Allen Set on Building a Tradition at Indiana
7/25/2017 8:11:00 AM | Football
By: Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com
CHICAGO - Handed down from Tom to Tom. And, it could well be, to Tom.
Folks meeting Indiana's new football coach for the first time Monday at the 2017 Big Ten Football Media Days' opening sessions heard about familial love extending through generations.
Loving each other is what families are supposed to do, and is also the philosophical underpinning for Tom Allen's approach to football.
That stems largely from his dad and high school coach, Tom Allen the elder. And it is doubtless already infused into IU freshman linebacker Thomas Allen, the coach's son of the coach's son.
Not to mention pretty much all of young Thomas' Hoosier teammates.
Coach Allen arrived last year to mentor IU's then-beleaguered defense and the transformation in just one season was remarkable. He's looking to transform the entire team as head coach now.
"In my first meeting with our defense over a year ago, I wrote the letters L-E-O on the board," Allen told the assembled media masses Monday. "I asked them if they knew what that meant. They didn't. Stands for 'love each other.' Didn't talk about football. Didn't talk about schemes. It was about changing the mindset and the culture of that side of the football.
"To me it was about getting our focus off ourselves, building trust, developing a culture that says it's not about 'me,' it's about 'we.' 'I don't truly care who gets the credit. I care that this team is successful.' That's the attitude that I wanted. That's what I wanted in our team … L-E-O is a big deal for us. And I tell our coaches that it starts with us and that helps it filter throughout the program."
Allen grew up seeing that filter through his dad's coaching at New Castle.
"My dad being a high school coach gave me a perspective on it," Allen said. "The character piece. And how you treat people. I saw that in him.
How he had a tremendous heart for his people, how he cared about them. And about being honest. And how your word means something. The integrity of what you do. All the time.
"His consistency. You'd see it at home and in his role at school. How he was respected and was well thought-of. In this profession, you're scrutinized for your behavior, on the field and off, and I was taught by him. It matters. You treat people as you'd like to be treated."
Those lessons started dawning early for a kid whose life revolved around Friday night lights.
"Friday night was the highlight of my whole week as a kid," Allen said. "My dad would come to our grade school and pick us up, my brother and I, and we'd go to the game. If it was an away game, we'd ride the bus.
"Everything to me about high school football was something I looked forward to as a kid, and then I got to high school and got to play for my dad."
And so, now …
"My players are all my sons," Allen said. "And I treat them the way I'd want my son treated."
That means Allen currently has around 120 sons, counting walk-ons. He considers football the "ultimate team game" because no other sport compels so many young people to pull together toward a common goal.
But then Allen is used to large, extended families.
Allen's parents, who met in the Hoosier hamlet of Morocco, emanated from large broods. His mother Janet was the second youngest of eight children and his dad was the eldest of 10. Allen found himself blessed with 32 aunts and uncles and seemingly countless cousins.
Then there was the extended coaching community of which Allen's dad was a fixture. One coaching friend of the family was the late Terry Hoeppner, who held Allen's current job before cancer cruelly claimed him in 2007.
"My favorite tradition at Indiana is when we come out and all the players touch Hep's Rock before they take the field," Allen said Monday. "I knew him personally.
"He was a friend of my family, of my dad, and we were friends of his family. Special, special person. Special coach. He was obviously doing great things at Indiana till his life was cut short, tragically. He'll always be a special part of what we do at Indiana."
Don Fischer, The Voice of the Hoosiers for a half century now, feels that Allen's personality and approach is somewhere in between Hoeppner's and Bill Mallory's. The latter won more football games than any coach in IU history.
Mallory's 13-season Hoosier era featured several squads of tough, stingy defenses. That hadn't really been seen at Indiana since that era ended. Until last year.
Against a schedule that featured four Top 10 foes, a program first, the 2016 Hoosier defense under Allen held opponents to 129.4 fewer yards per game than in the previous campaign, the best such improvement in the country.
The 94.1 fewer passing yards on average also rated first in the nation. The 10.4 fewer points per game ranked fifth nationally. IU gave up 25 fewer touchdowns in 2016 than it did in 2015.
Indiana director of athletics Fred Glass was among those who took note.
"There has been a lot of talk around here today about how he turned the defense around," Glass said Monday after Allen's turn at the main Big Ten podium, "but it wasn't about scheme, it was about leadership.
"… He's got that special something that makes guys want to follow him, and I think that special something is that he and they know he genuinely cares about them."
Like father like …
"When I look at the way I live my life now, at the things I care about, it all started, really, with just how he loved people," Allen said of his father. "He genuinely loved his players and they loved him back.
"He was very empathetic about their life, and where they came from, and how he could relate to them well. And looking back, seeing how it wasn't just teaching young men how to play football but also how to value things, those were life lessons that my dad taught me."
A legacy of love. Passed along. All in the family.
IUHoosiers.com
CHICAGO - Handed down from Tom to Tom. And, it could well be, to Tom.
Folks meeting Indiana's new football coach for the first time Monday at the 2017 Big Ten Football Media Days' opening sessions heard about familial love extending through generations.
Loving each other is what families are supposed to do, and is also the philosophical underpinning for Tom Allen's approach to football.
That stems largely from his dad and high school coach, Tom Allen the elder. And it is doubtless already infused into IU freshman linebacker Thomas Allen, the coach's son of the coach's son.
Not to mention pretty much all of young Thomas' Hoosier teammates.
Coach Allen arrived last year to mentor IU's then-beleaguered defense and the transformation in just one season was remarkable. He's looking to transform the entire team as head coach now.
"In my first meeting with our defense over a year ago, I wrote the letters L-E-O on the board," Allen told the assembled media masses Monday. "I asked them if they knew what that meant. They didn't. Stands for 'love each other.' Didn't talk about football. Didn't talk about schemes. It was about changing the mindset and the culture of that side of the football.
"To me it was about getting our focus off ourselves, building trust, developing a culture that says it's not about 'me,' it's about 'we.' 'I don't truly care who gets the credit. I care that this team is successful.' That's the attitude that I wanted. That's what I wanted in our team … L-E-O is a big deal for us. And I tell our coaches that it starts with us and that helps it filter throughout the program."
Allen grew up seeing that filter through his dad's coaching at New Castle.
"My dad being a high school coach gave me a perspective on it," Allen said. "The character piece. And how you treat people. I saw that in him.
How he had a tremendous heart for his people, how he cared about them. And about being honest. And how your word means something. The integrity of what you do. All the time.
"His consistency. You'd see it at home and in his role at school. How he was respected and was well thought-of. In this profession, you're scrutinized for your behavior, on the field and off, and I was taught by him. It matters. You treat people as you'd like to be treated."
Those lessons started dawning early for a kid whose life revolved around Friday night lights.
"Friday night was the highlight of my whole week as a kid," Allen said. "My dad would come to our grade school and pick us up, my brother and I, and we'd go to the game. If it was an away game, we'd ride the bus.
"Everything to me about high school football was something I looked forward to as a kid, and then I got to high school and got to play for my dad."
And so, now …
"My players are all my sons," Allen said. "And I treat them the way I'd want my son treated."
That means Allen currently has around 120 sons, counting walk-ons. He considers football the "ultimate team game" because no other sport compels so many young people to pull together toward a common goal.
But then Allen is used to large, extended families.
Allen's parents, who met in the Hoosier hamlet of Morocco, emanated from large broods. His mother Janet was the second youngest of eight children and his dad was the eldest of 10. Allen found himself blessed with 32 aunts and uncles and seemingly countless cousins.
Then there was the extended coaching community of which Allen's dad was a fixture. One coaching friend of the family was the late Terry Hoeppner, who held Allen's current job before cancer cruelly claimed him in 2007.
"My favorite tradition at Indiana is when we come out and all the players touch Hep's Rock before they take the field," Allen said Monday. "I knew him personally.
"He was a friend of my family, of my dad, and we were friends of his family. Special, special person. Special coach. He was obviously doing great things at Indiana till his life was cut short, tragically. He'll always be a special part of what we do at Indiana."
Don Fischer, The Voice of the Hoosiers for a half century now, feels that Allen's personality and approach is somewhere in between Hoeppner's and Bill Mallory's. The latter won more football games than any coach in IU history.
Mallory's 13-season Hoosier era featured several squads of tough, stingy defenses. That hadn't really been seen at Indiana since that era ended. Until last year.
Against a schedule that featured four Top 10 foes, a program first, the 2016 Hoosier defense under Allen held opponents to 129.4 fewer yards per game than in the previous campaign, the best such improvement in the country.
The 94.1 fewer passing yards on average also rated first in the nation. The 10.4 fewer points per game ranked fifth nationally. IU gave up 25 fewer touchdowns in 2016 than it did in 2015.
Indiana director of athletics Fred Glass was among those who took note.
"There has been a lot of talk around here today about how he turned the defense around," Glass said Monday after Allen's turn at the main Big Ten podium, "but it wasn't about scheme, it was about leadership.
"… He's got that special something that makes guys want to follow him, and I think that special something is that he and they know he genuinely cares about them."
Like father like …
"When I look at the way I live my life now, at the things I care about, it all started, really, with just how he loved people," Allen said of his father. "He genuinely loved his players and they loved him back.
"He was very empathetic about their life, and where they came from, and how he could relate to them well. And looking back, seeing how it wasn't just teaching young men how to play football but also how to value things, those were life lessons that my dad taught me."
A legacy of love. Passed along. All in the family.
Players Mentioned
LB
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Tuesday, September 16
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Tuesday, September 16
FB: Curt Cignetti Media Availability (9/15/25)
Monday, September 15
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Friday, September 12