Tom Allen DC History

[StatTiger 3,188]

It appears that Tom Allen will soon be announced as Auburn's next defensive coordinator. This will mark his fifth season as a defensive coordinator at the collegiate level. With this in mind, here is a breakdown of his defensive rankings...

Lambuth College (2008-2009) NAIA Rankings

2008:

No. 26 run-defense (No. 77 the year before)

No. 52 pass-efficiency defense (No. 86 the year before)

No. 49 total-defense (No. 77 the year before)

No. 62 scoring-defense (No. 88 the year before)

No. 48 third-down defense (No. 82 the year before)

Allen during his first season, was able to improve the Lambruth defense in all the major statistical categories.

2009:

No. 23 run-defense

No. 14 pass-efficiency defense

No. 18 total-defense

No. 11 scoring defense

No. 12 third-down defense

Tom Allen's defense improved immensely during year No. 2 with top-25 rankings across the board in the major statistical categories. This improvement allowed Allen to make the climb to the NCAA (FCS) from the NAIA level.

2010 Drake University:

No. 6 run-defense

No. 49 pass-efficiency defense

No. 36 total-defense

No. 25 scoring-defense

No. 56 third-down defense

No. 53 forced-turnovers

No. 18 tackles for loss

No. 30 red zone defense

Coach Tom Allen left Drake after the 2010 season to become Assistant Head Coach and Linebackers coach at Arkansas State during the 2011 season. He followed Hugh Freeze to Ole Miss to become the linebackers coach from 2012-2014. Allen landed his first defensive coordinator title at the FBS level when South Florida hired him for the 2015 season.

2015 University of South Florida (National Rankings during regular season):

No. 33 run-defense (No. 83 the year before)

No. 27 pass-efficiency defense (No. 108 the year before)

No. 38 total-defense (No. 69 the year before)

No. 23 scoring-defense (No. 65 the year before)

No. 68 third-down defense (No. 90 the year before)

No. 33 forced-turnovers (No. 65 the year before)

No. 23 tackles for loss (No. 82 the year before)

No. 104 red zone defense (No. 109 the year before)

During his only season at South Florida, Coach Tom Allen improved the Bulls defense across the board. It appears he places a high emphasis on run-defense, which is something Auburn needs to improve. This has been a major weak point for the Auburn defense during six of the last seven seasons. Until Auburn solidifies their run-defense, there is no way to build consistency overall.

Last year when Gus Malzahn hired Will Muschamp, he was searching for an immediate impact, knowing Muschamp would not be on the Plains for very long. This time around, Malzahn was looking for a strong hire with more emphasis on stability and continuity. Tom Allen will be the fifth defensive coordinator at Auburn since 2009, which hampered progression on the defensive side of the football. Only time will tell how successful Allen will be at Auburn but there should be no doubt that "stability" was needed on the defensive side of the football more than any other attribute.

[JDUBB4AU 5,766]

Allen is a great choice. Thank u stat

[FoundationEagle 637]

Paints a better picture than what I've been seeing this far. Red zone D is very poor there, but that was one of our strongpoints this year and his strongpoints were our weaknesses so it seems on the surface that his track record fits our needs

[TexasTiger 15,988]

Seems like a strong choice, all things considered.

[AUGoo 2,792]

I'm All In!

Bring it Coach Allen!

[bdc81 90]

Reminds me of GGC stats coming out of Central Florida (from FCS Stephen Austin). I value a track record of consistent improvement

Think I remember the AU family upset when we lost CGC to Texas.

Hire an all star DB coach and I think we are good to go.

[autig90 112]

Great info Stat - thanks. Sadly I imagine a few on here will ignore facts and still revert to their 'sky is falling!' rhetoric.

[AUTiger25 29]

As always, good stuff Stat.

[JoeBags7277 760]

Outstanding. I'll be making heavy reference to these numbers to counter the troglodyte Bamzos.

[TitanTiger 22,251]

It's really easy to get caught up in one game. Some mental midgets around here will have made up their minds based on that bowl game and are done. While that game wasn't encouraging, it was against a top 5 offense. Western Kentucky hung with LSU for 2 1/2 quarters or so. Scored 20 points and rolled up 428 yds of offense, 24 first downs.

Much better to step back and look at a season's worth of work.

[AUIH1 1,515]

I am fine with hire given the circumstances and hopefully he will turn out to be another "Chizik" DC hire for us. We certainly need stability on that side of the ball.

wde

[johnnyAU 3,770]

Well done.

[aujeff11 6,243]

I'm fine with the hire. It's just the defensive schemes I'm worried about going to. Ellis ruined me.

[wareagleguy 1,433]

Well done Stat, as always!

[martyb4au 0]

Stability is huge.. Even if 2016 doesn't turn out to be a great year give Gus and Tom time..

[OldNewby 27]

Good stuff ST.

[Never2Yield 1,231]

Stability is huge.. Even if 2016 doesn't turn out to be a great year give Gus and Tom time..

Agreed, stability and continuity is what we need. If Allen can help established that and get results, I'm all for him.

[AUpreacherman22 3,952]

Stability is huge.. Even if 2016 doesn't turn out to be a great year give Gus and Tom time..

Agreed, stability and continuity is what we need. If Allen can help established that and get results, I'm all for him.

Count me in.

[aucanucktiger 2,015]

That's astute IMO aujeff. Ellis star-oriented "schemes" relied heavily on talent he didn't have - schemes needing a world class "star" and one-on-one talent able to cover world class Amari's, Becham jr's, Green-Becham's, etc SEC WR's.

Anyway, it's interesting to consider the run stopping talent potential Allen would inherit here and inside LB recruits his run-stuffing focus hire might attract (I'm Mikey-school in the LB worry dept). I'm an old school fud when it comes to D.

[cole256 17,085]

I just don't want a 4-2-5

[TitanTiger 22,251]

I just don't want a 4-2-5

I don't want the 4-2-5 concept I saw Ellis run. But we ran a 4-2-5 frequently this year. And Alabama runs it any time they encounter a spread team or pass-happy offense. But instead of needing some superstar Eric Berry type of "star" guy, they just add a corner. Which is what we did.

[cole256 17,085]

Yeah that's fine but what I don't want is us using it as a base defense trying to stop the run. Bammer has different type of athletes at linebacker and secondary than we had. Once we have some big time athletes through out the defense I would feel a little better about it

[AUBehaviorScientist 0]

Uggghhh. Not a fan of the 4-2-5.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Allen seems like a good hire. We'll know more as next season rocks on.

[AUpreacherman22 3,952]

The defensive philosophy is far more relevant than the "base set".

The opposing offense will dictate the set and personnel.

Allen focuses on stopping the run. If he can be successful doing that and we can continue to grow in pass coverage, we may have ourselves a good defense.