'It's Just Contagious': New Clemson DC's Energy Feeding Defense in Fall Camp

Clemson Tigers defensive coordinator Tom Allen is in his first season with the program, and his impact is already easy to see in fall camp.

Only in his first season with Clemson, defensive coordinator Tom Allen is already making an impact with the Tigers. | Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

CLEMSON, S.C.-- Clemson first-year defensive coordinator Tom Allen has used his energy to revitalize the Tiger defense, and the secondary is feeding into it. 

With fall camp fully underway to prepare for the Tigers’ Week 1 game against LSU, it’s been Allen’s energy that has been “contagious," according to redshirt sophomore Branden Strozier.

“I’d say the energy,” Strozier said on Tuesday. “It’s just contagious. 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 and brings the energy.”

Many players have their own “Tom Allen moment," with the defensive coordinator’s energy being so high following defensive plays that he ends up tackling or getting physical with the team. 

Redshirt freshman Corian Gipson has experienced it, especially when he recorded pass breakups in practice throughout the spring.  

“I know one time during the spring, even this year when I got a PBU, he just slapped me in the back of my head,” Gipson said. “I almost fell and just played with him, but he brings a lot of energy to the team.”

10/10 @Coach_TomAllen 😂 pic.twitter.com/UDeDsQdG9K

— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) August 7, 2025

At the same time, Allen has a belief in “next play mentality”, telling his unit not to lose focus during plays they lose. Having a scheme that plays fast, many of the cornerbacks enjoy the new system that Allen conveys. 

“He doesn’t care if you mess up, next play mentality,” cornerback Shelton Lewis said. “We want depth in that defensive room, we want everybody to go out there and be able to play. So, just bringing that toughness to the defense, just hard-nosed, play-by-play.”

Strozier explained that with the mentality, Allen puts a lot of trust in the Tigers defense to respond to adversity.

“He just allows us to work freely,” Strozier said. “He allows us to be us. He knows that nobody’s perfect in this world, we are going to make plays but it’s just like I said, how we respond, and I think we’ve been doing really well with that.” 

No one loves an incompletion more than @Coach_TomAllen 🔒 pic.twitter.com/am9xDqwBr6

— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) August 4, 2025

It’s from the personnel that the team has, which Allen takes advantage of and uses to the system. The 55-year-old was the former defensive coordinator for Penn State last season, who made the semifinal of the College Football Playoff. 

Now, in his first season with the Tigers upcoming, he’s using the knowledge across all teams he’s been with to mold his defense. 

“His scheme is based on the players we got,” Lewis said, “so he tried to work around that and what we bring from where he’s been and what he learned from making it as far as he did and try to bring it to our defense and the players we got.”

Accountability has been a point of emphasis for the team, with Allen making his team do different drills at the beginning of practice for missed marks. Sophomore standout Ashton Hampton has watched the team begin to buy into it, challenging them to do less with these drills at the beginning of practices. 

Lock 'em up 23 🔒 @A2hton_ pic.twitter.com/LxWoEMuJHo

— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) August 8, 2025

“Everyday, we’ve got some type of up-down or something like that for accountability and everybody on the team has been buying into that,” Hampton said, “and we can truly see the vision of ‘we can win a national championship’. The vision is honing in on win number one.”

From buying into the vision, Hampton has watched the team doing less up-downs throughout camp, signifying a potential team-wide buy-in to Allen’s vision of winning a national championship.