Zach Osterman

zach.osterman@indystar.com

BLOOMINGTON — Citing "philosophical differences," Indiana University athletic director Fred Glass announced Thursday he accepted head football coach Kevin Wilson's resignation, effective immediately.

Defensive coordinator Tom Allen was elevated as Wilson's permanent replacement, also effective immediately, with a six-year contract to be signed between Indiana and its new coach in the coming weeks. Players were informed of both decisions at a team meeting about 5:15 p.m. Thursday at Memorial Stadium.

"There’s no smoking gun or single precipitating event that led to where we are today," Glass said at a news conference. "I think it’s really a realization by myself and Kevin that we’re just not on the same page about some, what I view as key ways the program needs to be led."

Pressed to elaborate on those differences, Glass declined to offer more detail.

He said he believed those differences had been largely resolved last season, when Wilson led the Hoosiers to a 6-6 season and their first bowl berth since 2008. After that season, Glass signed Wilson to a new six-year contract, upping his annual salary to an average of around $2.5 million per year.

Doyel: Kevin Wilson is gone, but what pushed him out?

But the differences came up again this fall, Glass said, prompting an external review of the program by Indianapolis law firm Taft Stettinius & Hollister. Glass likewise would not delve publicly into the results of that review, continually pivoting to the same language.

"I understand that the philosophical differences may be an unsatisfying meal," he said. "(There was) just a concern that things that needed to be approached the way I wanted them to be approached weren't being approached that way."

Glass would offer one detail included in that review.

"I would emphasize that a major conclusion of that report was that medical care was not compromised in the program at all," he said.

One former player, running back Laray Smith, told IndyStar on Thursday he felt pressured to play through a back injury during his freshman season, and that once that injury sidelined him, Wilson's attitude toward him changed.

"He decided to treat me differently. I felt like he stopped caring," Smith said. "When you get to college, it’s like a business."

Smith transferred to Delaware State in 2015.

'Stunned' former and current IU players split on Kevin Wilson's resignation

Several former players generally disputed reports of player mistreatment, using social media to voice their support for their former coach.

Glass said Indiana will still owe Wilson $542,000 as compensation, one year's worth of his annual base salary, payable over the course of the next year.

Had IU fired Wilson without cause, he would have been owed his base salary for the remainder of his contract, which would’ve totaled approximately $2.5 million over five years. But a mitigation clause in that contract would have subtracted any future earnings in football from that total. Glass said no such mitigation exists in the university's agreement with Wilson, and he added that Thursday's decision "has nothing to do with achievement with the football program on the field."

"We have the right trajectory," Glass said. "Kevin Wilson deserves great credit for that."

Allen, who was hired by Wilson as Indiana's defensive coordinator less than one year ago, was elevated to the position of head coach on a permanent basis, in tandem with the decision to accept Wilson's resignation.

A head coach at Ben Davis High School just 10 years ago, Allen's career has wound through high school, the lower levels of college football, the Southeastern Conference, the American Athletic Conference and now the Big Ten. He has just two seasons as a defensive coordinator on his resume: 2015 at South Florida and this fall at IU.

Still, Allen is popular within the program and the department, and he spearheaded an impressive revival as the Hoosiers' defensive coordinator. Indiana led the nation this season in greatest year-over-year reduction in yards allowed per game. That cued a second-straight postseason appearance for the first time since 1990-91.

Glass emphasized that Indiana still intends to accept a bowl invitation, coaching change or no.

"I was raised a Hoosier," said Allen, who was born in Rensselaer and raised in New Castle. "It's hard to believe. This day has been an absolute whirlwind."

"My heart breaks for (Wilson). I never expected for this to happen. However, he believed in me and gave me a chance: Be the head coach of the defense and change the culture on that side of the ball."

Reaction to Kevin Wilson's shocking resignation, Tom Allen's promotion

He did, and for it, received an overwhelming vote of confidence from Indiana's players, both before and after Thursday's change.

"Huge congrats to Tom Allen," Tegray Scales, IU's leading tackler, tweeted Thursday night. "The team is all in."

Players were not made available to media following their meeting.

In six seasons, Wilson led IU to two bowl berths and four straight wins over Purdue, a streak unmatched since 1947. Wilson had a 26-47 overall record at IU and, despite his recent success, never concluded a campaign in Bloomington with a winning record.

Wilson’s program had also been beset by off-the-field issues in recent seasons. Among them, Antonio Allen — Indiana’s first-ever Army All-American — was arrested on a slew of drug charges in 2015, and Kiante Enis, a freshman this past fall, was arrested in his hometown of Winchester on two counts of child molesting. Both players were immediately dismissed from the football program following their arrests.

Going forward, Allen wants to build on Wilson's work. He said he hopes to keep IU's staff intact, and that he planned on reaching out to every one of the Hoosiers' current recruiting commitments starting Thursday night.

The rest of IU's coaching staff was on the road recruiting Thursday.

"I have a vision to create a culture of accountability, toughness and love. I believe in positive, conviction-driven leadership, and the power of belief," Allen said. "My goal for this program is to break through in 2017. We're very close."

Follow IndyStar IU sports reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter at @zachosterman.