Why former Indiana coach Tom Allen was hired as Penn State’s new defensive coordinator

STATE COLLEGE — The best follow-up question is often the simplest one.

Why?

On Tuesday, Penn State hired former Indiana head coach Tom Allen to be its next defensive coordinator. Allen, who replaces Manny Diaz, was formally introduced Wednesday. But why was Allen the choice? And why was Allen so eager to jump at the opportunity?

Let’s start with the latter.

Allen was fired by Indiana in November after a lengthy run at the helm in Bloomington. Allen, 53, became the Hoosiers’ head coach in 2017 after serving as their defensive coordinator in 2016. He accumulated a 33-48 record as Indiana’s full-time head coach.

Allen received a $15.5 million buyout when he was fired by Indiana. This is now back-to-back former head coaches that James Franklin has hired to be his defensive coordinator. Diaz was fired at Miami before joining the Nittany Lions ahead of the 2021 season.

And like Diaz, Allen decided not to take time off — even with that healthy buy-out.

“For me, I’m a football coach. I just love what I do. And this opportunity to present itself and this timeframe was one that I immediately had interest in,” Allen said at his introductory press conference. “For me, I expected to get back into it once things happened as they did. It was probably a little quicker than expected. But that’s the part you don’t control. I just really have so much respect for this program, playing them for eight straight years in our division, obviously getting to know Coach Franklin and what he’s built here and the way he does things. Just super excited about that. That’s why when the opportunity presented itself, we went after it.”

For almost a decade, Allen went up against Franklin and the Nittany Lions. The Hoosiers were often overpowered, winning only once in eight meetings.

That Indiana win in 2020 — clinched with a controversial two-point conversion in overtime by a stretching Michael Penix Jr. — is still debated in State College. Allen laughed when he was asked whether or not Penix was short of the end zone. He said it was an accurate call and that he even had a photo of the play hanging in his old office in Bloomington.

The other seven games between Penn State and Indiana during Allen’s time there went the Nittany Lions’ way. During that span, Allen developed an appreciation and admiration for not only Penn State but for Franklin. That played into his decision to come to Happy Valley.

“You saw he came here in that situation that he walked into and systematically built the program the way he wanted to build it,” Allen said of Franklin. “You could just see as the years passed the talent level increased. … It caught my eye. They’re doing something right.

“Obviously there’s the product on the field, the way the kids play, the physicality of the teams and the athleticism of the teams. When I first started playing them, Saquon Barkley was the tailback we were trying to tackle. So many great players. … And just the way they handle themselves is first-class, to me. Class oozes from this place and Coach Franklin.”

Franklin echoed that sentiment when asked about Allen. That respect, cultivated over years of interacting with each other hasn’t been a one-way street; it’s been mutual.

Franklin touched on Allen’s credentials. He’s been a defensive coach his entire career, serving as South Florida’s DC in 2015 and Ole Miss’ linebackers coach from 2012-14. Indiana was the most improved program nationally in total defense in 2016 when Allen took over as the DC — something Franklin said was “telling.” Allen called plays initially during his tenure as Indiana’s head coach but fluctuated in that role as the years went on.

That’s been a question many — including Franklin and Penn State’s defensive coaching staff — have had: is Allen ready to get back to being a coordinator? How Allen answered that question for himself in the hiring process gave Franklin confidence.

“When you become the head coach some guys get pulled in so many different directions that you’re not really having the impact that you’d like to have. Which is natural when this job, really, requires you to be a CEO of the entire organization,” Franklin said. “When you get with Tom and you talk ball, is he one of these guys that’s been removed from those things and is rusty?

“What was apparent very early on to me as well as our staff is this is a football guy that is still heavily involved in what’s going on from a scheme and from a fundamental perspective. That was obvious. If it wasn’t, then we wouldn’t be sitting here talking about Tom Allen. Because I’m not just looking for a head coach of the defense in a CEO role.

“When everyone in the room starts talking defense, does everyone in the room feel like not only does this guy know ball and know defense, but also are there enough similarities in what he believes and what we’ve done? Because we don’t need to start over; that would make no sense. But we’re also not going to ask Tom to come in and be somebody else.

“So all these things were a part of the conversations. … Tom was in a position where he didn’t need to take this job. So I wanted Tom to be very comfortable with what he was signing up for. And I wanted to be very comfortable with what I was signing up for.”