Tom Allen wore a weary smile in Penn State's locker room after the Orange Bowl as he surveyed a silent, still group of players hurting over the Nittany Lions' 27-24 loss to Notre Dame. Penn State's defensive coordinator, at least for that moment, tried to find context.

With Allen’s hiring, five of Clemson’s 10 assistant coaches are now set to make at at $1 million in annual salary in 2025 (Allen, Riley, Matt Luke, Chris Rumph and Nick Eason). That’s on top of Swinney’s annual salary of $11.25 million for this year and puts the Tigers comfortably among the nation’s top 10 in total assistant coach pay.

Allen, he said, wasn’t looking for a job. He was laser-focused on Penn State’s CFP semifinal game against Notre Dame at the Orange Bowl. The Nittany Lions made the field as an at-large team (No. 6 seed) and won games against SMU and Boise State.