CLEMSON — Tom Allen was happy at Penn State.

He was coaching a top 10 defense full of star players that had just advanced to the semifinals of the College Football Playoff.

Life was good, or was it?

Allen had always dreamed of being a defensive coordinator at a Big Ten school, an opportunity he got at Indiana nine years ago. A year later, he became the head coach of the Hoosiers, a position he held for seven years until he was let go in December of 2023.

Then James Franklin at Penn State came calling and just like that Allen’s dream of being a Big 10 coordinator was back. Life was good, but Allen had this feeling that it could still be better.

Then Dabo Swinney called, gauging interest to see if Allen might want to talk about Clemson’s recent opening as defensive coordinator. Obviously, Clemson is not a Big 10 school, but there was something the perennial titan of the ACC had that Penn State did not.

“It was totally unexpected, to be honest with you,” Allen said about getting the phone call from Swinney.

Clemson, who has been a consistent national championship contender for the last 10 years, offered Allen a chance to be closer to his family, something he holds dear in his heart. His two daughters Hannah and Brittney live in the Carolinas, with Brittany living right down the road in Greenville, S.C.

“I know not everybody is going to understand it and I respect that, but going back to what I said earlier, (family) really is the bottom line. It’s about my family and the timing of it all,” Allen said. “When you do this as long as I have, you get to the point where you know you’ve had some great opportunities and experiences.

“You really care about having your family as close as you can and sometimes that’s not even possible. So, for my wife to be able to see her grandchildren on a consistent basis, you can’t replace that, and you think about all of that.”

Family was why Dabo Swinney was able to pull Allen away from Penn State.

“I left high school (coaching) in 2006. I was hired as defensive coordinator at Indiana in 2016, so it was a 10-year window when we left high school (coaching) and I was able to fulfill my dream of being a defensive coordinator in the Big 10, which is what I said when I left Ben Davis High School. That’s what I wanted to do,” Allen said. “We lived in seven states in those 10 years and a lot of moves. Well, who’s that move on, that’s on my wife. I mean she’s the superstar in this whole thing and she’s been amazing.

“I appreciate her so much because, yeah, I was chasing after this dream that she said, it became their dream and our dream as a family. That’s when everything started to change.”

It was not just Allen’s wife, Tracy, that opened his eyes to how important family is, but there was also a moment when his two daughters were in middle school.

Allen was in the middle of a coaching run that saw him jump from high school to Division III, to NAIA, to FCS and finally to FBS coaching.

“They’ve been through a lot to be able to help me get where I feel like I was supposed to be at those times… When you make moves in this profession they happen in January,” Allen said. “Well, that’s right smack in the middle of the school year, so we’ve had to pull our kids out of School.”

At first, Allen and his wife tried to let their kids stay in school and finish out the year, while he moved to his new job and started to work. He said it was a miserable experience for everybody.

“We said we are never doing this again,” Allen said. “So, ever since then we always pulled them out.”

Because he had to hit the road recruiting, Tracy did most of the moving, got the kids enrolled and dropped them off at school. Eventually, it started to catch up to them and it apexed one afternoon while his daughters were in middle school.

“I’ll never forget,” Allen said. “She was taking our youngest daughter to drop off at her new school in in January and she wouldn’t get out of the car. I mean she was just crying, and my wife’s crying telling me this, and I’m starting to cry because I’m the reason for all these things. So, it’s hard. Those moves are hard especially for middle school girls.”

The moment nearly sent Allen back to high school coaching, but his wife talked him out of it. Ever since then, Allen has put his family as a priority and when Swinney came calling last Friday, he knew this was his opportunity to have his family all connected again.

Allen’s daughter Hannah lives in North Carolina and is expecting her first child, while his other daughter, Brittney, lives in Greenville and son, Thomas, will coach with him at Clemson.

“Man, I couldn’t pass it up,” Allen said. “You mix that in with a chance to be with this guy (Swinney) right here, I mean people that know me well weren’t surprised. I’ll just say that they weren’t surprised.

“My family was something that I really put at a high priority. Even though many people, who won’t know, say, ‘Why would you leave (Penn State) after a year? We had such a great season and we’re going to have another great season.’ I believe that they’re going to, and I wish nothing but great things, but for me, personally, this is about my family.”

And now he is a part of the Clemson Family, too.

“I really am excited to be here and I’m so thankful my wife gets a chance to have the whole crew together. However long that might be, the good Lord’s in charge of that. I just want to be faithful during that time,” Allen said.

—photo by Ken Ruinard  / USA TODAY Network