Tom Allen: Navigating Career Transitions, Maximizing Your Strengths, & Adapting To New Environments

This week Andrew welcomes Penn State Football Defensive Coordinator & 2020 National Coach of the Year Tom Allen back to the show. At Penn State, Tom is taking over stewardship of one of college football’s best defenses — and working to make it even better. In this conversation, Tom shares powerful ideas on navigating career transitions, maximizing your strengths, & why the more challenging path for you as a leader is often the best path for the people you lead. This episode is about far more than football. It’s jam packed with timeless wisdom on leadership, communication, success, & more. Show Highlights:0:00 - Intro2:51 - End of Indiana tenure4:05 - New role at Penn State5:05 - Identifying your core passions6:11 - What Tom loves most about coaching7:32 - Building relationships in portal/NIL era8:30 - “I want to transform lives”10:01 - What made Penn State an attractive place10:52 - Navigating career transitions13:36 - “I’m a Big Ten guy”15:05 - Early days of Tom’s career18:01- Making something great even better21:11 - Adapting to existing system 27:32 - Why the right thing is often the hardest path28:07 - Parenting & coaching parallels29:10 - How Tom got into coaching31:20 - Communication33:54 - Head coach at age 2335:04 - Being present ** Follow Andrew On Social **Twitter/X: @andrewhmosesInstagram: @AndrewMoses123Sign up for e-mails to keep up with Andrew's podcast at everybodypullsthetarp.com/newsletter