Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1524108
5 8 A U G U S T 2 0 2 4 W W W . B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M / / / / / / / 2 0 2 4 F O O T B A L L P R E V I E W / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / T om Allen admits he had some adjustments to make. Fresh off a seven-year stint as Indiana's head coach, the new Penn State defen- sive coordinator and his wife, Tracy, had moved from Bloomington, Ind., to State College, but that was just one of the changes he had to navigate. Even the mundane parts of daily life were different. Catching a flight, for instance. Allen had grown accustomed to some of the perks of being a head coach and had to reacquaint himself with realities of business travel as part of his recruiting responsibilities for the Nittany Lions. "I almost missed my first flight be- cause, as the head coach, I was on the private plane quite a bit," Allen said. "Even if I was flying commercial, they did everything for me as far as being checked in. It didn't even dawn on me to check in for my flight." At the airport, Allen was informed that his breach of check-in protocol was an issue. It looked as though he was go- ing to be unable to board … until he was recognized by airport personnel. "It kind of made me chuckle," Allen said. "It's an adjustment to the real world. Civilian life. But it's been a good adjustment, and I'm in a great place with a lot of really good people." That place and those people are, in large part, why Allen is now at Penn State. Succeeding Manny Diaz, who oversaw one of college football's best defenses the past two seasons, Allen is well-positioned to maintain that standard. The Nittany Lions finished No. 2 in total defense (247.6 yards per game) and No. 3 in scoring defense (13.5 points per game) last year, holding all 12 of their regular-season opponents to 24 or fewer points. Returning from that unit is a star-in-the-making in junior defensive end Abdul Carter. In addition, the Lions bring back a vet- eran defensive tackle corps and a tal- ented bookend edge rusher in junior BACK TO HIS ROOTS BACK TO HIS ROOTS Tom Allen relishes the opportunity to focus once again on building a great defense NAT E BAU E R | N AT E . B A U E R @ O N 3 . C O M Allen spent seven seasons as head coach at Indiana before accepting the defensive coordinator post at Penn State in December. PHOTO BY STEVE MANUEL