Gene Chizik: Tom Allen and New Coordinator Charlton Warren 'Are a Perfect Fit at Indiana'

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Tom Allen and Gene Chizik have never worked together, but they're both cut from the same cloth. Faith, family, football and friendship go along way for both of them.

Allen has been the head coach at Indiana for five years now, and he cut his teeth in the profession as a well-respected defensive coach and coordinator. It was the same for Chizik, who ran some of the best defenses in the country and eventually became the head coach at Auburn, where he won a national championship in 2010 with Cam Newton as his quarterback.

Since then, Chizik has bounced from the sidelines to the TV booth and back a few times, and he's now a really good and well-respected analyst on the SEC Network. He also had a great two years as North Carolina's defensive coordinator, and won a division title there in 2015 during an 11-1 regular season.

That's where he worked with Charlton Warren, who coached defensive backs for him four two seasons. So when Warren's name came up during Allen's search for a new defensive coordinator this winter, Chizik played a role in the hire.

"Tom and I have become friends over the years, and we text and talk often, mostly text,'' Chizik said by phone. "I texted him that if he wanted to talk about Charlton, I'd be happy to, and almost immediately, Tom was calling me back. We talked for a long time about him, and I'm glad it all worked out. Those two, I just think they're a perfect combination together.

"Charlton is a perfect fit for what Tom does there at Indiana. He's a great football coach and a great leader of men, and he also has a personality that will fit in perfectly with Tom and his staff.''

Allen hired Warren last week to replace Kane Wommack as defensive coordinator. It was important hire for Allen after Wommack left to become the head coach at South Alabama, because Allen's fingerprints are all over this defense. There was no need for an overhaul or a change in philosophy, just some tweaking and more improvement from a veteran group that's loaded with talent and depth.

Warren made a great impression on Allen immediately, which didn't surprise Chizik one bit. He did the same thing in 2015 when he hired Warren to coach defensive backs for him at North Carolina.

"When Larry Fedora hired me to be his defensive coordinator at North Carolina, he let me hire my own staff,'' Chizik said. "I've coached the secondary a lot during my career, and I'm very particular about filling a spot like that. I had conversations with three or four guys, and then interviewed a couple of others.

"But as soon as I talked with Charlton, it was over. That quick. He has a commanding presence and a terrific football IQ right up there with anybody, and all of that jumped out immediately when he talked. He did a tremendous job for me, and I'm sure Tom saw all of the same things.''

Kindred spirits on and off the field

Chizik and Allen have become friends in the past half-dozen years or so. They got to know each other on the recruiting trail in Florida, first when Allen was the defensive coordinator at South Florida in Tampa and then when he came to Indiana.

There's a ton of mutual respect there, as well.

"I first met Tom when we were both recruiting down in Florida,'' Chizik said. "He's a good man and we hit it off immediately. We're very similar in what we believe in. He has great faith; me too. That helped us click. We see eye to eye on a lot of things.

"There's no question this is a great match. Tom is big on culture and fit, and he definitely did a deep-dive on how he'd be with his kids. Tom is adamant about that, as he should be, and Charlton will add a lot to their lives, on and off the field. I am 100 percent convinced they will work well on a daily basis.''

Allen said he placed a lot of value on Chizik's opinions about their two years together at North Carolina.

"Gene Chizik to me is one of the top defensive coaches that I know personally and does such a great job, and I leaned on Coach Chizik and his understanding of Charlton and his skill set,'' Allen said. "He was huge in this process, too.

"When you hire somebody and bring someone on your staff that's coming from a really good program and done a great job defensively and been around the best defensive minds in the country, that's a great thing. He's extremely sharp. Bringing that leadership piece and that experience in, that's means a lot.. And when you've got somebody that's been in that staff room with him (like Chizik has), and they know the why in how they do things, I love that.''

Chizik says that Warren brings everything to the table that you'd want in a coordinator, and he's sure the two will flourish together.

"We talked a lot about the nuts and bolts of coaching, but we talked even more about Charlton as a person,'' Chizik said. ""He's an Air Force Academy grad, and when you play four years at an academy, you already know about having structure in your life, and having time management and efficiency skills.

"He's always been very confident in what he's teaching. He removes the gray for players, and does a great job of getting his points across.''

Warren brings "SEC eyes" to Indiana staff.

Warren has made SEC stops at Georgia, Florida and Tennessee, plus his two years in the ACC with Chizik at North Carolina. He's also coached and coordinated at his alma mater and spent a year at Nebraska. He's also been around a lot of great defensive minds, and Warren has picked up a lot along the way.

"Charlton has been exposed to a lot of defensive coordinators, me, Kirby Smart, Bo Pelini, Todd Grantham down at Florida,'' Chizik said. "He's been able to pick up a lot along the way. He's very smart, and I'm sure he'll add a lot to what Tom and his great staff already do there.''

"Charlton is a terrific recruiter, the complete package. He's great with parents and great with the kids, but he also does a terrific job of how a kid will fit into a system. He's a great X's and O's guy, but his strength is in dealing with people.''

Chizik has been impressed from afar with what Allen has done at Indiana the past two years. They've gone 8-5 and 6-2 in back-to-back seasons, and they'll likely be a top-15 team again in next year in the preseason polls.

"Tom has done a tremendous job there in changing the culture from what Indiana football used to be. He's won games that no one thought he could, and I have no doubt they'll continue to get better,'' Chizik said. "You don't ever worry about bending what they believe in going forward, because you just don't see that with Tom.

"Even now, when they go after a higher-profile recruit, it's still going to be about fit for Tom. That will never change. I'm very happy for Tom, and I'm thrilled for Charlton to be joining that group. I have no doubt they're going to do big things.''