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Big Ten Football: 3 most overpaid head coaches ahead of 2022

By Connor Muldowney

Oct 2, 2021; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Indiana Hoosiers head coach Tom Allen (right) shakes hands with Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin (left) after a game at Beaver Stadium. Penn State won 24-0. Mandatory Credit: Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 2, 2021; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Indiana Hoosiers head coach Tom Allen (right) shakes hands with Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin (left) after a game at Beaver Stadium. Penn State won 24-0. Mandatory Credit: Matthew OHaren-USA TODAY Sports /
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Indiana Hoosiers head coach Tom Allen walks along the sideline during the fourth quarter of a NCAA Division I football game between the Indiana Hoosiers and the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021 at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind.Cfb Ohio State Buckeyes At Indiana Hoosiers
Indiana Hoosiers head coach Tom Allen walks along the sideline during the fourth quarter of a NCAA Division I football game between the Indiana Hoosiers and the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021 at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind.Cfb Ohio State Buckeyes At Indiana Hoosiers /

3. Tom Allen, Indiana ($4.9 million)

Let me preface this by saying that winning football games at Indiana is not easy to do. In fact, the Hoosiers have never — yes, I said never — won 10 games in a single season. So when they experienced some success under Tom Allen, the program felt like it needed to pay him handsomely to ensure he didn’t get away.

But is one eight-win season really worth about $5 million per year?

Allen has won six or more games just two times in five seasons and he’s 0-3 in bowl games. He has a 26-32 overall record and 15-28 mark in conference play.

Again, winning at Indiana hasn’t quite been done before and Allen’s 8-5 campaign in 2019 followed by a 6-2 season in 2020 felt like a massive accomplishment — and it was. But he went 2-10 in 2021 and it has everyone thinking that maybe Allen was just a one-hit-wonder.

Either way, making him the sixth-highest paid head coach in the conference seemed far too premature for a coach who has a losing record.

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