Tom Allen hired as Clemson’s highest-paid football assistant. Here are the details
It’s official: Tom Allen is Clemson’s new defensive coordinator.
Coach Dabo Swinney and the Tigers have their new DC in place after the Clemson University Board of Trustees compensation committee unanimously approved a three-year, $6 million contract for Allen on Tuesday afternoon.
Allen, the former Indiana head coach and Penn State defensive coordinator, will make $1.9 million in total salary in 2025, $2 million in 2026 and $2.1 million in 2027.
That makes him the highest paid assistant on Swinney’s staff, jumping offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, who has an annual salary of $1.75 million this year.
“We’ve got a great football coach — and a great leader of men — coming to Clemson,” Swinney said in a statement. “He brings a ton of experience and was highly recommended by some of the best people in this business.”
Said Allen in a statement: “I’m thankful for the opportunity that Coach Swinney has given me to lead the defense. I have admired him from afar for years and look forward to working for him and with his defensive staff.”
Allen replaces former Clemson DC Wes Goodwin, an internal hire who was fired by Swinney on Jan. 6 after three seasons. The Tigers went 10-4 and made the College Football Playoff this season but were among the country’s worst rushing defenses.
Allen’s hiring comes seven days after Goodwin was formally fired at Clemson and just five days after his previous team, Penn State, was eliminated from the CFP. PSU lost to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl CFP semifinal last Thursday.
In his single season working with the Nittany Lions, Allen’s unit finished among the national top 10 in scoring defense and total defense. He also coached star Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter, a likely top 10 NFL Draft pick.
Allen, 54, also spent seven seasons as Indiana’s head coach and was 33-49 overall (.402) and 18-43 in the Big Ten (.295) leading IU. He was fired in 2023.
A well-regarded defensive coach, Allen has over 30 years of coaching experience and has previous stops at Arkansas State, Ole Miss and South Florida.
He’ll be expected to produce immediately at Clemson, which returns the majority of its starters on offense and defense and will be expected to contend for, at minimum, an ACC championship and a second straight 12-team CFP bid this fall.
Allen will be Swinney’s fourth defensive coordinator at Clemson, following Kevin Steele (2009-11), current Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables (2012-21) and Goodwin (2021-24). He’s also expected to coach the team’s linebackers.
Swinney said his DC search was a “very thorough process.”
“Tom checked every box that I was looking for,” he said in a statement.
Allen, in a statement, thanked Penn State and coach James Franklin for his one season there and wished PSU “nothing but the best.” He also said that family geography played a role in his taking the Clemson job.
Allen and his wife have two adult daughters living in the Carolinas, and the Tigers DC job gave them the “unique opportunity” of being closer to them. Allen’s son, Thomas, played linebacker at IU and worked under his dad at Penn State and is reportedly set to join him at Clemson in a defensive analyst role.
“Our children have made countless sacrifices throughout the years in the coaching profession and this move brings us together,” Allen said.
Tom Allen contract details
With a starting salary of $1.9 million and an average annual salary of $2 million, Allen becomes the highest paid assistant coach among the 10 on Swinney’s staff.
That’s also a notable raise from what Allen was making at Penn State. Around this time last year, he signed a three-year deal, $4.8 million deal with PSU that topped out at an annual salary of $1.7 million in the last year of the contract.
He’ll start $200,000 higher than that at Clemson ($1.9 million) for 2025-26, and his annual salary will increase by another $100,000 in 2026-27 and 2027-28.
With Allen’s hiring, five of Clemson’s 10 assistant coaches are now set to make at at $1 million in annual salary in 2025 (Allen, Riley, Matt Luke, Chris Rumph and Nick Eason). That’s on top of Swinney’s annual salary of $11.25 million for this year and puts the Tigers comfortably among the nation’s top 10 in total assistant coach pay.
Two other interesting notes from Allen’s contract, obtained by The State:
- Clemson agreed to pay Allen a “signing bonus,” which will cover the cost of his Penn State defensive coordinator buyout (the exact number isn’t publicly available). There’s some wiggle room for the specific amount, but Clemson will pay Allen a signing bonus of at least $903,150 to cover the buyout. Allen also has the option to have Clemson pay that to PSU directly, on Allen’s behalf.
- Allen’s contract includes standard buyout language if he were to leave Clemson for another defensive coordinator job. In that instance, he’d owe 25% of the remaining money left on his deal. But if Allen were to leave Clemson for a college head coaching job (or any NFL job), he wouldn’t owe the school anything. That’s an interesting note for someone who already has head coaching experience.
This story was originally published January 14, 2025 at 3:53 PM.
