Allyn McKeen (January 26, 1905 – September 13, 1978) was an

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 ...

player and coach. He served as the head coach at West Tennessee State Normal School, now the

University of Memphis } The University of Memphis (UofM) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 22,000 students. The university maintains the Herff College of Engineering ...

, from 1937 to 1938 and at Mississippi State College, now

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

, from 1939 to 1948, compiling a career

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

record of 78–25–3. He was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

as a coach in 1991.

Playing career

McKeen played football as a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

and

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

from 1925 to 1927, where he earned all-state honors. He was also the captain of the men's basketball and track teams. He helped preserve the tie with Vanderbilt by covering

Bill Spears William Douglas Spears (August 31, 1906 – December 31, 1992) known as "Bounding Bill Spears" was an American football player and stand-out quarterback for Dan McGugin's Vanderbilt Commodores football teams from 1925 to 1927. Spears was elected ...

's receivers.

Coaching career

From 1937 to 1938, McKeen coached at West Tennessee State Teachers College, now known as the

, where he compiled a 13–6 record. His 1938 team went undefeated at 10–0. From 1939 to 1948, he coached at Mississippi State, where he compiled a 65–19–3 record. In 1940, he was named the SEC Coach of the Year after leading Mississippi State to its only undefeated season in school history. The following year, his squad captured the first and only

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

championship in program history. He retired from coaching in 1948 after being fired by Mississippi State's athletic director,

Dudy Noble Clark Randolph "Dudy" Noble (May 6, 1893 – February 2, 1963) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player, track athlete, coach, and college athletics administrator. College Born in Learned, Mississippi, Noble attended Mississip ...

. His .747 coaching record at Mississippi State rivals some of the winningest coaches in the SEC, such as

Bear Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...

Bob Neyland Robert Reese Neyland (; February 17, 1892 – March 28, 1962) was an American football player and coach and officer in the United States Army, reaching the rank of brigadier general. He served three stints as the head football coach at the Univ ...

Johnny Vaught John Howard Vaught (May 6, 1909 – February 3, 2006) was an American college football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) from 1947 to 1970 and aga ...

, and

Vince Dooley Vincent Joseph Dooley (September 4, 1932 – October 28, 2022) was an American college football coach. He was the head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs from 1964 to 1988, as well as the University of Georgia's (UGA) athletic director from 1979 t ...

. However, McKeen only coached in Starkville for nine years, while the other leaders on the SEC's wins list coached for more than 15 years. At the time of his departure from Starkville, McKeen was the winningest coach in Mississippi State history, a rank he would keep until

Jackie Sherrill Jackie Wayne Sherrill (born November 28, 1943) is a former American football player and coach. He was the head football coach at Washington State University (1976), the University of Pittsburgh (1977–1981), Texas A&M University (1982–1988), a ...

passed him during the 2000 season. McKeen is now third on the school's all-time wins list, behind Sherrill and

Dan Mullen Dan Mullen (born April 27, 1972) is a former college football player and coach, and current television analyst with the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and ESPN. He served as the head football coach at Mississippi State University from 2 ...

Late life and honors

After retiring from coaching, McKeen served as the director of the

Blue–Gray Football Classic The Blue–Gray Football Classic was an annual American college football all-star game held in Alabama, usually in late December and often on Christmas Day. The brainchild of Alabama college football legend Champ Pickens, the contest began in ...

. He was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1977.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKeen, Allyn 1905 births 1978 deaths American football ends American football guards American men's basketball players Memphis Tigers football coaches Mississippi State Bulldogs football coaches Tennessee Volunteers football players Tennessee Volunteers basketball players All-Southern college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees People from Fulton, Kentucky