Allen Wilson (born 1951/1952) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach. A highly successful

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

coach, Wilson won two Texas state championships (1988, 1994) and amassed a 213–74–3 record. His teams are known for their smash-mouth running game. Wilson is a 1970 graduate of Robert E. Lee High School in Midland,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. He went on to play

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

under coach

Wally Bullington Wallace "Coach Bully" Bullington (May 17, 1931 – July 20, 2018) was a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas for 39 years as football player, assista ...

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a Private university, private Churches of Christ, Christian university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1906 as ''Childers Classical Institute''. ACU is one of the largest private universities in the Sout ...

in Abilene, Texas, where he was part of the 1973 football team which won the

NAIA National Football Championship The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Football National Championship is decided by a post-season playoff system featuring the best NAIA college football teams in the United States. Under sponsorship of the National Associa ...

and

Lone Star Conference The Lone Star Conference (LSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Member institutions are located in the southwestern United States, with schools in Tex ...

title. After serving as a graduate assistant at Abilene Christian, Wilson became head coach at Paris High School in

Paris, Texas Paris is a city and county seat of Lamar County, Texas, United States. Located in Northeast Texas at the western edge of the Piney Woods, the population of the city was 24,171 in 2020. History Present-day Lamar County was part of Red River Co ...

. He guided them to the 4A state championship in 1988, with a 31–13 win over West Orange-Stark. Two years later, Wilson went on to coach at 5A

John Tyler High School Tyler High School, formerly known as John Tyler High School, is a public, co-educational secondary school in Tyler, Texas. It is part of the Tyler Independent School District and serves 9th through 12th grade. In 2020, the Tyler I. S. D. school ...

Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...

. Wilson brought a new attitude to the J.T. Lions, and popularized "Cujo", John Tyler's playoff persona. Under Wilson, JT began wearing jersey's with "Cujo" inscribed on the front in the playoffs only. Prior to Wilson's arrival, the term "Cujo" was reserved for the defense under former coach Carlous Stone. Wilson revived a storied program that won two state championships (1930, 1973), but went a mediocre 22–27–2 over the previous five years. In 1994, John Tyler High went 16–0 and won the 5A Division II state championship with a 35–24 win over Austin Westlake. That season included a legendary regional semifinal game against

Plano East Senior High School Plano East Senior High School (commonly known as East, Plano East, or PESH) is a public secondary school in Plano, Texas (USA) serving high school juniors and seniors, as well as freshmen and sophomores as a part of the IB World School (beginn ...

which is considered to be the best high school football game in history. In 2000, the Lions made another finals appearance but lost 35–20 to

Katy High School Katy High School is a high school located in Katy, Texas which serves grades 9 through 12. It is a part of the Katy Independent School District. The school serves the City of Katy and the unincorporated Harris County community of Cimarron.Johns ...

. In 2002, Wilson took over as head coach of the tradition-rich Dallas Carter Cowboys football program. In 2003, Dallas Carter lost in the Regionals to the Leander Lions. In 2006, Wilson's Carter team eliminated his old school, John Tyler, from the playoffs in only the Lions' second game wearing "Cujo" jerseys since the 2000 season. Wilson retired after 2011 season. He is a member of the Abilene Christian Athletic Hall of Fame.

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Allen Date of birth missing (living people) 1950s births Living people American football defensive backs Abilene Christian Wildcats football players High school football coaches in Texas Robert E. Lee High School (Midland, Texas) alumni People from Midland, Texas People from Paris, Texas Sportspeople from Tyler, Texas Players of American football from Texas