Tom Allen had his front teeth knocked out and finished practice

How intense is Tom Allen, Clemson’s new defensive coordinator? He once had his front teeth knocked out at the beginning of an Ole Miss practice and still finished the practice, even though it was difficult to blow his whistle.

David Hood - Senior Writer - Thursday, February 06 2025

CLEMSON – How intense is Tom Allen, Clemson’s new defensive coordinator? He once had his front teeth knocked out at the beginning of an Ole Miss practice and still finished the practice, even though it was difficult to blow his whistle.

Allen met with Clemson fans in a group setting for the first time at Wednesday night’s 2025 Chick-fil-A Recruiting Wrap Up hosted by the Fort Hill Clemson Club. The event at the Poe Indoor Facility introduced Allen and Clemson’s newest recruiting class (including transfers) and raised money for local students to attend the university.

It was Allen who stole the show early, drawing smiles and nods from Clemson fans eager for a fresh start on defense. He started by explaining his front teeth are fake.

“I came here sight unseen, but had a great talk with Coach Swinney, and just his vision for this program and our defense and didn't take me long to figure out this is where I felt like I was supposed to be,” Allen said. “Kind of get a little bit of history. When Coach (Matt) Luke and I coach ed together at Ole Miss many years ago - I was a linebackers coach and he was an offensive line coach -and we were doing a drill with our o-line linebackers together doing some things and trying to get the guys fired up. And I'm a pretty intense guy, pretty passionate guy. And so the drill's going through and guys make a play. I am jumping on one of our guys and he raises up and hits me right in the mouth and knocks my front teeth out, all three of 'em. True story.

“My three front teeth are all fake due to that incident. But the problem was it happened at the start of practice. So I had to coach the rest of the practice with no front teeth, try blowing a whistle with no front teeth. It didn't work so well. But that is true. It is pretty painful. But you do what you got to do.”

Allen went on to say that coaching in the South is different.

“I'll say this, I love being in the South. The South's different. The South loves football,” Allen said. “And I was reminded of that really quickly. I went to church a week ago and somebody greeted me in church and told me how excited they were that we are here. But right away they said, 'Coach, are we going to stop the run?' That is a true story. I said, 'Well, I sure hope so.'

"But then I go through and another guy shakes my hand and welcomes me to Clemson. He said, ‘Hey coach, are you going to be in the press box? Are you going to be on the field? I’m getting peppered with these questions around the church, which is awesome, but that's why you love football here, man. You love great sports.”