MIKE GROSS | Sports WriterSTATE COLLEGE - One part of Tom Allen working his way in as Penn State’s new defensive coordinator - probably not the most important part - is getting Allen over his whistle addiction.
Allen was head coach at Indiana from 2017-2023. At practice, head coaches blow their whistle a lot. Penn State is two weeks into spring practice.
“I went up to him today, and I go, “Did you just blow your whistle?’ ’’ said head coach James Franklin after practice Tuesday. “He said, ‘I may have.’ ’’
“I guess I’ve got to take it off,’’ said Allen. “If I have it around my neck, I’m going to blow it.’’
Allen, long known as an elite defensive guy, was fired at Indiana after last season. Manny Diaz, who ran Penn State’s dominant defense the past two years, left to become head coach at Duke.
Franklin fired Mike Yurcich, his former offensive coordinator, in November. Enter Andy Kotelnicki, from Kansas, as the new OC.
Stacy Collins, last year’s special teams coordinator, also left after the season. Franklin brought in former Vanderbilt OC Justin Lustig.
Three new coordinators. The offseason, and thus spring ball, has had to be more, um, introductory than usual, on multiple levels.
“It’s about the foundation,’’ Franklin said. “I think we’ve laid the foundation on offense, defense and special teams.
“Then you get a chance to evaluate and there’s still that aspect of, OK, we’ll put all this stuff in and then we’ll go over it again in the summer, figure out what our identity is going to be. But really, I feel good about what we’ve done to this point.’’
On the defensive side, the tangible changes are the move of Abdul Carter, a two-time all-Big Ten linebacker to defensive end, and the fact that Penn State’s base defense may mostly be a 4-2-5 now, as opposed to Diaz’ 4-3.
“I actually like that,’’ said senior safety Jaylen Reed, which figures, since it should get him on the field more. “(Allen) likes a lot more nickel personnel. More DBs on the field, more chances to make creative plays.’’
Sometimes the fifth “DB,’’ will be a linebacker/safety hybrid.
“It allows you to get the superior athlete in space,’’ Allen said. “It takes a unique skill set. You’ve got to be able to do multiple things. We feel like we’ve got several guys that are a fit for it.’’
Allen went 33-49 at Indiana, 0-3 in bowl games. The Hoosiers went 6-1 in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, and finished that season ranked 11th in the country.
Even though his 2018 and ’19 recruiting classes were among the best in school history, the drop-off on the field was steep after 2020. The Hoosiers have gone 9-27 since, and quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. transferred to Washington, where he led the Huskies to the 2023 national championship game.
He’s never had these kind of players to work with before.
“I found out we’ve got some pretty talented guys,’’ he said. “Guys who can do a lot of different things, and it basically allows us to do everything on the field.
“There’s no question that up front is a glaring difference (from Indiana). The depth of those guys and the number of them who can run. You’ll be able to do things to get (pass rush) without having to bring six guys. At the same time, employ of lot of guys so that we can be ready for a long season.’’
