Penn State introduces new defensive coordinator Tom Allen: Watch
STATE COLLEGE — Penn State introduced new defensive coordinator Tom Allen during a news conference at Beaver Stadium on Wednesday. The 53-year-old joins the Lions after spending the last eight seasons at Indiana. Seven of them were as the Hoosiers head coach. A New Castle, Ind., native, Allen, who was fired back in November, said he expected to coach in 2024 either way. But, he didn’t have to. The chance to lead the Penn State defense, however, was one he could not pass up.
“You don’t control the clock, or the timing of things,” Allen said. “I think for me, I’m a football coach. I just love what I do, and this opportunity to present itself in this timeframe is one that I immediately had an interest in. For me, I really expected to get back into it once things happened as they did, probably a little quicker than expected. I have so much respect for this program and for Coach Franklin and what he’s built here.”
Allen, of course, coached against Penn State during his time in Bloomington. He coordinated the defense in 2016 and then was the head coach of the Hoosiers from 2017-2023. Moving back to a coordinator role is something that excites him after the challenge of managing both calling plays and being a program’s CEO.
“I look forward to just focusing on being the best defensive coordinator I can possibly be,” Allen said. “I talked to James about this, and he asked me about transitiing back, and I’m actually I’m pretty excited about it. There’s a lot of things you have to do as a head coach That aren’t as enjoyable. I love coaching football and impacting the lives of the players.”
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Watch everything Allen had to say in the embedded video player above.
Why was Tom Allen the Penn State pick?
Lions coach James Franklin was asked about the idea of hiring Allen even if he hasn’t strictly coordinated a defense since 2016. His demeanor and approach to coaching helped make that a non-factor in the interview process.
“This is a football guy who is still heavily involved in what’s going on from a scheme and fundamental perspective,” Franklin said. That was obvious. If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t be sitting here talking about Tom Allen. I’m looking for a leader of the defense. That leadership is not only the staff and the players and the fundamentals and the schemes, it’s all those things that are going to allow us to play really good defense, which we’ve done for a really long time.
“I wanted Tom very comfortable with what he was signing up for. I wanted to be comfortable for what I was signing up for. And a lot of times, it has to go so fast because of your situation, because of recruiting, but then also, if the guy has a current job. That plays a part in it as well. This was kind of unusual, too, because he was out of a job. It allowed us to really take our time on both ends.”
