Penn State Football head coach James Franklin announced the hiring of Tom Allen as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Allen spent the previous seven seasons as the head coach at Indiana.
"I have always had a ton of respect for Tom Allen, and we are excited to welcome him to our staff," said Franklin. "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," said Allen. "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."
The 2020 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) National Coach of the Year, Allen brings 32 years of coaching experience to Happy Valley. He comes to Penn State after spending the last eight years at Indiana, with seven seasons (2017-23) as Indiana's head coach and one as the Hoosiers' defensive coordinator. During his last 28 seasons, the teams for which Allen has been a member of the coaching staff have posted a combined record of 255-117 (.685).
Allen joined the Hoosiers in 2016 as associate head coach/defense and led the biggest defensive turnaround in the nation. He inherited a defense that was second to last among Power Five teams in passing yards allowed, third to last in total defense and scoring defense and fifth to last in first downs allowed the year prior to his arrival. He engineered an IU defense that improved in every major statistical category against a schedule featuring four Top 10 opponents in 2016.
Indiana held its opponents to 129.4 fewer total yards and 94.1 fewer passing yards per game from 2015, the nation's largest improvement. Additionally, IU's defense allowed 10.4 fewer points per game from 2015 (4th nationally) and gave up 25 fewer touchdowns. From 2015-17, the Hoosiers had the most improved defense nationally in total defense (-169.4) and passing defense (-134.1), the sixth-most improved in third-down defense (-12.2 percent), and the ninth-most improved in points per game allowed (-12.3 ppg).
In his eight-year tenure with the Hoosiers, IU's defenses were known for getting off the field on third downs, ranking in the top five in the Big Ten on third down in five seasons and in the top 15 nationally twice. The Hoosiers ranked sixth in the Big Ten in third down defense (36.6%) during the eight-year span.
During his time with IU, Allen coached four defensive All-Americans (Tiawan Mullen – 2020 first team; Aaron Casey – 2023 second team; Tegray Scales – 2017 second team; Micah McFadden - 2020 third team) and 35 All-Big Ten honorees, including six first-team selections. Of the 35 All-Big Ten honorees on the defensive side, three were first-team linebackers (Casey, McFadden and Scales). A total of 15 Indiana alums on offense and defense are current NFL players who were coached by Allen.
