CLEMSON – If you ask Clemson defenders about their “Tom Allen moment,” they can give you an answer with ease. In the defensive coordinator’s first seven months with the Tigers, he has made a habit of rewarding players with praise that goes far beyond words. 

It all started in March, when defensive tackle Peter Woods told media members that he saw Allen head-butting senior linebacker Wade Woodaz before one spring practice.

“Maybe I am coming out there, and I am not having the day I want to pre-practice,” Woods said. “I see him head-butting Wade Woodaz pre-practice when we are stretching, I am immediately going to wake up and be like, ‘Ok, let’s go. We got work to do. Let’s go.'”

For redshirt freshman Corian Gipson, his “Allen moment” included being slapped on the back of the head after a pass breakup during spring practice.

“I know one time during the spring… when I got a PBU, he just slapped me in the back of my head,” Gipson said Tuesday. “I almost fell.”

For Allen’s players, this behavior is welcomed. It is part of Allen’s crusade to increase the defense’s energy and intensity, one rep at a time. While mental mistakes and laziness are publicly punished with up-downs in Allen’s regime, good plays are rewarded with a slap on the helmet, a hug, a head-butt, or a tackle to the ground.

“I’d say the energy. It’s just contagious,” said defensive back Branden Strozier during fall camp. “He’s fired up… gets the whole team fired up. We make plays, he’s on the field with us, so I think that just gets everybody fired up.”

Sophomore cornerback Ashton Hampton’s “Allen” moments are more discrete than getting tackled to the ground, but still emit encouragement.

“I have had a couple of Tom Allen moments, like I’ll make a big interception and he’s the first one to come dab me up, like get excited for me and cheer me on,” Hampton said.

Hampton believes this high-intensity, high-accountability culture is responsible for helping his team see their primary goal become clearer.

“Every day we got some type of up downs or something like that for accountability and everybody as a team is really buying into that and we can truly like see the vision of winning a national championship there,” the 2024 freshman All-American said.

In his 33 years of coaching, Allen has brought this same philosophy to each program he worked with, including a seven-year stint as Indiana’s head coach. In 2020, his fourth year at the helm of the Hoosiers’ team, Allen jumped onto defensive back Devon Matthews after he caught a game-winning interception over Michigan. In celebration, Allen ended up with a vertical gash down his cheek. 

“Unfortunately, his helmet hit my cheekbone,” Allen said postgame. “I don’t think he broke it, but it doesn’t feel very good right now. But, bottom line is I don’t really care. I just love this team.”

Allen added that the wound felt like “no big deal” because earlier in his coaching career, a celebration-turned-injury required him to undergo a root canal procedure and eight additional months of dental work.

Dental work and cuts aside, Allen’s willingness to put his entire body into celebrating his players, and his ability to provide encouragement outside of stale words in a meeting, have not gone unappreciated. For Tyler Venables, a super senior in his sixth year with the team, this commitment is what makes Allen special.

“He’s been Incredible,” Venables said. “Especially in getting players to buy into his scheme because you know the coaches are only as good as what the players are able to do and what they believe in. If they don’t believe in your system, if they don’t believe in your scheme, you’re going to have a very tough time as a coach. He’s got an incredible amount of buy-in from our defense and especially the whole team. Guys see what he’s about and they can appreciate that.” 

Allen’s first chance to showcase a public “Allen moment” as a coach will be on Aug. 30, when No. 4 Clemson will take on No. 9 LSU at Memorial Stadium. The game will mark the Tigers’ first chance to show their buy-in and will mark the start of the Allen era. Head-butting is not guaranteed, but always a possibility.