Randy Allen (American football)

Randy Allen (born 1950) is an American football coach. He is currently coaching at Highland Park High School in Dallas, Texas. With a total record of 327-80-6 Allen is among the winningest active high school football coaches in Texas.^[1]

A native of Abilene, Texas, Allen prepped at 5A Cooper High School, a football powerhouse. With Allen at tailback and slotback, Abilene Cooper made it to the 1967 state final against Austin Reagan at Fort Worth's Amon Carter Stadium, but lost 20-19 in a controversial last-second decision.^[2] Upon graduation in 1968, Allen went on to play at Southern Methodist University in Dallas for coach Hayden Fry.

Starting his coaching career, Allen became an assistant to Merrill Green at 5A Bryan High School. Green coached Allen at Abilene Cooper. Merrill Green is a Texas High School Football Hall Of Fame coach. He also played football on the Oklahoma Sooners 1950 National Championship team starting at running back. Eight years later, Allen landed his first head coaching job at 3A Ballinger High School, where he successfully turned the Bearcats program around. Ballinger had not had a winning season in five years prior to Allen's arrival, yet he compiled a 44–15–2 record the next five years.

In 1986, Allen was selected to succeed Texas coaching legend Gordon Wood at 4A Brownwood High School.^[3] Facing enormous expectations, Allen managed to compile a 43–13–2 record in five seasons. In 1991 he choose to return to his alma mater Abilene Cooper, which had gone 1–9 in 1990, causing head coach Larry Peel to resign subsequently.^[4] In 1996, Allen guided the Cougars to their first state final appearance since the game he participated in 1967. Abilene Cooper, however, were routed by Austin Westlake, led by quarterback Drew Brees, 55-15 at the Texas Stadium in Dallas.^[5]

Leaving Abilene in 1999, Allen became head coach at 4A Highland Park High School in Dallas, one of the most tradition-rich programs in Texas.^[6] Under his guidance, the Highland Park Scots had 10+ win seasons every year, except in 2004 (8–2). In 2005, Highland Park went undefeated for the first time in school history, as they won the 4A state title for the first time in 48 years. Led by quarterback Matthew Stafford, the Scots routed Marshall 59-0 at the Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium in Tyler.^[7]

On October 14, 2011, Allen became the 10th man in Texas high school football history to coach his teams to 300 wins with Highland Park's 41-27 win over JJ Pearce High School.

In January 2014, Allen was chosen as the recipient of the 2013 Grant Teaff Fellowship of Christian Athletes Lifetime Achievement Award, joining such coaching greats as Tony Dungy and Bobby Bowden.^[8]

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