When it comes to football, you won’t find many coaches more serious and intense than Indiana’s Tom Allen. But when it comes to nicknames, the Hoosiers’ head coach proved he’s got a bit of a lighter side.

During his Monday press conference, Allen mentioned the nickname “Tater” when referring to one of his players. Confused by the name, one reporter on hand decided to ask Allen to clarify which player he was mentioning.

With a big grin on his face, Allen said, “Dominic Altimari. AKA, ‘Tater.'”

Altimari is a 6-foot-4, 320-pound freshman offensive lineman for the Hoosiers. And the smile never left Allen’s face when talking about him.

“You gotta be a special guy when you’ve got a one-name nickname and that’s all that has to be said,” Allen said. “I don’t even have a one-name nickname that they know me as. I got two names. But ‘Tater’ just has one.”

When asked was his nickname was, Allen reaffirmed that it wasn’t very creative.

“Mine?” He said. “Coach. Allen.”

Though Indiana lost 49-26 to Ohio State over the weekend, Allen had plenty of reason to smile, along with talking about Altimari’s nickname. On Sunday, he landed a commitment from 4-star running back Sampson James, a previous Buckeyes commit.

During his press conference, Allen didn’t elaborate much, but he did say that he could probably be heard yelling from his home following James’ commitment.

So now we have a major question for Allen’s press conference next week: what made him happier? “Tater’s” name or James’ commitment?