For the third time in program history, an Indiana head football coach has received national coach of the year honors.

On Tuesday, Hoosier head man Tom Allen earned the American Football Coaches’ Association National Coach of the Year honor. It’s the feather in the cap of a historic 2020 season for the Indiana program.

This is the first time since 1967 that an Indiana coach has earned such an honor. John Pont was the last as he led the Hoosiers to their lone Rose Bowl appearance that year. Prior to that, Bo McMillin won a national award after leading Indiana to an unbeaten record in 1945.

Besides this national award, Allen had already won Big Ten Coach of the Year and the AFCA’s regional coach of the year award.

This year appears to be the breakout year that Allen has been looking for since taking over as head coach in 2017. He finished with five wins in each of his first two seasons as head coach.

Then, this wild 2020 season happened. Indiana lost just two games — a close road loss to Ohio State and to Ole Miss in the Outback Bowl. The Hoosiers tied a record six B1G wins and finished the season in the Top 25 for the first time since the 1980s.

Allen’s performance certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed. Now, how will that affect expectations for Allen’s program going forward?