Allen says his defense has elite players at all three levels

Avieon Terrell is one of a number of standouts in the returning Clemson defense.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Fri Jan 24 07:00:02 GMT-05:00 2025

Tom Allen thinks he has elite pieces at all three levels of his new Clemson defense, and the next step is matching the system to the players on hand.

Allen joins the Tigers with more than three decades of coaching experience. Most recently, he served as the defensive coordinator/linebackers coach at Penn State in 2024, a season in which he helped lead the Nittany Lions to a school-record 13 wins and a College Football Playoff berth.

Penn State finished seventh in the nation in total defense (294.8 yards per game) and eighth in the nation in scoring defense (16.5 points per game) under Allen’s guidance in 2024. The unit finished second nationally in tackles for loss (119) and fifth in sacks (44), categories in which Clemson cumulatively leads the nation since 2012 (560 sacks and 1,465 tackles for loss in that span).

During an interview with ACC PM, Allen said he has liked what he’s seen out of his defense so far. It’s a defense that returns starters like defensive end T.J. Parker, defensive tackle Peter Woods, new defensive end Will Heldt, linebackers Wade Woodaz and Sammy Brown and corners Ashton Hampton and Avieon Terrell.

“Well, I tell you what, what's real obvious is just the size of the defensive line and the athleticism they possess,” Allen said. “Really quality linebackers. You really have elite players at all three levels, got elite corners, elite safeties. Just really feel like it's a group that just needs to develop an identity and some confidence. And I think that the athleticism is there, the size is there.

“We just got to do a tremendous job of matching our system with the strengths of our players because to me, at the end of the day, that's the key. There's not a magic system that you run and I'm not wanting to force it into anything. It's about doing what's best for the current roster that we have. And so, I'm in the process of watching these guys on film, watching 'em work out, and we're going to build the best system that matches their strengths.”

How does he describe his coaching style?

“I would just say I've built my whole coaching philosophy off the three principles of accountability, toughness, and love, and those are the three foundations. It's about relationships. It's about being and putting yourself in position as a coach to hold your players to a high level of accountability and earn the right to be tough on them,” Allen said. “Why? Because they know you love them and that you care about 'em way more as a person, as a player. And that's my foundation.

“And that doesn't happen overnight. It's going to take some time to build those relationships, to build that trust. But once you get to that point, man, you earn the right to really be tough on them, to challenge them, to be able to motivate them, to be able to maximize everything they've been given. And that's what this is about, is helping them become the men and the football players that I believe they're created to be and allows them to create value for themselves in the future.”

Allen said that he looks forward to putting the pieces together and putting a great defense on the field.

“I love what I do. I really love being in the role as a DC, that's kind of how I'm wired, that's how I'm built,” he said. “The head coaching position was awesome, but there's also a lot of stuff, especially in the last few years that makes that even more challenging than ever. But I feel like I can really play to my strengths, and that's relationship building, and that's also focusing time on studying film and getting the best defense we had on the field.”