Tom Allen is getting paid (again)

After turning Indiana into a top-10 team, Tom Allen has been rewarded — with the most lucrative contract IU has ever doled out.

The athletic department announced Monday morning that Allen has agreed to an amendment to his current seven-year deal that will increase his annual average compensation to $4.9 million through the 2027 campaign. In keeping with the spirit of the contract he signed in December 2019, Allen will also continue to have a year added to the back end of the deal each season that the Hoosiers qualify for a bowl game.

“Tom Allen has proven himself to be not only the right person for our student-athletes and our program, but one of the best football coaches in the country,” IU athletic director Scott Dolson said in a statement. “The enthusiasm and outlook for our program is at an all-time high, and the future of Indiana Football is in great hands. I look forward to Tom leading our program for many years to come.”

Based purely on the average annual value of the agreement — specific yearly payouts are not known at this time — Allen would rank among the top-20 highest-paid coaches in the nation, according to the USA Today college football coaches salary database. In the Big Ten, only Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, Ohio State’s Ryan Day, Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald and Michigan State’s Mel Tucker make more in annual average compensation.

After guiding the Hoosiers to a 6-2 record, Allen became the program’s first national coach of the year (AFCA) in 53 years and its first Big Ten coach of the year in 33 years. Allen’s previous contract was worth an average annual compensation of $3.9 million.

ESPN has more details on Allen’s new deal, including the buyout language:

If Allen leaves Indiana for another job before Dec. 1, he would owe Indiana his full remaining compensation. His buyout then drops to 50% of his remaining compensation for the next year, and then decreases to $4 million, $3 million, $1 million and $500,000 in subsequent years.

Indiana would owe Allen all of his remaining compensation if it fires the coach without cause before Dec. 1, 2024. The school would owe Allen 50% of his remaining compensation in the final three years of the agreement, and 100% of his compensation in for years tacked on in future contract extensions.

This is obviously a notable commitment to a coach who has earned a reward. Good to see. Now, about the guy who works across the parking lot. Whatchagot, Scott?