Tom Allen discusses defensive philosophy 'Takeaways, tackling, and effort'
On Wednesday, Penn State's new defensive coordinator Tom Allen was able to meet with the media for the first time since being named the Nittany Lions' defensive coordinator on Tuesday afternoon.
During his initial press conference, Allen discussed what his defense with the Nittany Lions is going to look like.
"It's about takeaways, tackling, and effort," Allen said when initially asked about his defenses.
Though he will be the first to say that he does not like referring to it as his defense but instead he prefers to call it "our defense". "We install those three things. That's our DNA every day; takeaways, tackling, and effort"
"We're going to be aggressive, attacking defenses," he added. "I think the one thing we've been known for is doing a good job of disguising things. Making that quarterback have to really process when that ball gets snapped, take a lot of pride in that, take a lot of time with that. Changing windows, just being able to be aggressive with that," he added.
The defense that Allen is set to bring to Happy Valley will have a lot of similarities to those that the Nittany Lions ran under both Brent Pry and Manny Diaz according to the former Indiana head coach.
"There's a lot of similarities to even when Brent (Pry) was here, we would talk and there was a lot of similarities. Even the same thing with Manny, I've known Manny for several years, so there are just a lot of similarities to the way we think, believe, and do things," he said.
"It's part of the fit piece for us, and I'm sure it's part of the fit piece for Coach Franklin. To me, it's about letting your guys play fast, be very physical, and we just want to attack. I want the guys to play free, I want them to play with absolute confidence but that preparation is what creates that confidence. So you got a simplicity to you but a complexity as it's presented to the offense."
Last week during Penn State's bowl media day press conference, head coach James Franklin talked about the importance of fit especially when it comes to not changing schemes. Allen like Brent Pry and Manny Diaz runs a 4-3 defense.
"We've also recruited towards a certain scheme, as well, and to me, I'm not saying that what we have played is the only way you can play defense. There are guys that run a 3-4 that are highly successful. There are guys that are running a 3-3-5 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 if guys are asking am I going to fit into the new scheme," he said about his search for a defensive coordinator.
"Prefer not to do that, 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," Franklin said about what he was looking for in his next defensive coordinator.
It's easy to see why Franklin like he did with Manny Diaz, quickly identified Tom Allen as a fit for his program.
"You're looking for a fit with our players. You're looking for a fit with the staff, a fit in the community. If somebody had head coaching experience, I think there's value in that. 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. I don't think that's the end-all-be-all but it's helpful if we can find it," he added.
While it wasn't a prerequisite, Allen checks the box of having head coaching experience. Notably, Franklin also discussed the importance of the eventual hire not being intimidated to walk into a situation in which they'll take over the No. 1 defense in the country.
"Also being able to hire somebody that's not intimidated to walk into that room with the No. 1 defense in the country," Franklin said. "A lot of times you're taking over a job, and you say, ‘my job is to improve the defense’. That's going to be hard to do statistically, right?"
For Allen, it remains to be seen how he will possibly improve the Nittany Lions' top-ranked defense but through his first two days on the job, the 53-year-old former head coach certainly doesn't seem daunted by the expectations placed on him as he assumes control of the Nittany Lions' defense. He also appears to have little plans to return to the head coaching ranks anytime soon
"I'm not coming here for that purpose, I'll tell you that," Allen replied when questioned about wanting to be a head coach again. "I'm coming here to be a coordinator, you know, I'm 53 years old, I've had some great opportunities. I'm so fired up to be in that position at this place."
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