How much is Indiana football coach Tom Allen’s buyout?

BLOOMINGTON — Indiana football coach Tom Allen will be on the sidelines for Saturday’s regular-season finale at Ross-Ade Stadium against Purdue.

There’s some uncertainty how long his tenure will last after that.

The Hoosiers have a 9-26 record over the last three seasons — second worst in the Power Five — and are 3-23 in the Big Ten.

Indiana would have to pay out a $20.8 million buyout if it fires Allen before Dec. 1, 2024, as part of the terms negotiated in the contract extension he signed in March 2021. The new deal added an additional year to his contract while increasing his average annual salary to $4.9 million.

The updated agreement came on the heels of Allen winning 2020 Big Ten Coach of the Year honors and leading the Hoosiers to back-to-back bowl games. He had a 24-22 record at the time.

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It also significantly increased how much the university owed him if they fired him without cause. The buyout drops to $7.95 million on Dec. 1, 2024, $5.4 million on Dec. 1, 2025 and $2.75 million on Dec. 1, 2026.

The four FBS coaches fired in season — Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher ($76 million), Syracuse’s Dino Babers (reportedly between $8-9 million), Mississippi State’s Zach Arnett ($4.5 million) and Boise State’s Andy Avalos ($3 million) — will be owed $91 million.

Allen’s buyout would be among the highest ever paid out behind Fisher and Auburn’s Gus Malzahn, who received a $21.7 million buyout from Auburn after being fired in 2020.

Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson fired basketball coach Archie Miller in 2021 when he was owed $10.3 million buyout. It would have fallen to $3.5 million the following year. The university stated that private philanthropic funding covered the cost of the buyout.

The Hoosiers will owe money to the rest of Allen’s staff as well.

Based on the most recent contracts for IU’s on-field assistant coaches provided to The Herald Times in August, the school would have to pay out about a half year’s salary for each of them, estimated to be about $2.39 million.

That number includes more than $400,000 to offensive coordinator Rod Carey, who replaced Walt Bell at midseason.

The severance language in each of the contracts is similar. The university agrees to pay each assistant 100% of their remaining guaranteed compensation through June 30 following the head coach’s termination. Bell, who was fired in October, was the only staff member with a deal expiring at the end of this season.

The contracts all include offset language that would reduce Indiana’s obligations if the assistants are hired elsewhere.

According to the USA Today assistant coach salary database, Indiana’s salary pool for assistants ranked No. 35 in the country and No. 11 in the Big Ten.

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on Twitter @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: IU coach Tom Allen's buyout would be among highest ever if he's fired