12/19/2023 football Edit

Penn State officially names Tom Allen as new defensive coordinator

Rich Janzaruk/ Herald Times / USA TODAY NETWORK (Rich Janzaruk/ Herald Times / USA TODAY NETWORK)

Dylan Callaghan-Croley • Happy Valley Insider

Editor

Penn State on Tuesday afternoon officially announced the hiring of former Indiana head coach Tom Allen as the program's defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

Allen will replace former defensive coordinator Manny Diaz on the Nittany Lions staff. Diaz left Happy Valley earlier this month to take the open head coaching job at Duke.

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"I have always had a ton of respect for Tom Allen, and we are excited to welcome him to our staff," Penn State head coach James Franklin said in a press release. "I've enjoyed following his coaching career and his experience as a head coach and defensive play caller will bring tremendous value to our program. Coach Allen has led aggressive and attacking style defenses that will complement what we have already established. We are looking forward to welcoming Tom, his wife Tracy, son Thomas, and daughters Hannah and Brittney to Happy Valley."

"I am thrilled for this opportunity with Penn State Football and want to thank Coach Franklin and Dr. Kraft for believing in me," Allen stated in the release. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Franklin and having been across the sidelines from him, I've seen what he is building here. To be trusted to join this storied program has me fired up, and I can't wait to get to work alongside this coaching staff, these student-athletes, and to immerse myself in the Happy Valley community."

FROM SUNDAY - REPORT: Penn State targeting Tom Allen as next defensive coordinator

Penn State is narrowing in on their next defensive coordinator according to ESPN's Pete Thamel.

The target? Former Indiana head coach Tom Allen, a name that we initially had listed on our defensive coordinator hot board. The 53-year old head coach was fired last month as the head coach of the Hoosiers after collecting a 33-49 record over six seasons. He received a $15 million buyout from Indiana, one of the largest in college football history.

The former Big Ten Coach of the Year prior to becoming the head coach of the Hoosiers was a defensive assistant at Wabash, Lambuth, Drake, Arkansas State, Ole Miss, South Florida, and Indiana. He served as a defensive coordinator at four of those stops; Lambuth, Drake, South Florida, and Indiana.

Allen in his career historically runs a 4-3 defensive scheme, the same scheme that Penn State has ran throughout James Franklin's tenure in Happy Valley. Other similar fits that we listed on our initial hot board included then Minnesota defensive coordinator Joe Rossi, Rutgers defensive coordinator Joe Harasymiak, and former Georgia Tech head coach Geoff Collins.

Rossi was recently hired by Michigan State to be the Spartans' next defensive coordinator while Harasymiak was given a considerable pay raise by the Scarlet Knights recently to stay in Piscataway.

On Friday during Penn State's local media day prior to the Peach Bowl, Franklin spoke about defensive scheming and its role in the search for the Nittany Lions' next defensive coordinator.

"Prefer not to do that," Franklin said about a change in scheme. "Being as thorough as we possibly can, and then I think the other thing is you do in-person interviews, you do zoom interviews, you watch film on your own, you study the data and the analytics and what they say, and then on top of that, I think most importantly, you're looking for a fit."

"You're looking for a fit with our players. You're looking for a fit with the staff, a fit in the community," he added.

Franklin also spoke briefly about his coordinators having previous head coaching experience. "I think there's value in that," he said. "I think Manny's (Diaz) time as a head coach was valuable. Stacy Collins' value as a previous head coach, there's value in those things."