Indiana University Athletics
THE QUEST FOR INDIANA UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL GLORY – PASSION PLAY
9/6/2019 8:30:00 AM | Football
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Quest for Indiana University Football Glory, written by Hall of Fame sports writer Pete DiPrimio, takes an unprecedented look at the Hoosier program thanks to exclusive access to practices, meetings, players, coaches and more. In this chapter, coach Tom Allen faces the aftermath of a 2017 overtime loss to Michigan and more to showcase why he's the right coach to turn the program around.
PASSION PLAY
Tom Allen storms into the Memorial Stadium locker room. He charges in like a bull, a bear, like the former standout football player and wrestler he once was. Emotion coils like a spring waiting to snap.
"Everybody get in here!" he shouts with a hoarse voice, as if sandpaper had been raked across his vocal cords.
This is no time for subtlety or calm. There is a football culture to change, a losing tradition to smash, heartbreaking loss to overcome, and another chance to find words to do what actions couldn't.
Players gather and bend knees. The air is heavy with sweat and passion. A mid-October Homecoming Game against No. 17 Michigan that could have been won is not. Another opportunity is lost, but another waits. In a week Indiana will head to No. 18 Michigan State and Allen needs his Hoosiers ready, and it starts with this post-game speech and this thought:
Adversity is not necessarily the enemy.
"Fire exposes," Allen has said previously. "It reveals. That's why you want the fire. You don't want too much adversity, but as a coach, you know it'll help you grow."
The Hoosiers need growth and Allen was hired to develop it. It's his first season as a college head coach and the mission is clear -- shatter a losing Hoosier football tradition that has stretched for a decade, that has, in truth, stretched for a generation of decades. He's here to do what so many coaches couldn't.
So Allen pushes for perspective and inspiration amid locker room disappointment.
"I want you to listen, and listen clear!" he shouts to his kneeling players. "This ain't about breakthrough. This ain't about falling short again. It's about fighting your tails off and giving it everything you've got, and just coming up short! That's what this is about!"
Players listen intently, motionless as statues.
"You don't hang your head," Allen says. "You don't throw yourself around. You don't make excuses. You fought and you fought and you fought! And I'm proud of you!"
Allen pauses and paces. He isn't here to tear down or to coddle. It's a tough world and a tough sport, and nobody gives you anything. You earn your breaks.
"You didn't think here we go again. That's bull crap! That's losing mentality! You played a good football team. We had our opportunities, didn't we?"
"Yes, sir," players say in unison.
"Yes we did. It hurts. It ought to hurt. People can say, 'If I was you, I'd hang my head.' Nobody did that! I love this team!
"If (critics) come at us, it's on me. I'll take it all. I'll take all their bullets. I'll take all their arrows. I believe in you. You played so hard. You fought to the end.
"I don't want to hear nothing but positives. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, sir!"
Allen is tired of it, everybody wearing Cream 'n Crimson is, tired of the pushing, working, planning and striving so that you get to the brink of the mountaintop, but not the summit. You give everything you've got, again and again, and watch others celebrate.
On this sun-splashed October day, warm as June despite the calendar, sixty minutes of football wasn't enough. Indiana had overcome Michigan, its own mistakes, perceived officiating flaws and as good a defense as there was in college football. It had forced improbable overtime, scoring 10 points in the final three and a half minutes against a defense that hadn't allowed a fourth-quarter point all season.
It wasn't enough.
In overtime, IU had Michigan tailback Karan Higdon stopped for a three-yard loss, only to see him break free for a touchdown. Then the Hoosiers had first-and-goal at the 2-yard line and couldn't score the tying touchdown.
It came down to makeable plays that weren't made, but Allen was compelled to address the unspoken perspective.
"You ain't getting no breaks! Don't expect it. You ain't getting nothing! I don't care. It's not an excuse. We've got to earn the right to get those breaks. That's the truth. I'm just telling you. You got to earn that. We're not there yet. I don't care."
A pause.
"I love this team."
Another pause. Homecoming weekend brings off-the-field temptations, and post-game trouble is one bad decision away. Allen and his staff are not babysitters. He treats players as men, and hopes they act accordingly.
"Do the right thing tonight. You protect the team in all you do. We're going to go to battle again next week. I don't want anybody beside me but you, and all these coaches. That's what I want. I love you. I appreciate you. I'll be behind you no matter what."
A final pause.
"Let's pray."
They bow their heads for the Lord's Prayer.
Tom Allen is a Christian man. He lives a life based on faith, belief and unwavering enthusiasm. Few expected him to be here, including himself. He never envisioned being Indiana's head football coach. His goal was to be a Big Ten defensive coordinator, which he achieved in 2016 when then IU coach Kevin Wilson hired him.
Allen directed a remarkable one-year turnaround that saw the Hoosiers go from one of the nation's worst defenses to a top-50 unit.
That led to this Indiana head coaching opportunity, and the drive for a "breakthrough season."
And why not? It was time to bring winning football back to Bloomington, to start a run of success last seen when Bill Mallory coached the program from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s.
Everything was in place – quality players, experience, a talented and diverse coaching staff, impressive facilities, an exciting schedule and more.
The only thing left to do was win.
The Hoosiers didn't in 2017. Close games, winnable games, came down to one or two plays they did not make.
But the sense is, they will.
Soon.
Why can Allen deliver when men such as Cam Cameron, Gerry DiNardo, Terry Hoeppner, Bill Lynch and Kevin Wilson could not?
Let's take a look.
EDITOR'S NOTE: To purchase a copy of The Quest for Indiana University Football Glory, go to this link via Indiana University Press: https://bit.ly/2kvZXjH
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