Close Menu
The Daily Hoosier
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Trending
    • A look at IU football and the Big Ten in ESPN’s post-spring SP+ model
    • IU basketball will head to Puerto Rico for a foreign tour August 5-12
    • Class of 2026 IU basketball recruiting target profile: Center Arafan Diané
    • Clemson’s Brad Brownell confirms he had discussion with Indiana about job opening
    • Former IU basketball forward Race Thompson back for the 2025 Assembly Ball TBT squad
    • Updated: IU basketball’s 2026 through 2028 prospects (at least 19 offers by new staff)
    • IU basketball recruiting: Hoosiers offer 2027 wing Malachi Jordan
    • IU baseball loses Big Ten Tournament opener, postseason hopes dashed
    • Sign Up
    • About/Support
    • Jobs
    • Tickets
      • IUBB Tickets (Stubhub)
      • IUFB Tickets (Stubhub)
    • Shop
      • Official IU Store
      • IU Adidas Store
      • Amazon: Support TDH
      • IU Memorabilia
      • IU Press (Books)
      • The Daily Hoosier T-Shirt
    • Radio/Podcasts
      • East 17th Street
    • Pro IU
      • IUBB NBA
      • IUFB NFL
      • IUBASE MLB
    • Forum
      • Disqus Forum
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    The Daily HoosierThe Daily Hoosier
    Thursday, May 22
    • IU Basketball
      • Latest IU Basketball News
      • Offseason roster activity tracker
      • 2025-26 IU Basketball Roster
      • DeVries’ new staff
      • Scholarship Chart
      • Future Schedules
      • IU Basketball 2024-25 Schedule
      • 2024-25 Big Ten Standings
      • 24-25 IU Basketball Stats
      • Rankings & Bracketology
      • IU Basketball Media Guide
    • IU Football
      • Latest IU Football News
      • Roster updates by position
      • 2025 scholarship tracker
      • Current roster
      • Curt Cignetti’s staff
      • Future opponents through 2032
      • IU Football 2024 Schedule
      • 2024 B1G Standings
      • 2024 IUFB Stats
      • IU Football 2024 Record Book
    • IU Recruiting
      • IU Basketball Recruiting News
      • IU Football Recruiting News
      • IUBB 2026-28 Prospects
      • Recruit Interviews
      • Recruit Highlights
      • IU Football Recruiting Commits
    • IU Women’s Basketball
      • IU Women’s Basketball News
      • 24-25 Schedule
      • Big Ten Standings
    • IU Men’s Soccer
      • 2024 Schedule
      • Indiana Men’s Soccer: Program History
    • More Hoosiers
      • Fan and Business NIL options
      • IU Baseball
        • Baseball Schedule
        • Statistics
        • Big Ten Standings
      • IU Swim & Dive
      • IU Olympic Results
    • Hoosier History
      • March Madness Classics
      • Basketball History
      • Football History
      • IUFB Best Seasons
      • IUFB All-Time Top 10 Players
    The Daily Hoosier

    Indiana Football: Playing For Dad is “Cool, Awesome, Frustrating” for Thomas Allen

    Mike SchumannBy Mike SchumannAugust 18, 2019 IU Football 1 Comment
    Credit - IU Athletics
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    “Your not just Thomas Allen, your Tom Allen’s son.”

    You know all of that pressure that IU head coach Tom Allen feels as he tries to finally build a consistent winning program in Bloomington?

    Take all of that….times two.

    Allen’s son Thomas, a redshirt sophomore linebacker for the Hoosiers, is trying to establish his own career while simultaneously watching his dad do the same thing at Indiana.

    If Thomas makes a mistake on the football field, it isn’t just his mistake.  It costs his dad too.

    That’s a heavy burden for a young man, and it’s something that the now 21 year old junior Allen has learned to cope with better as he enters his third season at Indiana.

    “It’s different,” Thomas said.  “It’s a thing you have to learn and take with a grain of salt.  A year ago I took it a little more personal when I messed up.  I felt like that’s how people see him.”

    “But at the end of the day, no, my actions are my actions and his actions are his actions.”

    Even as Thomas leads you to believe that he has been able to grow beyond the complexity of the situation, his next comment reminds you that this is something that he can never fully escape.

    “But my name is his name, so at the end of the day I’ll be tied to him,” Thomas continued.  “Which is cool, and it’s awesome, but sometimes it’s frustrating.”

    Image result for "thomas allen" indiana football
    Credit – IU Athletics

    The frustration part of it has led to some tense moments over the years between father and son, and that’s where another member of the family has had to step in.

    “It takes some serious conversations that we’ve had over the years,” Thomas said.  “It takes my mother (Tracy) a couple times getting involved and saying hey I don’t want to hear it because he complains to her at times and I complain, and sometimes she hears two different things.

    “She had to sit us down one time and say hey, we can’t do this.”

    Perhaps inspired in part by mom’s intervention, both father and son have learned how to better navigate their unique situation.

    “I had to grow up,” Thomas said.  “I had to be a little more mature with some things.  I think he had to learn some things too.”

    One thing they have learned is that while they have chosen to be part of the same team, both father and son still need their own space.

    The solution?

    “It’s nice, I don’t live at home, I have my own apartment,” Thomas said.  “It’s nice that I don’t go home every day and see him every day.  You need space and time.  Sometimes it can be too much.

    Thomas lives with some of his teammates including redshirt freshman quarterback Jack Tuttle.

    Teammates present one of the biggest challenges for anyone that decides to play for their parent.

    Are they just on the team because their dad is the coach?  Are they going to get to play more than they deserve?

    It is “the stress of what everybody thinks about it,” as Thomas put it.

    “People need to see that this isn’t Tom Allen’s kid,” Thomas said.  “He’s just one of us.”

    If you listen to the 6-foot-3, 240 pound Allen long enough, you might convince yourself that maybe it would have been easier to just play elsewhere.

    But while acknowledging the warts, Thomas doesn’t regret his decision to play for his father.

    “It’s not perfect,” he said.  “But I would rather have this situation than playing somewhere else and never getting to see him.  No matter what happens, I’m grateful for this last three years and hope for a lot more.”

    Would he recommend to someone else that they play for their father?

    “Oh without a doubt,” Thomas said.

    Not only has Thomas learned to manage his unique situation on the team, he also saw success on the field in 2018 — his first season of game action after a redshirt 2017 season.

    Thomas played in all 12 games and made 28 tackles, including 20 solo, one sack, and three for a loss.  He also returned an interception for 30 yards against Iowa, and added academic All-Big Ten to his accomplishments for the season.

    When it comes to the challenges of being Thomas Allen the player, a fall camp battle for playing time is underway.

    Thomas is coming off of a shoulder surgery that slowed him down in the offseason.  That hasn’t made things easier as he competes against two guys with blossoming college careers in James Miller and Micah McFadden, along with others.

    In some respects the infusion of young talents behind him like Miller and McFadden is Thomas’ own doing.

    Recruiting is one more thing that Thomas is uniquely qualified to handle.

    If the family of a recruit wants to pressure test Tom Allen’s “Love Each Other” family culture, the son of the coach is certainly someone unique to talk to about it.

    “I would say that I have a little bit more than the average role (when it comes to recruiting),” Allen said.

    Even his sisters have been involved in recent years before they went off to college.

    Thomas’ approach to the recruiting side is philosophically simple.

    “You have to build relationships and show this is a family atmosphere,” he said.

    “Everyone says they have a family atmosphere.  It’s one thing to say it, and another thing to live it out.”

    No one knows that better than the Allen family.


    You can follow us on Twitter:  @daily_hoosier

    Find us on Facebook:  thedailyhoosier

    The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”

    Seven ways to support completely free IU coverage at no additional cost to you.

    Related

    indiana hoosiers Thomas Allen
    Mike Schumann

    Keep Reading

    A look at IU football and the Big Ten in ESPN’s post-spring SP+ model

    For 2026 IU football commit Jay Timmons, overcoming pressure became a necessity

    IU AD Dolson on football success: “We are paranoid, don’t want to be one-hit wonder”

    Latest Hoosier News
    • A look at IU football and the Big Ten in ESPN’s post-spring SP+ model
    • IU basketball will head to Puerto Rico for a foreign tour August 5-12
    • Class of 2026 IU basketball recruiting target profile: Center Arafan Diané
    • Clemson’s Brad Brownell confirms he had discussion with Indiana about job opening
    • Former IU basketball forward Race Thompson back for the 2025 Assembly Ball TBT squad
    • Updated: IU basketball’s 2026 through 2028 prospects (at least 19 offers by new staff)
    • IU basketball recruiting: Hoosiers offer 2027 wing Malachi Jordan
    Sign Up



    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    © 2025 The Daily Hoosier, LLC.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    Ad Blocker Enabled!
    Ad Blocker Enabled!
    Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please support us by disabling your Ad Blocker.