Tom Allen, Indiana agree to 7-year contract extension

Tom Allen is staying at Indiana.

This morning, Indiana announced a contract extension with Allen after the program’s first eight-win season in 26 years. The contract is for 7 years and $27.3 million, which makes him the highest-paid employee of the university. Allen will average $3.9 million per year, putting his salary in line with other Big Ten coaches such as Paul Chryst, Lovie Smith, and P.J. Fleck.

In the press release, Fred Glass praised Allen for his work thus far as IU head coach:

“When I hired Tom to be our head football coach I said I was doing so because he is a leader of men who is demanding without being demeaning, and a proven, successful coach on a national scale with deep Indiana ties who cares about his players, and they care back,” said Glass. “In his three seasons he has proven to be all of that and more which is why I believe the future of Indiana Football is in great hands. I thank Tom and his team for their transparent, good-faith approach to these conversations, as well as President McRobbie without whose counsel and support this would not have been possible.”

This extension comes off the heels of Indiana’s first Bucket Game victory in three years, which capped an 8-4 season and a winning record in the B1G for the Hoosiers. IU will learn the status of its bowl game on Sunday afternoon, shortly after the College Football Playoff is announced. Allen was rumored to be a candidate at other schools with openings, such as Florida State or Arkansas, but this new contract should put those rumors to rest.

With this new contract, Allen is now paid more per year than Archie Miller, making him the highest-paid university employee. The question now is if Indiana can retain offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer, who was OC at Fresno State before IU and could be a candidate for the head coach job there, after news broke of Jeff Tedford’s sudden resignation late last night.