The headline this week was going to be IU's football team is headed to another bowl game... that's still true, but it will be without head coach Kevin Wilson. The team announced that after six seasons with the Hoosiers, Wilson is out and defensive coordinator Tom Allen is in.
Saturday's victory over Purdue was certainly a celebration because with the win came the assurance that the Hoosiers would also be making their second straight trip to a bowl game.
Fast forward just five days. A solemn IU Athletic Director Fred Glass delivered the news.
"He and I concluded that the right outcome was for him to separate from Indiana University and I accepted later today, effective today, his resignation," Glass says.
The reason "philosophical differences as to the leadership of the football program," Glass assuring no NCAA compliance issues.
News of the resignation came as a surprise because this is the best the football team has played since the early 1990s.
Glass did say he hired an Indianapolis law firm for an internal investigation, but would not elaborate its findings.
"Toward early November, kind of came to my attention the things that I thought have been put behind us were bubbling up again, not a smoking gun, not a precipitating event but just a concern," Glass says.
Wilson's resignation comes less than a year after the university extended his contract. The $15.3 million dollar deal was supposed to be good through 2021.
Glass says Wilson will receive one year of his base salary of $542,000.
Allen's contract is still being finalized, but Glass says it will be six years and contain a competitive Big Ten salary.
Allen is a New Castle, Indiana native and former head coach at Indianapolis Ben Davis High School. He joined IU's staff this past January after coaching jobs at Ole Miss and University of South Florida.
Bowl game invitations will be released on Sunday.
An emotional Tom Allen talks about Kevin Wilson:
6:00 P.M. UPDATE
Indiana University Head Football coach Kevin Wilson is leaving the University after six seasons, IU Athletics Director Fred Glass confirms.
Defensive Coordinator Tom Allen will take over as the permanent head coach.
Wilson went 26-47, but his teams had shown steady improvement and earned their first back-to-back bowl bids last weekend when they defeated rival Purdue.
IU announced this past January that Wilson's contract extension would have him lead the Hoosiers through 2021. The deal was worth $15.3 million over six years. Wilson would earn an average of $2.55 million per year, nearly double his previous annual salary of $1.3 million.
The Indiana football team finished the regular season with a record of 6-6 and 4-5 in the Big Ten East after defeating Purdue 26-24 Saturday. The program is expected to accept a bowl invitation Sunday.
This story will be updated.
Correction: A previous version of this story said IU Athletic Director Fred Glass decided to fire Kevin Wilson. Wilson resigned as IU's head football coach.
