Penn State’s defensive coordinator Tom Allen, seven spring practices in and approaching 100 days at PSU after being cut loose by Indiana with a $15 million severance check, loves drilling his new linebacking crew on stripping the football.
“Technique is everything. I’m coaching you to do the right way,” Allen was barking at Penn State’s practice on Tuesday as he showed the linebackers how to swipe the ball away from the grasp of a runner.
“Let’s win, let’s win, let’s win. You set the tone for the whole defense. Go, go, go.”
On Tuesday, Allen spent a good bit of the media viewing window talking turnovers, teaching turnovers and cheering turnovers.
In some ways, though, Allen – a highly spiritual man – was preaching to the choir. The Nittany Lions were ranked No. 12 in the country, and third in the Big Ten, in creating turnovers in 2023, with 24 (12 interceptions, 12 fumble recoveries). That’s almost two a game.
Thanks to Drew Allar’s acumen for being careful with the football — PSU QB1 had only two interceptions in 389 attempts — Penn State was No. 2 in turnover margin last season, at +1.23 per game, trailing only national champion Michigan (+1.27).
TOM ALLEN’S BIG THREE
Turnovers is a key leg of Allen’s defensive triad. The other two? Tackling and effort.
“Effort. Effort. Effort,” safety Jaylen Reed chirped with a big smile as he walked gingerly in the background while Allen gave a post-practice interview. “Effort, effort, effort.”
It is Allen’s mantra. Part of who he is, back to the days when he was a defensive coordinator at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis and at Lambuth College in Tennessee and at Drake University in Iowa and at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
“I call those three our DNA in defense — tackling, turnovers and effort,” Allen said. “When I talked with Coach [James] Franklin, even in the interview process, he said, ‘Hey, what are your non-negotiables?”
Allen’s reply? The Big Three.
“Takeaways, tackling and effort,” Allen told Franklin. “Because to me, there’s really no magic scheme. The magic is in the belief of the players and the players’ ability to execute the scheme. They’re the guys who make it special.
“So, you have to tackle extremely well. You have to take the ball away. And you have to play your defense with relentless effort. I emphasize that. We install those three things every day.”
Allen is both the Nittany Lions’ linebackers coach and defensive coordinator — their third in four seasons, following Brent Pry (2016-2021) and Manny Diaz (2022-23), both of whom have moved on to head coaching jobs at Virginia Tech and Duke, respectively.
And Franklin has great respect for both of his former D-coordinators; nothing against Allen, who was 33-49 (18-43 in the Big Ten) in his seven seasons as head coach at Indiana.
“I think when you follow Brent Pry, that’s challenging,” Franklin said this spring. “You’ve got to come in with confidence. You’ve got to be comfortable in your own skin. When you follow Manny Diaz, you’ve got to be confident with that. You’ve got to be comfortable in your own skin.
“I think in a very, very short period of time, the guys have connected with Tom and right now we’re flying around and really playing with a ton of confidence on defense, which is great to see.”
WHAT DVON SAYS
Defensive tackle Dvon Ellies, who is in his sixth season at Penn State and is a leader on and off the field, sings Allen’s praises. Ellies has been through it all already with Pry and Diaz, and he thinks Allen fits right in.
“When you have somebody that comes in with that same attitude, same ideals, who wants the same things as you, it’s not hard to transition,” Ellies says. “The mentality is the same. The attitude is the same in our defense. We’re looking to be the best.”
“His mentality, his ideas — he wants to strive to be the best in everything that he does. Three things that he harps on are takeaways, tackles and effort. All three of those things require effort and effort is something you can control — doesn’t take talent, doesn’t take skill. Coach Allen has really harped on those three words, just because he feels like it’s going to take us to that next level. And I agree with him. Moving from Coach Manny to Coach Allen, that hasn’t changed and I think that’s what’s going to keep having us climb as a defense.”
FRANKLIN BLOWS THE WHISTLE
Franklin has lavished praise on Allen, as the 54-year-old transitions from being the big cheese at IU to one of the supporting characters at PSU. However, Franklin noted on Tuesday that Allen has been blowing his whistle a bit too much in practice — a remnant, perhaps, from Allen’s days running the entire show on the field.
Allen acknowledged as such, with a grin.
“He comes and makes me take [the whistle] and put it in my pocket,” Allen said. “I’m so trained to blow the whistle as a head coach. I did that the last seven years.
“One time, [Franklin] said, ‘Who blew the whistle?’ And I did not even realize I blew the whistle,” Allen confessed as he cradled a whistle and lanyard in his hands. “I’m just so used to doing it. So I have to take it off. If I have it around my neck, I’m going to blow it. We’ve laughed about that. It kind of ticked him off the first time it happened. But that’s OK.”
