Report: Penn State to Hire Former Indiana HC Tom Allen as Defensive Coordinator

Former Indiana football head coach Tom Allen has been tapped as the next defensive coordinator for Penn State, according to ESPN's Adam Rittenberg.

Allen's deal with Penn State "is being finalized and is expected to come together in the upcoming days," ESPN's Pete Thamel reported.

Allen put together a 33-49 head coaching record as Indiana's head coach from 2016 until 2023.

He was fired in November after the 3-9 Hoosiers finished out their third straight season with a losing record.

Allen will replace Manny Diaz, who served as Penn State's defensive coordinator for two seasons before he was hired as Duke's next head coach earlier this month.

Diaz also served as linebackers coach as he led the Nittany Lions to rank No. 3 in scoring defense (11.42 points per game) and No. 1 in total defense (223.2 yards per game) in the 2023 FBS.

Allen last worked as a defensive coordinator for Indiana in 2016, when he led a historic defensive turnaround as Indiana became the most improved team in the FBS in total defense (-169.4 yards per game) and passing defense (-134.1 yards per game).

Since then Allen's defenses have generally exceeded expectations, except the 2022 season, where the 2-7 Hoosiers ranked No. 120 as they allowed 33.9 points per game.

Lions head coach James Franklin spoke positively about Allen's abilities to lead a team's defense before Penn State and Indiana played each other in November 2022.

"He's like a lot of defensive coordinators," Franklin said about Allen before that 2022 matchup. "It is very important for him to make you one dimensional and stop the run."

"He's committed to doing it and making you one dimensional. When you study all the analytics, that comes true over and over again. Not only this year, but really his career to your point. Really shows up on short-yardage situations. Third and fourth down short yardage situations."

Franklin again had good things to say about Allen before the two teams played one another in October.

"When you talk about Indiana and Tom Allen, I like Tom a lot," Franklin said in October. "Really good guy. Really good representative of Indiana University and our conference."

Indiana agreed to a $15.5 million settlement over two years in order to buy out Allen, according to Rittenberg. That buyout will not be offset by his future contract, Rittenberg reported.