Todd’s Take: Happy Former Indiana Coach Tom Allen Is Enjoying College Football Playoff Success

Former Indiana football coach Tom Allen is alive in the College Football Playoff as Penn State’s defensive coordinator.

Penn State Nittany Lions defensive coordinator Tom Allen against the Boise State Broncos during the Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – After Penn State defeated Boise State 31-14 in the Fiesta Bowl on Tuesday, the Big Ten Football X account posted a video that was heart-warming and also not surprising in what it conveyed.

Tom Allen, Indiana’s football coach from 2016-23 and now Penn State’s defensive coordinator, was gleefully working the State Farm Stadium gridiron in a triumphant glow.

Defensive coordinator Tom Allen celebrating the Nittany Lions’ Fiesta Bowl win 🙌#B1GFootball x #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/zPf8LD4RNJ

— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) January 1, 2025

Allen hugged his fellow coaches, clapped at no one in particular – and did it all with a smile a mile wide. He was a bundle of passionate energy – when is he not? – after the Nittany Lions succeeded in their mission to keep gifted Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty in check and advance to a College Football Playoff semifinal.

It warmed my heart to see Allen in his element. While Curt Cignetti took Indiana to heights no one saw coming in 2024 with an 11-2 record and a completely unexpected College Football Playoff bid, I don’t think appreciation of Cignetti and being glad for Allen are in any way mutually exclusive.

Allen running around the field like a kid who just got their best birthday gift ever was a reminder that Allen is a fundamentally likeable guy. With Allen, that kind of enthusiasm never felt like an act. Even when the losses piled up, some Indiana fans might have rolled their eyes about Allen’s ways, but most Indiana fans wanted it to work for Allen – even past the point where it was evident that it wouldn’t.

It was also a reminder of the Allen that will hopefully be the version that Indiana fans remember most. The Tom Allen of 2019 and 2020, when Indiana was rising, and he was the toast of Hoosiers fans starved for football success.

Indiana head coach Tom Allen carries Indiana wide receiver Whop Philyor (1) across the field after defeating Purdue, 44-41 in double overtime to win the Old Oaken Bucket, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2019 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette. 2019 In Review / Nikos Frazier | Journal & Courier, Lafayette Journal & Courier via Imagn Content Services,

I didn’t cover Tom Allen for very long. Just the tail end of the 2022 season, the 2022-23 offseason, and Indiana’s 3-9 2023 final act under Allen. I am not close with Allen. I’ve never had a meaningful conversation with him. I doubt he knows who I am.

I wasn’t around for his good times, but I’m not sure I had to be to understand the man.

What was always best about Allen was that enthusiasm, that love of football. Cignetti talks about his love of “ball” and in that sense, Allen and Cignetti are two peas of the same pod.

The man loved to talk, or shout, about football. Much of his final season at Indiana in 2023 was spent speaking with a hoarse voice. His vocal chords always left it all on the field.

They also sometimes left interpretation behind. If you’re of a certain age, you might remember John Moschitta, the fast-talking spokesman for Federal Express ads in the 1980s. Allen would give Moschitta a run for his money in the fast-talking department.

Allen’s manner of speaking was so hard to understand that Penn State had to change which coaches were on and off the field during the season to improve communications, because Allen was hard to understand on the headset.

That story made me chuckle, but Allen and Penn State certainly didn’t leave opponents laughing in 2024. Penn State held four opponents under 10 points and six more under 14 points, including both College Football Playoff foes in SMU and Boise State.

Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen arrives at Milan Puskar Stadium before an NCAA football game against West Virginia, Saturday, August 31, 2024, in Morgantown, W. Va. / Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK

Penn State’s defense had the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in Abdul Carter, who had 22 tackles for loss and 11 sacks. While Indiana had the second-ranked defense in FBS at 256.3 yards conceded per game, Penn State wasn’t far behind. The Nittany Lions ranked fifth at 288.8 yards per game conceded so far.

I’m happiest, most of all, because I like to root for good people. Allen brought a lot of heart to Indiana football. Even before I was covering Indiana, the Hoosiers were easy to admire from afar. The LEO (Love Each Other) ethos was attractive.

In the days before the transfer portal, and the nitrus-like accelerant that NIL applied to it, Allen’s way of doing things worked very well. He was a coach who based his philosophy on building a culture based on long-term loyalty and building high school class by high school class – the traditional way college teams were built until just recently.

Times changed on Allen, and he didn’t handle all of those changes well. Mistakes were made in his final years to be sure. Hindsight tells us that now.

What I think is unfortunate for Allen is that in the zeal to express love of Cignetti – love that Cignetti richly earned, I should point out – it meant some ridicule was aimed at Allen.

I’m not blaming Indiana fans. This dynamic happens everywhere and it’s human nature – when you have a new flame, the old flame sometimes suffers in comparison.

LEO was not fashionable in 2024 – some fans going too far in terming it as soft, which misses the point of what that philosophy was all about. That’s assuming fans had Allen on their minds at all. Cignetti’s amazing success meant Allen was brushed aside from the consciousness of Hoosier Nation.

It happens. The passage of time usually allows for the good times to be remembered and the bad times to be forgotten. Perhaps Cignetti’s success along with Allen’s can speed up that process? Everyone is in a good place right now.

Allen’s continued presence in the College Football Playoff - Penn State will take on Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9 - reminds all of us that there were good times when Allen represented Indiana, too. Not as good as Cignetti’s success so far, but fond memories were provided by Allen’s teams that deserve their place in Indiana lore.

Given that, and that the man himself represented the Hoosiers with class, it makes me happy for him that he’s riding the wave in State College.

I hope most Indiana fans have the same perspective. It’s heart-warming to know that good things happen to good people.

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