For Tom Allen, coaching is about making an impact in the lives of his players

Allen looks to make an impact on and off the field (Photo by Merrell Mann).

David Hood - Senior Writer - 2 days ago

Coaching is a family affair for Tom Allen, and he wants to make the same impact his own dad made in the lives of his players.

Allen is entering his first season as Clemson’s defensive coordinator after being named to the position in mid-January. His son, Thomas Allen, is also helping coach the linebackers.

The elder Allen joined the Tigers with 33 years of previous coaching experience, including impact at the high school, Division III, NAIA, FCS, and FBS levels. He served as the defensive coordinator/linebackers coach at Penn State in 2024, helping 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), as he helped guide defensive end Abdul Carter to unanimous All-America honors and a No. 3 overall draft selection.

But his love of coaching began by watching his father, also named Tom Allen, coach at New Castle High School in Indiana. Allen saw the impact his father made in the lives of young men.

“When you know your purpose, so that gets into your next question about why I coach and the thing I loved the most about coaching, it's the impact it has,” Allen said on a recent Two Right Turns podcast. “My dad was my high school coach, and I saw him and was raised around this game my whole life. Going to practices when I was a little bitty guy, and looking up to those players, I saw the impact.

“I saw that when they would come back and they would visit, just the stories they would tell, and you could just tell that he made a difference. My dad made a difference in their lives, the kind of husbands and fathers that they became. And that was never forgotten by me. And when I had to make the decision to go into coaching, that is what drew me into that. And I don't regret it because I've seen that now I've got a chance now to coach guys that currently have their own families.”

Allen said he loves to see young men become the men they are supposed to be.

“And that's an awesome thing. And to be able to know that you made a little bit of a difference in their lives in the way that they approach things,” Allen said. “And so that's what makes it really, really awesome is to see them become the man that I believe they're created to be. And that's why you do what you do. And then the challenging part is you can't change 'em all. You can't make decisions for 'em.

“I've seen a lot of guys make bad decisions, and even though you teach 'em and you teach 'em and you help 'em and you try to correct and hold 'em accountable, you can't live their life for 'em. And sometimes you maybe want to. And I guess that's where it gets frustrating. But at the same time, I do know that there's a biblical principle. It talks about if you train up a child in the way that they're supposed to go when they're old, they won't forget that.”

Allen compares coaching to parenting.

“I think it's a little bit the same in coaching. I always say coaching and parenting, it's the same principles that you use to be a great coach, you use to be a great parent,” he said. “And so I think also those things you instill in them, even if they make some bad decisions, that in time they'll come back to understand that, hey, those things that coach taught me, those things are making me a better person, are going to allow me to be who I'm supposed to be. And I think that is what motivates me, what drives me, because I want to be a guy that coaches for the things that matter most, the things that you can't lose, the things that can't be taken from you, and that's your faith and your family.”