Penn State Football: James Franklin’s Top Candidates to Replace Tom Allen as Defensive Coordinator
Fresh off a heartbreaking end-of-season loss to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl last week, Penn State Football and head coach James Franklin could find themselves looking for a new defensive coordinator for the second offseason in a row.
According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Allen has been working towards a deal with Clemson for the same position, with a final decision from both sides expected in the coming days.
Thamel reports that Allen is the “top target” for Clemson in the Tiger’s defensive coordinator search. 247Sports Tyler Donahue reported Monday morning that there was “mounting confidence from Clemson’s end regarding Tom Allen on Monday morning.”
If a deal is to get done and Allen leaves Happy Valley after one season, it will mark Penn State’s third defensive coordinator search in four seasons, with Manny Diaz leaving after two seasons to become the head coach at Duke in 2024.
Penn State’s defense ranked seventh in the nation in 2024, a slight step back from ranking second overall in 2023 under Diaz.
With Penn State Football looking for a third defensive coordinator in as many years, here are five candidates that Penn State could look to for the Nittany Lions open defensive coordinator position:
Internal Route:
Anthony Poindexter, Penn State Safeties Coach, Co-Defensive Coordinator
Anthony Poindexter is the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Penn State and has been with the Nittany Lions for four seasons in Happy Valley.
Poindexter has spent ten years of his 20+ year coaching career with the defensive coordinator or co-defensive coordinator tag, spending three seasons at UConn as the defensive coordinator from 2014 to 2016. Poindexter has done a fantastic job with the safeties, coaching Jaquan Brisker into a second-round NFL draft pick in 2022 and Ji’Ayir Brown into a third-round pick in 2023, with KJ Winston and Jaylen Reed adding to his NFL resume in the 2025 draft.
Promoting Poindexter would continue the continuity for Penn State on defense that the Nittany Lions have run over the past three years and perhaps would keep Poindexter in Happy Valley awhile longer, as he has shown interest in other positions, including the UVA head coaching position recently.
Deion Barnes, Penn State Defensive Line Coach
Deion Barnes has been praised as a rising star in the coaching community.
Barnes has been fantastic in his two years as Penn State’s defensive line coach, working with first-round NFL draft pick Chop Robinson, third round pick Adisa Isaac, and presumed 2025 first-round pick Abdul Carter, among others. Barnes deserves mentioning because of his rising star status, but likely does not possess the requite experience to actually get the position. I would not be surprised to see Barnes eventually make the leap to DC, even at Penn State, but at the moment he still has plenty to learn before actually being a viable candidate to call the defense.
External Route:
D’Anton Lynn, USC Defensive Coordinator
This would be an intriguing letterman return for Penn State, as D’Anton Lynn spent four seasons in Happy Valley as a cornerback under Joe Paterno from 2008 to 2011. Lynn spent the 2024 season at USC as Lincoln Riley’s defensive coordinator. Before that Lynn spent one season at UCLA as the defensive coordinator. At UCLA, Lynn’s defense ranked 11th in the country, a 76-spot improvement from the season before Lynn took over at defensive coordinator.
Al Golden, Notre Dame Defensive Coordinator
This one may sting for the Nittany Lions as Al Golden and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish knocked Penn State out of this year’s college football playoff, thanks in part to Golden’s stout passing defense.
Golden has done a fantastic job with the Fighting Irish defense this season, where the Irish rank second in passing defense and first in defensive turnovers nationally. Golden may be hard to pry away from Notre Dame with the success that head coach Marcus Freeman and the program are having playing in the national title game this season, but as a former letterman, its worth a shot for James Franklin to add a very skilled and experienced coach.
Previously, Penn State head coach James Franklin has stressed the desire for a “head coach of the defense” as defensive coordinator and may look for a candidate with head coaching experience. Golden checks all of the boxes for Penn State and has also interviewed for the head coaching position at Penn State in 2014 multiple times before Penn State selected James Franklin.
Elijah Robinson, Syracuse Defensive Coordinator
Another former Nittany Lions’ letterman, Elijah Robinson spent ten seasons at Penn State as both a student-athlete and as a staff member.
Robinson spent the past season as the defensive coordinator at Syracuse, his first full-season with the defensive coordinator title in college. In his hiring at Syracuse, head coach Fran Brown called Robinson, “one of the nation’s most prolific recruiters and rising stars in coaching.” While he lacks the experience of some of the other members on this list, Robinson is seen as a rising star in the coaching community and may not be as quick to move on to another coaching job if he returns to Happy Valley.
What will James Franklin look for in Penn State’s defensive coordinator?
With Penn State taking a step forward this season, making the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff and winning two playoff games, the selection of Penn State’s next defensive coordinator is very important for James Franklin.
Drew Allar, Zane Durant, and many others are returning for their final years on campus and Penn State must capitalize on the window to keep the program moving in the right direction.
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