Indiana University Athletics
Tom Allen Zoom Press Conference Transcript & Video
1/12/2021 6:00:00 PM | Football
Below is a partial transcription of the Zoom press conference with Indiana head football coach Tom Allen on Tuesday, Jan. 12.
Head Coach Tom Allen
ALLEN: Good afternoon. I appreciate everyone being here. I just want to take a few moments here to reflect on the 2020 season. We have had some time here since our bowl game to be able to do that. I have been able to talk to all of our players and coaches and appreciate all that our players sacrificed. All the work that they put in, all the things that they accomplished during this amazing 2020 season. Amazing for a lot of reasons. All of the challenges that we had to go through were unprecedented in the preparation process, but then to be able to do the things we did on the field that, they either had not happened here before or had not happened here in a long, long time. So, just so proud of our coaching staff. So proud of our players, and because of what all the players and coaches did this past year; a lot of opportunities have been created because of that and we are thankful, and blessed for all of those, and just want to be able to build off of this momentum that we have created in our program, and we are going to move forward in 2021 with a lot of excitement and anticipation for this offseason, and all that means for the future of our program. I will take questions at this time.
Q. On being named 2020 AFCA FBS Coach of the Year…
ALLEN: I found out just recently about the AFCA Coach of the Year award and was taken aback by it. I am so humbled and honored to be voted by my peers and the fellow coaches of this country. Just the journey that you go on. I started all the way back as a high school coach going to the AFCA Convention. Coach Dick Dullaghan took us, I had never attended before, and now I have not missed it since. Just to be able to be a part of that as a young high school coach and sit in all of the different presentations, the coach of the year presentations, the banquets for that, and to be able to listen to those coaches talk, you look up to all of those guys. I started at the Division III level then worked my way up to NAIA, all the way to SEC, and ultimately the Big Ten. It gives you a chance to sit back and reflect. You just think about all the people that were a part of helping you get here. The coaches that hired me, both at the high school level and the college level. Chris Creighton was the first coach to give me an opportunity to coach college football at Wabash College. Then Hugh Freeze hired me at Lambuth, a school I had never even heard of before going there. Had a chance to move on and get rehired by Chris Creighton at Drake. I then went back with Coach Freeze at Arkansas State and Ole Miss before Willie Taggart gave me my first shot at being a Division I defensive coordinator at South Florida. Then the dream opportunity to come to the Big Ten, in my home state, where Kevin Wilson asked me to come and be his defensive coordinator in 2016. It just makes you think about all of those things. The journey that you go on and all the people that made you who you are. I thank my wife and our kids and all they have sacrificed. I thank the good Lord above for all of the guidance and direction along the way. I think about my dad too and all that he has meant in my life. When I had a chance to call and tell him about this award, it was a tremendous time together. He knows what it means, he knows the individuals that have won it in the past, and the guys that he has looked up to. It is special for a coach's kid who was raised in this profession. I am proud of this team and really blessed. We want 2021 to be a great spring board into our future. Obviously 2020 has been one that people would like to forget for a lot of different reasons but sometimes when life is the hardest, things are the most challenging, that is when the greatest things have the tendency to happen and that was the case for us this year. Through the adversity and all the challenges, it gave us an opportunity to really find out who we are and who we want to be as a program moving forward. Thankful and blessed to be able to be in this position. Want to use this momentum and all that it represents. This is a program award. This is an Indiana University award. You think about Fred Glass and his belief in me. Now Scott Doslon, his leadership, his support, and all that he has done in our short time together. Thankful for all of that and everybody that is represented in what this award means.
Q. On his journey…
ALLEN: When I talked to some guys recently about it, it gives a high school coach the hope that if they stay the course that they have a chance to live out that dream. If you are coaching at a Division III school or NAIA school, believe in something, stay the course, and persevere through difficulties. There were times when I had no idea what tomorrow was going to bring. I had no idea where I was going to end up. There were times in the past where I almost went back to high school because I did not want to put my family through more hard moves, more uncertainty, no money, and all of those different things and struggles that it creates. It just gives those guys an opportunity to believe and say hey if this guy can do it then I can do it. I think that is what it is because there is nothing special about me. I just stayed the course and had a belief in something. There were jobs I tried to get years ago that I did not get. Guys even tease me about it now. They are like man I did not hire you for this position and now look where you are. I tell them that is just part of it. That is part of persevering. That is the grit piece in all of this. When we read that book a year ago for our team and staff it was labeled as the one quality that is really going to define success in this life. I think there is a lot of truth to that. I think you have to have that ability to overcome setbacks and disappointments. Sometimes we think we want a certain job. We tried hard to get that job and when we do not get it, we are devastated. Years later down the road we realize that we are glad we did not get that job because that opened up this opportunity. I think there is a lot of faith and trust that you put in things bigger than yourself. For me, it is the faith in the good Lord above. It is a great opportunity for others to able to look at, maybe draw some encouragement from, draw some strength from, and persevere. If you have a dream in your heart just stay the course and never give up.
Q. On how to transition the message and to keep Indiana at this level…
ALLEN: I think that is a great point. This year we experienced that as well. We had a chance to experience that as well in 2019, to do great things and had breakthroughs that haven't happened in a long time. We had a chance to come in right out of the gate with a big win against Penn State, and that thrust us into the Top 25. We stayed there in the Top 10. We are playing games as a Top-10 team, and that is really what I challenged our players was to be able to have that mindset. The ability to say hey, we are a Top-10 football team. You have to prepare that way. You have to live that way, act that way and perform that way. That is the expectation. You are not sneaking up on anybody any more, and that is a great thing. That is a good issue to have, a good problem to have to address. That is what I see moving forward. I told our team this too, and I didn't know where we would be ranked. I knew if we won our bowl game, we would be Top 10 for sure. But even by what we put together. You look at the collective work of the 2020 season. Obviously, a person in position to finish the year number 12 and position yourself to be a Top-15 team for sure in the fall, maybe Top 10 in the fall. But we don't control any of that stuff. At the end of the day though, it is elevating your level of expectation. As I said this from the very beginning when I got here, we had to change the expectation and create belief, and that is what we are doing. That is reflective in the way we are ranked. Those rankings are just how your program is perceived by who is putting those rankings together. We all know that it has to be proved on the field, but we have a whole offseason where you are now a team that is being talked about in that light. So now how are you going to respond to that? Some guys get in that situation and it caused them to let up. That is where I think that there is health to a program where we got guys that have been here, and they have done a great job and had a great season and now the next guys step up. There is a lot to be said about the fire that is within a guy that is going to force him to be able to elevate his level of preparation which is what this all is right now. We are in a preparation mode from January until we get all the way to August. Everything is preparation. Spring ball, workouts, film studies are all preparation. All we are doing as a staff is preparing in order to be at that level. To me, we have created a different level of expectation. The belief has come from within this football team. It has spread out throughout our fan base and now other people have started to believe in Indiana football. To me, that is a great thing. That is what you want. That is what you strive for. So now, you have to live up to those expectations. The belief is the key. You got to understand that we got here for a reason. We got here a certain way. If we are going to stay here, sometimes it is harder to stay there and keep growing than it is to get there. That is where you have to have a hungry football team, a hungry set of coaches, and that is why it excites me to bring in a new defensive coordinator to come in here to put his personality and his identity and leadership on to that side of the football within the realm of what we created. And that is what I am excited for. I am excited for these younger players to have the opportunity to step up and grow and develop. That is why you recruit. We got some guys coming in here next week that have not been here before, either out of high school or some guys coming in as transfers. That excites me to bring in a new infusion of guys that have that passion and want to come out here and help us continue to build this program and do what we believe is the next step, which is to win the Big Ten.
Q: On fixing the running game…
ALLEN: We will go back and watch everything. We will watch every single clip together as a staff. To me it is just being more multiple, even schematically. I know one thing, just being transparent, which I try to be in these situations here. That with the COVID situation and having limited spring ball, summer camp and everything, it was all compressed, chopped and cut up and different things. We had so many guys out, in and out, even on the line of scrimmage, so we were more vanilla in some ways in that regard, but know we need to grow more than that. I am not going to be too specific about what that is going to look like. I just see us expanding ourselves schematically and doing more things in the run game, being more multiple in the run game, and being able to have multiple types of abilities to attack certain points on the line of scrimmage and how we set those up as well. So, we are going to have an extensive study of that this offseason, and that is going to be huge for our offensive staff and for our program, is to run the football better.
Head Coach Tom Allen
ALLEN: Good afternoon. I appreciate everyone being here. I just want to take a few moments here to reflect on the 2020 season. We have had some time here since our bowl game to be able to do that. I have been able to talk to all of our players and coaches and appreciate all that our players sacrificed. All the work that they put in, all the things that they accomplished during this amazing 2020 season. Amazing for a lot of reasons. All of the challenges that we had to go through were unprecedented in the preparation process, but then to be able to do the things we did on the field that, they either had not happened here before or had not happened here in a long, long time. So, just so proud of our coaching staff. So proud of our players, and because of what all the players and coaches did this past year; a lot of opportunities have been created because of that and we are thankful, and blessed for all of those, and just want to be able to build off of this momentum that we have created in our program, and we are going to move forward in 2021 with a lot of excitement and anticipation for this offseason, and all that means for the future of our program. I will take questions at this time.
Q. On being named 2020 AFCA FBS Coach of the Year…
ALLEN: I found out just recently about the AFCA Coach of the Year award and was taken aback by it. I am so humbled and honored to be voted by my peers and the fellow coaches of this country. Just the journey that you go on. I started all the way back as a high school coach going to the AFCA Convention. Coach Dick Dullaghan took us, I had never attended before, and now I have not missed it since. Just to be able to be a part of that as a young high school coach and sit in all of the different presentations, the coach of the year presentations, the banquets for that, and to be able to listen to those coaches talk, you look up to all of those guys. I started at the Division III level then worked my way up to NAIA, all the way to SEC, and ultimately the Big Ten. It gives you a chance to sit back and reflect. You just think about all the people that were a part of helping you get here. The coaches that hired me, both at the high school level and the college level. Chris Creighton was the first coach to give me an opportunity to coach college football at Wabash College. Then Hugh Freeze hired me at Lambuth, a school I had never even heard of before going there. Had a chance to move on and get rehired by Chris Creighton at Drake. I then went back with Coach Freeze at Arkansas State and Ole Miss before Willie Taggart gave me my first shot at being a Division I defensive coordinator at South Florida. Then the dream opportunity to come to the Big Ten, in my home state, where Kevin Wilson asked me to come and be his defensive coordinator in 2016. It just makes you think about all of those things. The journey that you go on and all the people that made you who you are. I thank my wife and our kids and all they have sacrificed. I thank the good Lord above for all of the guidance and direction along the way. I think about my dad too and all that he has meant in my life. When I had a chance to call and tell him about this award, it was a tremendous time together. He knows what it means, he knows the individuals that have won it in the past, and the guys that he has looked up to. It is special for a coach's kid who was raised in this profession. I am proud of this team and really blessed. We want 2021 to be a great spring board into our future. Obviously 2020 has been one that people would like to forget for a lot of different reasons but sometimes when life is the hardest, things are the most challenging, that is when the greatest things have the tendency to happen and that was the case for us this year. Through the adversity and all the challenges, it gave us an opportunity to really find out who we are and who we want to be as a program moving forward. Thankful and blessed to be able to be in this position. Want to use this momentum and all that it represents. This is a program award. This is an Indiana University award. You think about Fred Glass and his belief in me. Now Scott Doslon, his leadership, his support, and all that he has done in our short time together. Thankful for all of that and everybody that is represented in what this award means.
Q. On his journey…
ALLEN: When I talked to some guys recently about it, it gives a high school coach the hope that if they stay the course that they have a chance to live out that dream. If you are coaching at a Division III school or NAIA school, believe in something, stay the course, and persevere through difficulties. There were times when I had no idea what tomorrow was going to bring. I had no idea where I was going to end up. There were times in the past where I almost went back to high school because I did not want to put my family through more hard moves, more uncertainty, no money, and all of those different things and struggles that it creates. It just gives those guys an opportunity to believe and say hey if this guy can do it then I can do it. I think that is what it is because there is nothing special about me. I just stayed the course and had a belief in something. There were jobs I tried to get years ago that I did not get. Guys even tease me about it now. They are like man I did not hire you for this position and now look where you are. I tell them that is just part of it. That is part of persevering. That is the grit piece in all of this. When we read that book a year ago for our team and staff it was labeled as the one quality that is really going to define success in this life. I think there is a lot of truth to that. I think you have to have that ability to overcome setbacks and disappointments. Sometimes we think we want a certain job. We tried hard to get that job and when we do not get it, we are devastated. Years later down the road we realize that we are glad we did not get that job because that opened up this opportunity. I think there is a lot of faith and trust that you put in things bigger than yourself. For me, it is the faith in the good Lord above. It is a great opportunity for others to able to look at, maybe draw some encouragement from, draw some strength from, and persevere. If you have a dream in your heart just stay the course and never give up.
Q. On how to transition the message and to keep Indiana at this level…
ALLEN: I think that is a great point. This year we experienced that as well. We had a chance to experience that as well in 2019, to do great things and had breakthroughs that haven't happened in a long time. We had a chance to come in right out of the gate with a big win against Penn State, and that thrust us into the Top 25. We stayed there in the Top 10. We are playing games as a Top-10 team, and that is really what I challenged our players was to be able to have that mindset. The ability to say hey, we are a Top-10 football team. You have to prepare that way. You have to live that way, act that way and perform that way. That is the expectation. You are not sneaking up on anybody any more, and that is a great thing. That is a good issue to have, a good problem to have to address. That is what I see moving forward. I told our team this too, and I didn't know where we would be ranked. I knew if we won our bowl game, we would be Top 10 for sure. But even by what we put together. You look at the collective work of the 2020 season. Obviously, a person in position to finish the year number 12 and position yourself to be a Top-15 team for sure in the fall, maybe Top 10 in the fall. But we don't control any of that stuff. At the end of the day though, it is elevating your level of expectation. As I said this from the very beginning when I got here, we had to change the expectation and create belief, and that is what we are doing. That is reflective in the way we are ranked. Those rankings are just how your program is perceived by who is putting those rankings together. We all know that it has to be proved on the field, but we have a whole offseason where you are now a team that is being talked about in that light. So now how are you going to respond to that? Some guys get in that situation and it caused them to let up. That is where I think that there is health to a program where we got guys that have been here, and they have done a great job and had a great season and now the next guys step up. There is a lot to be said about the fire that is within a guy that is going to force him to be able to elevate his level of preparation which is what this all is right now. We are in a preparation mode from January until we get all the way to August. Everything is preparation. Spring ball, workouts, film studies are all preparation. All we are doing as a staff is preparing in order to be at that level. To me, we have created a different level of expectation. The belief has come from within this football team. It has spread out throughout our fan base and now other people have started to believe in Indiana football. To me, that is a great thing. That is what you want. That is what you strive for. So now, you have to live up to those expectations. The belief is the key. You got to understand that we got here for a reason. We got here a certain way. If we are going to stay here, sometimes it is harder to stay there and keep growing than it is to get there. That is where you have to have a hungry football team, a hungry set of coaches, and that is why it excites me to bring in a new defensive coordinator to come in here to put his personality and his identity and leadership on to that side of the football within the realm of what we created. And that is what I am excited for. I am excited for these younger players to have the opportunity to step up and grow and develop. That is why you recruit. We got some guys coming in here next week that have not been here before, either out of high school or some guys coming in as transfers. That excites me to bring in a new infusion of guys that have that passion and want to come out here and help us continue to build this program and do what we believe is the next step, which is to win the Big Ten.
Q: On fixing the running game…
ALLEN: We will go back and watch everything. We will watch every single clip together as a staff. To me it is just being more multiple, even schematically. I know one thing, just being transparent, which I try to be in these situations here. That with the COVID situation and having limited spring ball, summer camp and everything, it was all compressed, chopped and cut up and different things. We had so many guys out, in and out, even on the line of scrimmage, so we were more vanilla in some ways in that regard, but know we need to grow more than that. I am not going to be too specific about what that is going to look like. I just see us expanding ourselves schematically and doing more things in the run game, being more multiple in the run game, and being able to have multiple types of abilities to attack certain points on the line of scrimmage and how we set those up as well. So, we are going to have an extensive study of that this offseason, and that is going to be huge for our offensive staff and for our program, is to run the football better.
FB: Spring Game - Postgame Press Conference
Thursday, April 23
FB: Bray Lynch - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21
FB: Drew Evans - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21
FB: Nico Radicic - Spring Practice No. 11
Tuesday, April 21