Tom Allen is fueled by the high expectations of Penn State football

On Wednesday, Penn State football officially introduced Tom Allen as its next defensive coordinator. The new Nittany Lions play caller has big shoes to fill, replacing Manny Diaz atop one of the best defenses in college football. But Allen isn’t intimidated by the task at hand. In fact, the expectations around Penn State are motivation for the 53-year-old former head coach. This week, Allen explained why he is embracing the challenge of maintaining the standard in Happy Valley.

High expectations for Penn State defense “excite” Tom Allen

Tom Allen won’t have any official duties when Penn State football takes on Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl next week. But come December 31, the Nittany Lions defense is all his.

With Allen’s new role as defensive coordinator comes the heavy weight of expectations. Manny Diaz elevated what was already a great Penn State defense into an elite unit over the last two seasons. The Nittany Lions finished 2023 as arguably the best defense in America, first in yards allowed and sacks, and third in passing, rushing, and points scored.

Maintaining the standard of a championship-caliber defense is a tall task. But it’s one that Tom Allen isn’t shying away from. On Wednesday, the new defensive coordinator explained why he’s excited by the expectations.

“You want to be at a place where expectations are high,” Allen said. “You look at what they were able to accomplish this past season, it’s pretty impressive. It doesn’t happen very often. You want to go to places where the expectations, and where the standards, are high. That’s what’s been set here. Hats off to Coach Diaz and what he did, and obviously the whole staff, they did a great job, and great chemistry, and attention to detail, and a lot of great people in that room. It didn’t happen by accident.”

“That excites me, and I want to be able to build off what they’ve had here,” he continued. “And I love the fact that there’s a standard of expectation that you’re going to play great defense at Penn State. That’s been going on a long time, before any of us got here. That’s that positive pressure that you want, to allow yourself to be driven towards greatness.”

Don’t expect the Nittany Lions’ new defensive coordinator to change much

James Franklin explained last week that he was looking for a defensive coordinator with a scheme and philosophy similar to what was already run in Happy Valley. He got just that in Tom Allen. Hearing Allen talk about his defensive style, it’s pretty clear that he won’t be changing much.

“It’s about takeaways, tackling, and effort. We install those three things; that’s our DNA every day,” Allen said. “We’re going to be an aggressive, attacking defense… There’s a lot of similarities to, even when Brent [Pry] was here. Same thing with Manny. There are a lot of similarities to the way we think, and believe, and do things. That was part of the fit piece for us. And I’m sure it was part of the fit piece for Coach Franklin.

“To me, it’s about letting your guys play fast,” he added. “We’re physical, and we just want to attack. I want the guys to play free. And I want them to play with absolute confidence. But that preparation is what creates that confidence.”

They say the more things change, the more they stay the same. We’ll see if that statement holds true for Tom Allen and Penn State football in 2024.

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