Penn State targeting former Indiana coach Tom Allen to be its next defensive coordinator

The Penn State football program has targeted its next defensive coordinator. And, it’s a familiar face. The Nittany Lions are working on hiring former Indiana head coach Tom Allen to replace Manny Diaz, who departed last week for Duke, according to Pete Thamel of ESPN.

“Sources: Penn State is targeting former Indiana coach Tom Allen to be the school’s next defensive coordinator,” Thamel writes. “Deal is being finalized and is expected to come together in the upcoming days.”

Lions coach James Franklin has long held the 53-year-old New Castle, Ind., native in high regard, even if they have never spent time together on the same coaching staff.

“When you talk about Indiana and Tom Allen, I like Tom a lot,” Franklin said back in October before the Lions beat the Hoosiers. “Really good guy. Really good representative of Indiana University and our conference.”

In 2018, Franklin said: “Got a lot of respect for Coach Allen and what he’s done. Really a good guy. I’ve enjoyed getting to know him, both personally and professionally. Really a good guy.”

Indiana fired Allen after the 2023 season. He was 1-6 against Penn State during his time in Bloomington, winning only in 2020 on a controversial two-point conversion play. The school paid him a buyout north of $15 million, so the Lions will likely not need to pay him as much as it would a different candidate. That was surely not high on the list of considerations but is worth noting.

Allen last held solely a defensive coordinator title for one season at Indiana in 2016 before becoming its head coach. He was involved in the play calling, however, once he took on that role up until the 2023 season, when he relinquished it.

Penn State and Allen would be a scheme fit

At his Friday news conference, Franklin was asked about what he was looking for in the next Penn State defensive coordinator. He said that changing schemes away from the Lions’ heavy emphasis on 4-3 and 4-2-5 packages was possible but not ideal.

“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.”

Why does it matter? Because Allen has long run a 4-2-5 scheme. So, it fits with what the Lions do, have done, and are recruiting for.

“Indiana prides itself on stopping the run,” former Lions center Connor McGovern said in 2018. “They like to load the box. They are always constantly blitzing, moving guys around. So it makes it a little bit challenging, especially seeing the fronts that they are going to give us because they like to constantly stunt and move around.”

Sound familiar? It should.

Allen being a former head coach helps, too

Franklin also said that his next Penn State coordinator did not need to be a former head coach. But, it certainly doesn’t hurt that Allen is.

“If somebody had head coaching experience, I think there’s value in that,” Franklin said. “I think Manny’s time as a head coach was valuable. Stacy Collins’ value as a previous head coach, there’s value in those things. So that’s not the end all, be all, but it’s helpful if we can find it.”