are feeling a lot of anger and emotions and fear, and rightly so. I just want to be there for them,” Allen said. “I told them that I can’t relate. I’m not going to act like I can. But I care and I love them. I will do everything I can to help us create the change that I believe that we need.”
Just miles from Memorial Stadium on Friday, a protest occurred in Bloomington with around 150 people in attendance. In addition to uniting over Floyd’s death, protestors around the country have been rallying against the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery in February and Breonna Taylor in March.
Per Feldman, Allen has been reaching out to every player individually since the COVID-19 pandemic forced all athletic activities, including football practices and workouts. With the recent tragedies relating to police brutality in America, some of his players need the “love” Allen preaches during these difficult times.
“I just wanted our players to know that I love them, that I care about them, and that I’m always gonna be here for them,” Allen said. “I want them to always feel like they can always speak openly and freely about what they’re feeling, so we can talk it through. I think that’s important.”
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