Allen, who spent seven seasons as Indiana’s head coach, will become the defensive coordinator at Clemson University, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel’s X post Tuesday. The 54-year-old Allen signed a three-year deal worth $6 million to replace Wes Goodwin, who was fired after three seasons with the Tigers.
Allen, the former Indiana head coach and Penn State defensive coordinator, will make $1.9 million in total salary in 2025, $2 million in 2026 and $2.1 million in 2027. That makes him the highest paid assistant on staff, jumping offensive coordinator Garrett Riley (annual salary of $1.75 million).
Haines was a finalist for the Broyles Award (top assistant) in 2024 and a semifinalist for the award in 2023. During Allen’s one season in State College, Penn State, the Lions finished No. 7 in FBS in total defense (294.8), No. 8 in scoring defense (16.5) and No. 9 in rushing defense (101.9).
The former Indiana football coach said he has kept in touch with some of the players he coached at Indiana while being Penn State's defense coordinator.
Allen was fired as the head coach at Indiana. Now, he is one win away from reaching the national title game as Penn State's DC.
Clemson is working on a deal to make Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen its new defensive coordinator.
Head Coach Dabo Swinney and Clemson Football announced today that Clemson has hired Tom Allen as Defensive Coordinator. The hire was finalized Tuesday by the Clemson University Board of Trustees Compensation Committee.
The Clemson Tigers have their next defensive coordinator. Clemson announced Tuesday it hired former Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen to the
Tom Allen became Dabo Swinney's fourth defensive coordinator hire. Allen explained Wednesday why he left Penn State after one season.
Clemson made a major splash by hiring Tom Allen away from Penn State to become their new defensive coordinator. This came on the heels of Dabo Swinney deciding
Allen replaced Manny Diaz as Penn State's defensive coordinator after Diaz became the head coach at Duke. PSU’s defense was one of the best in college football in 2024 and allowed as many yards per play overall as Clemson did per rushing attempt. Opposing offenses averaged just 3.1 yards a carry against the Nittany Lions.