Meet the former college football exec who worked with Penn State’s James Franklin and Miami’s Al Golden

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Sitting on the couch of his Port St. Lucia, Fla. home, Tom Deahn watched Penn State take down Boise State on New Year’s Eve and Notre Dame outlast Georgia on Jan. 2 in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. Watching the Irish and Nittany Lions win was special for the 59-year-old who grew up just outside of Buffalo.

Today, he’s the director of event management for Hutchinson Shores Resort and Spa in Jensen Beach, Fla., but his current role is the aftermath of a 20-year career working in college football. In that time, Deahn coached every position group except defensive backs at the Division III level and later served as the director of football operations for three programs on the Football Bowl Subdivision level.

» READ MORE: For James Franklin, his obsession over Penn State’s preparation truly has been key to victory

During that time, Penn State coach James Franklin and Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden were among the coaches he worked with. Deahn was Maryland’s director of football operations from 1999-2006 before joining Golden’s staff at Temple staff in the same position and later followed Golden to Miami.

Deahn left football behind in 2012 but he’s torn on who to root for when Golden and Franklin meet for a chance at a BCS national championship in the Orange Bowl (7:30 p.m., ESPN).

“Although they’re extremely different in some ways, they’re, in more ways than not, very similar,” Deahn said in a telephone interview this week. “I knew Al because he was a [defensive] coordinator at Virginia when [me and James] were at Maryland. … They’re very similar because they’re both very driven. Both guys [who] are ridiculously good, [and] detailed-oriented. No detail ever is too small. And then the other part is they’re both relentless recruiters.”

As a former college football player himself, Deahn knew he didn’t want to wear a shirt and tie for the rest of his life after spending three years moving into the corporate world. He traded in his degree in finance for coaching in 1991 at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., then later managed the programs’ day-to-day operations.

He worked initially under former Maryland coach Ron Vanderlinden, and when former receivers coach Mike Gundy returned to his alma mater, Oklahoma State, after the 1999 season, the Terrapins were in the market for a new receivers coach. Deahn says he recalls a wide receivers coach at Idaho State flooding their football office with calls for the opening. What happened next still sticks with Deahn.

“We come into the office one day, and here’s James sitting in the lobby at like, 7 in the morning, and he just said, ‘I hadn’t got a call, forgive me, but I’m going to get an interview,’” Deahn recalled. “So he came and [sat] in the lobby and Ron said, ‘Well, you’re here. Heck, I’m going to interview you.’ And lo and behold, they hit it off. The staff liked him, and sure enough, they hired him as a wide receiver coach.

Franklin’s relentlessness, which still shines through at Penn State 25 years later, got him on the staff, where he’d become close friends with current Maryland coach Mike Locksley. Both were retained, along with Deahn, when Vanderlinden was fired following the 2000 season and Ralph Friedgen was hired.

» READ MORE: Can Penn State power past Notre Dame in their national semifinal? Inquirer writers offer their predictions

Maryland enjoyed great success in that time frame, making appearances in the Orange Bowl and Peach Bowl in 2001 and 2002, respectively.

It was 2006 when Deahn got the call to join Golden’s staff at Temple. The previous director of football operations quit after four months on the job. Temple football, which endured 15 straight losing seasons at the time of Golden’s hire, was in dire need of a change in its culture.

So Deahn brought a tradition from Maryland to North Broad with him: on the first night of summer camp, players were fed steak and lobster. Typically, Temple players were fed hot dogs and hamburgers. But the team’s reaction at dinner set the tone for changing the football program around.

“When I walked in to check on them, I get a standing ovation from the entire team. And I’m like, ‘Hey guys, this is what you deserve. Now. We expect you to work and be 100% committed, but we’ll be 100% committed to you,’” Deahn said.

Deahn says he enjoyed working with Golden, though the 55-year-old Notre Dame coach “was extremely demanding at times of the year, outside of the season, but always cared about the people and the players.” Golden’s current Irish players expressed similar sentiments earlier this week.

» READ MORE: Notre Dame players see Al Golden as the ‘godfather’ of its defense ahead of matchup against his alma mater

Though he’s left football behind, Deahn says he misses the business but remains connected to Franklin and Golden through texts and calls. He’s excited for Franklin’s moment because “he’s right there on the cusp.”

“I get goosebumps every time,” Deahn said. “[I was] almost in tears when I [sang the fight songs] because it’s like the military, you sacrifice so much, the blood, sweat, and tears, that you‘re family, because you spend so much time together.”