Following the departure of defensive coordinator Manny Diaz, who took the Duke head coaching job on December 7th, Penn State football coach James Franklin didn't waste much time before hiring former Indiana coach Tom Allen as Diaz's replacement.
But, said Franklin on Tuesday, the process to hire Allen into the Penn State football program took some time, according to Audrey Snyder of The Athletic:
“Franklin said Tom Allen's interview took about a week to complete bc of the calendar and Qs both sides had. Franklin mentions the non-negotiables with all new coordinator hires. Said after Allen decided to come to Penn State there were other opportunities for him that came up.”
Tom Allen's eight-season run as the Hoosiers head coach came to an end last year when Indiana decided to part ways with their long-time head coach and hire Curt Cignetti, who rose to national prominence this year as his James Madison squad made a push for an unexpected undefeated season.
Allen also spent one season as the defensive coordinator at Indiana before taking over as head coach. He now fills that same position with Penn State football.
Franklin has been busy revamping the Penn State football coaching staff this offseason. Penn State recently lost their special teams coordinator Stacy Collins as he left the program to coach at Boise State. Franklin was able to find a replacement rather quickly as Justin Luftig is coming over from Vanderbilt.
The Nittany Lions also recently learned that they were losing offensive analyst and analytics coordinator Calvin Lowry. Lowry is a former Penn State football player as he played under Joe Paterno, and the Nittany Lions needed to find someone to replace him. Franklin found someone for this position quickly as well as Mark Dupuis is coming in as Lowry's replacement.
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