After another lackluster season in Bloomington, the Indiana football program is looking to bounce back in a critical 2023 season. Head coach Tom Allen looks to take the program back to what it was three years ago and away from the past two seasons.
CBS Sports released its yearly list of the best coaches in the country on Wednesday and Allen dipped in the rankings once again.
Allen, who was ranked No. 40 ahead of the 2022 season, fell to No. 62 this year.
“It’s been a long fall for Allen,” CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli wrote. “He rocketed up the charts after Indiana went 14-7 over the 2019 and 2020 seasons, reaching as high as No. 20 in our 2021 rankings. Now, he’s down to No. 62 after going 6-18 the last two years.”
Indiana went 4-8 in 2022, which followed up a 2-10 season in 2021. So, in the past two seasons the Indiana football program has just a 6-18 record. That comes after a two year stretch with a 14-7 record.
A large reason for the recent struggles has been the lack of attention to detail and lack of mental and physical toughness. ‘Toughness’ — in both aspects — is the messaging Allen and the Indiana football staff are focused on portraying to the team this offseason.
“I feel like we made progress. I really wanted to develop our toughness as a team. That’s a huge priority,” Allen said during Spring practice. “… It’s all going to be fourth quarter driven. It’s all going to be how we’re going to finish in the fourth quarter from a physical perspective. To be able to dominate your opponent in that situation. Win those third downs, win those critical downs. And you have to have an expectation that I don’t get tired. They’re the ones that get tired. That has to be built, and that’s over the summertime.”
The Hoosiers are looking to rebuild its roster from the past few years. It will be around a young quarterback and a new defensive play caller.
Time will tell whether or not it’ll work and be effective. Regardless, Tom Allen is excited about where his team is at and looking ahead to a strong summer and fall for Indiana football.
“It’s been a very, very positive spring,” Allen said. “Excited about where we’re at. Just have a lot of work ahead of us.”
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