A couple of years ago, Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney was in the market for an offensive coordinator and landed on Garrett Riley, who was coveted by programs around the country.
Fast forward to the offseason following the 2024 campaign and the former national champion was in the market for a defensive coordinator after he decided to part ways with Wes Goodwin. He landed on former Indiana head coach and Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen as his replacement and while they share a lot in common spiritually, it just felt like a perfect program fit.
Swinney and Allen are cut from the same cloth as they both eat, sleep, and breathe football and want to do everything to get the program back to the top of college football.
Allen's "pacing" has been noted by coaches and players this spring already. He's a coach who doesn't like to just stand still during practice and he's always moving because, well, he's just too intense and has too much energy to just be stationary.
Fans are going to love this guy.
New Clemson DC Tom Allen (in orange) on the mic during this tackling drill rotation, as per usual. “Best tackling team in the country. That is the expectation … Be relentless. Coaches, keep coaching. Let’s do the correct things over and over again” pic.twitter.com/6ExUo9whxQ
— Chapel Fowler (@chapelfowler) March 24, 2025
Admittedly, when I used to watch Allen coaching Indiana, he drove me nuts. No, it wasn't because he was annoying, but rather because I wish every coach in the country had his passion. He was rarely smiling or content on the sidelines, but you could still tell he loved his players and wanted them to be the best they could be. He's one of the reasons Indiana was relevant a few years ago.
Then he took over Penn State's defense and led them to an incredible season before getting poached by Swinney.
There's a reason he keeps landing on his feet: he's a darn good coach.
Allen may not have had a ton of success as a head coach, but he's more built for a job as a defensive coordinator for a title contender. And we're going to see that this season. He's going to be a coach who fans fall in love with and while his Indiana stint ended sourly, he may even gain some traction in smaller head coaching circles.
Enjoy him while you can, Clemson fans.