When Clemson takes on Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium in New York on Dec. 27 (noon, ABC), Tom Allen will be facing his former team.

Of course, Allen was named Clemson’s defensive coordinator in January and joined the Tigers’ coaching staff after serving as the defensive coordinator/linebackers coach at Penn State in 2024, when he helped lead the Nittany Lions to a school-record 13 wins and a College Football Playoff berth.

Allen, who came to Clemson with 33 previous years of coaching experience, met with the media this week and discussed his initial reaction upon learning Clemson would face Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl.

“I would say the first thought was that – just looking forward to seeing the players and the coaches and the staff members that’ll be there,” Allen said. “I was only there for a year, but still built some good relationships. I think that’s what sticks out the most – a lot of great people there.”

Prior to his lone year with the Nittany Lions, Allen spent eight years at Indiana from 2016-23, including one year as the Hoosiers’ associate head coach/defense in 2016 and seven as head coach from 2017-23.

Allen also commented on Indiana’s success over the last couple of seasons and his communication with people in Bloomington.

Led by two-time AP Coach of the Year (2024, 2025) Curt Cignetti – who was hired by Indiana in November 2023 as Allen’s replacement – the Hoosiers are 13-0, Big Ten champion for the first time since 1967, and the No. 1 seed for the College Football Playoff.

Entering the 2025 CFP, Cignetti is 24-2 in his two seasons as the Hoosiers’ head coach. Allen finished 33-49 during his head coaching tenure at Indiana, which included the 2020 campaign for which he earned AFCA National Coach of the Year as well as Big Ten Hayes-Schembechler Coach of the Year honors and Grant Teaff Coach of the Year from FCA. The Hoosiers went 6-2 in that pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when they ranked as high as No. 7 in the AP Poll and finished No. 12.

“Just super happy for the players,” Allen said regarding Indiana. “I’ve texted a bunch of them, their parents. Just so happy for them. … Really, really happy for those guys, and just really happy that they’ve chosen to invest in football. That’s something they know they needed to do. I said that when I left, and they had not done that in the past to the level that was necessary, and it’s been awesome to see them recognize that and invest and be able to see them be rewarded for that.”

–Clemson Athletic Communications contributed to this story