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Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen expected to leave for Clemson

Mug-Shot 4x4by:Ryan Snyder•01/13/25•

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Defensive coordinator Tom Allen. (Photo by Steve Manuel)

Penn State looks as if it’ll need to find a new defensive coordinator for the 2025 season. On Monday, multiple reports stated that current defensive coordinator Tom Allen will be leaving the Nittany Lions to take the same position at Clemson. Allen spent just one season at Penn State after being let go as the head coach at Indiana. This would be the third time in four years that James Franklin would have to find a new defensive coordinator after Manny Diaz spent two years with the staff before becoming the head coach at Duke last year.

This past season, Allen oversaw a Penn State defense that ranked among the very best in the nation, finishing sixth overall in opponent points allowed per game (16.5), fifth overall in opponent yards allowed per game (294.7) and fifth overall in opponent red zone scoring percentage (70.5).

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Prior to Penn State, Allen spent seven seasons as the head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers, going 33-49. He also spent time at Arkansas State as an assistant head coach (2011), three years at Ole Miss coaching linebackers and special teams (2012-2014), and a year at South Florida as its defensive coordinator in 2015. He joined Indiana in 2016 as its defensive coordinator and became the head coach the following season.

Where Penn State goes from here is hard to say currently, but the job will be an attractive one, as the Nittany Lions have consistently produced defensively at a high level dating back to Brent Pry’s years before he became the head coach at Virginia Tech. When Allen was hired last December, Franklin discussed what he was looking for at the position.

“I’ve had three defensive coordinators that have all been able to play at a high level, and we’ve taken a similar approach with all three,” Franklin said. “We’ve also recruited towards a certain scheme as well. I’m not saying that what we have played is the only way you can play defense. There are guys that run the 3-4 that are highly successful guys. There are guys running a 3-3-stack that are highly successful. I just think there’s a lot of gymnastics that go into making that change and can create a lot of questions that guys are asking, ‘Am I going to fit into the new scheme?’ So prefer not to do that.”

Franklin also commented on Allen and all of his coordinators before the Orange Bowl just last week,

“Being able to have guys on your staff that got tremendous experience — my special teams coordinator has been a head coach, my defensive coordinator has been a head coach, my offensive coordinator will be a head coach, and I’ve got a ton of assistants like that, as well,” Franklin said. “Just the more guys you can have on your staff that have tremendous experience — I think sometimes when you go back to being an assistant after being a head coach, it makes you a better assistant. I think it makes you a better coordinator.

“If you know Tom, Tom has just been awesome. There’s not a better guy in the profession. His humility is impressive. His faith is impressive. But he’s been awesome. He’s jumped right back into this thing and is really doing a great job, and I think his family is enjoying it. I think Tom is enjoying it, and we’re enjoying having him. We feel blessed to have Tom Allen and his family and really the rest of my staff, too.”

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