An analyst from Penn State discusses the new Clemson DC Allen, Tom
Our Penn State website “Victory Bell Rings”‘ Josh Yourish provides Clemson supporters with intimate information on what to anticipate from new defensive coordinator Tom Allen.
Dabo Swinney found his new defensive coordinator rather quickly. The Clemson head football coach named Tom Allen as his new defensive coordinator on Wednesday, only nine days after formally declaring his separation from former DC Wes Goodwin.
“The best of the best really wanted to come and be here at Clemson,” Swinney stated. “And for me to simply go through it was a pretty great thing. After I mastered it from ten to twelve to five, I really dug deep into it. After reducing it to three, I reduced it to two. And after much prayer, I simply felt that the good lord had put things together, and that’s the greatest response I can give you. He’s a fantastic coach, I thought.”
Allen has more coaching experience than his predecessor, Wes Goodwin. In addition to having 33 years of experience, he was Indiana’s head coach from 2017 to 2013.
However, most people are concentrating on his job at Penn State this season, which was his only season as the school’s defensive coordinator. This is due to the fact that the Nittany Lions had one of the best defenses in the country in 2024.
In total defense, Penn State ranked seventh in the country, giving up just 294.8 yards per game. By giving up only 16.5 points per game, the Nittany Lions also ranked eighth in scoring defense.
Last autumn, Allen’s defense caused a stir. It placed seventh in the nation in sacks (44), and second in tackles for loss (119). Given that the Tigers have been among the top teams in those two statistical categories in recent seasons, most Clemson supporters should be excited by that kind of boldness.
However, some people may not be convinced by Allen. It is reasonable to note that his success at Penn State may have resulted from his leadership of a defense that his predecessor, Manny Diaz, had constructed before departing last summer to take a position as head coach at Duke.
We thus spoke with Josh Yourish, a national staff writer for FanSided.com who covers Penn State during Victory Bell Rings, to learn exactly what to anticipate from Allen. Here are Yourish’s thoughts on the new Clemson defense coordinator.
To start, we asked Yourish what kind of system Allen likes to use. Allen wants to be aggressive, he added.
According to him, “Allen runs a 4-2-5 defense,” which aims to stay in that basic configuration with a hybrid safety in the nickel position to demolish the line of scrimmage and assist as a tackler in the run game. His unit can succeed when it’s coming home fast and holding up in coverage because his defenses are designed to stop the run and Allen isn’t scared to rush against the pass.
But occasionally during his one season in Happy Valley, the superior passing offenses Penn State faced were able to take advantage of coverage mismatches (see Notre Dame destroying Kobe King in coverage in the Orange Bowl or Tez Johnson’s 11 receptions for 181 yards in the Big Ten title game).
“Some of those deficiencies had to do with Penn State’s talent limitations in the secondary – particularly in the slot after safety Kevin Winston Jr. went down in Week 2 – but others were opposing play-callers just winning the chess match against a defensive coordinator who will leave players on islands in coverage.”
We then questioned Yourish if Allen’s success at Penn State was due more to his coaching prowess or to the fact that he took over the Nittany Lion defense and inherited outstanding personnel.
“I’d have to lean talent over Allen in this debate,” he stated. Although Allen deserves some recognition for helping to move Abdul Carter from off-ball linebacker to defensive end over the previous summer, Penn State’s defense in 2024 included a ton of NFL talent, chief among them being Carter. Especially when facing the top offenses on the schedule, Penn State’s defense, which was outstanding under Manny Diaz in 2023, took a minor but significant step back in 2024.
“Our football coach is excellent — and
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