George Allen

Early life

Born in the Grosse Pointe Woods district of Detroit, Allen was the son of Loretta M. and Earl Raymond Allen, who was recorded in the 1920 and 1930 U.S. census records for Wayne County, Michigan as working as a chauffeur to a private family. He earned varsity letters in football, track and basketball at Lake Shore High School in St. Clair Shores, Michigan and graduated in 1937.

Allen went to Alma College in Alma, Michigan and later at Marquette University in Milwaukee, where he was sent as an officer trainee in the United States Navy's V-12 Navy College Training Program. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in education from Michigan State Normal College—now known as Eastern Michigan University—in Ypsilanti and then attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he earned a Master of Science degree in physical education in 1947.

Coaching career

Morningside

Allen was the head football coach at Morningside College—now known as Morningside University—in Sioux City, Iowa for three seasons, from 1948 to 1950. His coaching record at Morningside was 16–11–2.

Whittier

Allen was the head football coach at Whittier College in Whittier, California for six seasons, where he was 32–22–5 from 1951 through 1956. He was also the head baseball coach there from 1952 to 1957.

Assistant coach in the NFL

Allen joined the Los Angeles Rams staff in 1957, under fellow Hall of Fame coach Sid Gillman. Allen was dismissed after one season and, after he resided in Los Angeles out of football for several months, George Halas, founding owner and head coach of the Chicago Bears, brought him to Chicago during the 1958 season. The original purpose of Allen's hiring was to scout the Rams, whom the Bears would play twice during the season; Allen was asked for insights into Gillman's, and the Rams', offensive strategy and signals. Allen's thoroughness and attention to detail so impressed Halas that he eventually earned a full-time position on the coaching staff. During the latter stages of the 1962 season Allen replaced veteran Clark Shaughnessy as Halas' top defensive assistant, effectively making him the Bears' defensive coordinator.

His defensive schemes and tactics—and his strong motivational skills—helped make the Bears' unit one of the stingiest of its era. Allen's presence also had a formative effect on such future Hall of Fame players as linebacker Bill George and end Doug Atkins during their most productive years. By 1963, in his first full season in charge of the Bears' defense, Allen's innovative strategies helped the Bears yield a league-low 144 total points, 62 fewer than any other team, and earn an 11–1–2 record that was a half-game better than the two-time defending league champion Green Bay Packers and allowed the Bears to host the NFL championship game. Following their 14–10 victory over the New York Giants on December 29 at frigid Wrigley Field, the Bears' players awarded Allen the "game ball." NBC's post-game locker-room television coverage infamously captured Bears players singing "Hooray for George, hooray at last; hooray for George, he's a horse's ass!"

Allen was also given responsibility for the Bears' college player drafts; most likely his best-remembered choices were three players who won election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and became household names in American sport—end Mike Ditka (chosen in 1961), halfback Gale Sayers, and middle linebacker Dick Butkus (1965). Allen's was the most common name to be suggested as a replacement for Halas should the grand old man of the league decide to step down. Jeff Davis's biography Papa Bear states that Halas informally told Allen in 1964 and 1965 that he would ultimately name him as head coach. But in 1965, after a 9–5 Bears finish that earned the iron-willed Halas NFL Coach of the Year honors, Allen decided to look elsewhere to fulfill his head-coaching ambitions. Halas stayed on as head coach through the 1967 season.

NFL head coaching career

On January 10, 1966, ex-Rams assistant coach Allen reached an agreement with Los Angeles Rams owner Dan Reeves to replace Harland Svare as head coach. He quickly faced a legal battle with Halas, who claimed that Allen's leaving was in breach of his Bears contract. (Halas accused Allen and the Rams of "chicanery.") The Bears' owner did win his case in a Chicago court but immediately allowed Allen to leave, saying he initiated the lawsuit to make a point about the validity of contracts. Halas would not be so magnanimous in an NFL meeting soon after when he attacked Allen's character. Upon hearing this, Green Bay coach Vince Lombardi joked to Reeves, "Sounds like you've got yourself a hell of a coach."

The Rams had only notched one winning season since 1956, and for much of that time been dwelling in or just above the NFL's basement. The team boasted considerable talent at several positions, most notably on the defensive line; the "Fearsome Foursome" (David Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, Rosey Grier, and Lamar Lundy) had gained vast attention on a losing team. Allen brought his well-known motivational skills to Los Angeles, and his twice-daily (sometimes three times) rigorous training-camp practices took players by surprise. He revealed the philosophy that he would be known for throughout his NFL career—acquiring veteran players for draft picks to fill specific roles. His motto was "the future is now." He also emphasized the role of special teams (kickoff, punt, and field-goal units) as integral to team success. He revamped the Rams' secondary with trades and installed quarterback Roman Gabriel, previously relegated to the bench, as his starter. Allen vaulted the Rams from a 4–10 record in 1965 to 8–6 in his first year—the team's first winning season since 1958. Allen received 1967 Coach of the Year honors for leading the Rams to an 11–1–2 record and the NFL Coastal Division title, their first post-season berth since 1955. Despite an 11–3 record (while winning their first 11 games) during the 1969 season and losing a conference playoff game to Joe Kapp and the Minnesota Vikings, the offense and the record did not rollover to the 1970 season and Allen was released at the end of season. The news surprised the football world, but subsequent reports revealed that discord between Reeves and Allen had been growing for some time. By some accounts, the owner's lower-key temperament differed from Allen's intense approach; more importantly, some animus had developed between the two men in November 1968. After the favored Rams struggled to a tie at San Francisco, Allen disparaged the sloppy Kezar Stadium turf; a few days later Reeves, addressing reporters, subtly admonished his coach for making what he considered an "alibi." The next week, after a narrow home win over the New York Giants, Allen rebuffed Reeves's handshake and upbraided him for "embarrassing me and my family."

Legacy

Allen was considered one of the hardest-working coaches in football. He is credited by some with popularizing the coaching trend of 16-hour (or longer) work-days. He sometimes slept at the Redskin Park complex he designed. Allen's need for full organizational control and his wild spending habits would create friction between him and the team owners he worked for. Edward Bennett Williams, the Redskins' president, once famously said, "George was given an unlimited budget and he exceeded it." In ending Allen's second stint as the Rams' head coach after only two preseason games in 1978, Carroll Rosenbloom said, "I made a serious error of judgment in believing George could work within our framework." and "He got unlimited authority and exceeded it." Allen was also notorious for his paranoia, regularly believing that his practices were being spied upon and that his offices were bugged. He even went as far as being the first coach in the NFL to employ a full-time security man, Ed Boynton, to keep potential spies away and patrol the woods outside Redskin Park.

As documented by NFL Films, Allen was known to eat ice cream or peanut butter for many meals because it was easy to eat, and saved time so Allen could get back to preparing for the next game. Allen kept in shape as a coach, and would run several miles at the start of each day. He did not curse, smoke, or drink, instead habitually consuming milk (some suspected that this beverage of choice arose from ulcers they suspected the always-high-strung coach to suffer from). Coach Allen would later be appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. It is interesting to note that President Richard Nixon (an armchair coach) once "recommended" the team run an end-around play by wide receiver Roy Jefferson. Allen agreed, choosing to run the play against the San Francisco 49ers in the 1971 NFC Divisional playoff game. Jefferson was tackled by the 49ers' Cedrick Hardman for a 13-yard loss on the play, a game the Redskins lost by four points.

As a coach, Allen was known for his tendency to prefer veteran players to rookies and younger players. During Allen's early years with the Redskins, the team was known as the "Over-the-Hill Gang," due to the predominance of players over the age of 30, such as quarterback Billy Kilmer. Upon becoming Redskins coach, Allen traded for or acquired many players - all veterans of course - he had formerly coached with the Rams, including Jack Pardee, Richie Petitbon, Myron Pottios, John Wilbur, George Burman, and Diron Talbert, leading to the Redskins sometimes being referred to in those days as the "Ramskins." The phrase "the future is now" is often associated with Allen; he made 131 trades as an NFL coach, 81 of which came during his seven years with the Redskins.

Notable accomplishments

Allen had the third-best winning percentage in the NFL (.681), exceeded only by Vince Lombardi (.736) and John Madden (.731). He also never coached an NFL team to a losing season. This was particularly notable in the case of the Redskins, who had finished above .500 only once over the past 15 seasons (1969, under Lombardi) before Allen's arrival.

Allen was noted primarily as a defensive innovator and a motivator. He was an early innovator in the use of sophisticated playbooks, well-organized drafts, use of special teams, and daring trades for veterans over new players. He is also known for sparking the Dallas Cowboys–Washington Redskins rivalry to new heights. In the seven seasons that Allen's team played the Cowboys, six of them saw the teams split the two contests they played before the Cowboys finally broke through in winning both contests in Allen's final season as coach in Washington; in total, Allen went 7–8 against the Cowboys in Washington but managed to reach the Super Bowl with Washington's victory over Dallas in the 1973 NFC Championship Game.

Allen was inducted to the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1998. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002.

Personal life

Family

Allen married the former Henrietta (Etty) Lumbroso (1922–2013), with whom he had four children, three sons and one daughter. His son George became a Republican politician, having served as Governor and U.S. Senator from Virginia. Another son, Bruce, served as an executive for the Oakland Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Washington Redskins of the NFL. Allen's third son, Gregory, is a sports psychologist. His daughter, Jennifer, is an author.

Death

Allen died at age 72 from ventricular fibrillation in his home in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, on December 31, 1990.

There was some speculation afterward that his death may have been caused by a form of Gatorade shower. On November 17, some of his Long Beach State players dumped a Gatorade bucket filled with ice water on him following a season-ending victory over UNLV; in an interview some weeks later, Allen quipped that the university couldn't afford actual Gatorade, and said that he had felt somewhat unwell since then. The sports editor of the Long Beach State newspaper, the Daily Forty-Niner, recalled that the temperature was in the 50s with a biting wind. Allen stayed on the field for media interviews for a considerable length of time in his drenched clothing, and remained in his wet clothing on the bus back to Long Beach state.

However, in 2012, Allen's son George denied that the Gatorade shower caused the death, saying it merely caused a cold, and said that his father had a pre-existing heart arrhythmia. He stated that seeing Gatorade showers on television was a reminder that his father "went out a winner".

After Allen's death, the soccer and multipurpose field area on the lower end of campus was dedicated in his honor as George Allen Field. A youth baseball field in Palos Verdes Estates is also named after him.

Head coaching record