Indiana will play at Penn State in 2025, but they won’t have to face the defense of their former head coach when they make that road trip.
According to multiple reports, Tom Allen is making a lateral move to become the new defensive coordinator at Clemson after one season in the same role at Penn State.
Allen was fired in 2023 after seven seasons as Indiana’s head coach, which cleared the way for the Hoosiers to hire Curt Cignetti. Allen went on to become the defensive coordinator for James Franklin at Penn State. Both Indiana and Penn State made the College Football Playoff in 2024.
Under Allen’s direction, the Nittany Lions had one of the nations better defenses, finishing eighth in points allowed per game (16.5) on their way to CFP semifinals. They also ranked seventh in opposing total yards per game (295 ypg) and ninth in opposing total rushing yards per game (101 ypg). He also oversaw a defense that had 10 players earn All-Big Ten Conference honors.
There is some speculation Allen will get a substantial pay raise at Clemson. He earned a salary of $1.5 million with Penn State in 2024, and had two years remaining on his contract. But Allen has also received $15.5 million in buyout payments from Indiana, so it’s likely his decision making is not purely financial.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel, who appears to have first reported the news, says Allen’s move is being heavily influenced by a desire to live closer to his daughters, who both reside in the Carolinas.
Indiana travels to Penn State on Nov. 8. The Hoosiers have never won a game there. This is now the second year in a row Franklin will have to find a new defensive coordinator, and the third time he will have to do so in four years.
A native of New Castle, Ind., the 54-year-old Allen led Indiana to two of the program’s most memorable seasons in 2019 and 2020. Those two seasons were bookended by disappointment, however. Allen’s Hoosiers went 33-49 during his time as head coach in Bloomington, including a 9-27 mark over the last three years.
Allen told reporters last week he maintained contact with his former Indiana players and took notice of Indiana’s substantial investments in the football program.
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