Ermal Glenn Allen (December 25, 1918 – February 9, 1988) 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 ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and assistant coach. He grew up in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

and attended the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

, where he played basketball, track, golf, and football. After four years in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Allen was drafted in 1947 by the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He instead went to play for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

of the competing

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

, who won the league championship that year. Allen played in Cleveland for one season, returning to the University of Kentucky in 1948 to serve as an assistant football coach under

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 ...

. He stayed at Kentucky after

Blanton Collier Blanton Long Collier (July 2, 1906 – March 22, 1983) was an American football head coach who coached at the University of Kentucky between 1954 and 1961 and for the Cleveland Browns in the National Football League (NFL) between 1963 and 1970. H ...

took over as head coach in 1954, working as the team's defensive coordinator. In 1962,

Tom Landry Thomas Wade Landry (September 11, 1924 – February 12, 2000) was an American professional football player and coach. He was the first head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL), a position he held for 29 seasons. Dur ...

hired him as a backfield coach on the NFL's

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. He became the head of the Cowboys' research and development department in 1970 and was charged with scouting opponents. Allen won

Super Bowl VI Super Bowl VI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...

and

Super Bowl XII Super Bowl XII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...

with the Cowboys and remained with the team until retiring in 1983. He died of cancer in a Dallas hospital in 1988.

Early life and college

Allen grew up in

Morristown, Tennessee Morristown is a city in and the county seat of Hamblen County, Tennessee, United States. Morristown also extends into Jefferson County on the western and southern ends. The city's population was recorded to be 30,431 at the 2020 United States cen ...

and was a star athlete at

Morristown High School Morristown High School (MHS) is a four-year public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from three communities in Morris County, United States, operating as part of the Morris School District. The school serves students ...

. He attended the

, where he played football, basketball, track and golf. He was on the varsity football team between 1939 and 1941, playing as a tailback under head coach

A. D. Kirwan Albert Dennis "Ab" Kirwan (December 22, 1904 – November 30, 1971) was an American football coach and university administrator. He was the seventh president of the University of Kentucky. He also was the head football coach at Kentucky from 1938 ...

. The team finished with winning records in each of the seasons Allen played, but was not ranked in the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

of the best college teams in the country. Allen was a

triple threat man In gridiron football, a triple-threat man is a player who excels at all three of the skills of running, passing, and kicking. In modern usage, such a player would be referred to as a utility player. Triple-threat men were the norm in the early d ...

, handling passing, running and kicking duties for Kentucky. Allen was a member of a Kentucky golf team that lost only one match in 1940 and went undefeated in 1941 and 1942. He played varsity basketball between 1940 and 1942, earning a spot on the

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 ...

all-star team in his final year. Allen's college career was interrupted by service in the

during

. He enlisted in 1942 and spent four years in the Army, rising to the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. Allen returned to the University of Kentucky to finish his education and play a final year of football. A controversy developed, however, over his eligibility to play in 1946 because he had already played three varsity seasons before enlisting. Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Conner ruled him ineligible in September, shortly after he had been certified to play based on a rule that gave four years of varsity eligibility to men who served in the war. Several days later, he was again ruled eligible by the conference's executive committee. Kentucky head coach

said he was "delighted" with the decision. After quarterbacking Kentucky to victories over the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

and

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...

, the conference reversed its decision and declared him ineligible. He spent the rest of the year coaching backs under Bryant.

Professional football career

Allen was drafted by the

of the

(NFL) in 1947 but instead joined the

of the competing

(AAFC). He competed to be a backup for starting quarterback

Otto Graham Otto Everett Graham Jr. (December 6, 1921 – December 17, 2003) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL). Graha ...

in the team's

T formation In American football, a T formation (frequently called the full house formation in modern usage, sometimes the Robust T) is a formation used by the offensive team in which three running backs line up in a row about five yards behind the quarterba ...

offense. Allen struggled to learn Cleveland's formations, which differed significantly from the

single-wing formation In American and Canadian football, a single-wing formation was a precursor to the modern spread or shotgun formation. The term usually connotes formations in which the snap is tossed rather than handed—formations with one wingback and a hand ...

his Kentucky teams used. Allen had four completions in limited playing time for Cleveland as the team finished the season with the 12–1–1 record and beat the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

in the championship game.

Coaching career

Allen returned to the University of Kentucky in 1948 and was named the football team's offensive coordinator under Bryant.

, who had been a backfield coach for the Browns, succeeded Bryant as Kentucky head coach in 1954. Collier kept Allen on his staff but switched him to defensive coordinator. Allen remained an avid golfer as he continued his coaching career, winning the Kentucky Amateur Golf Championship in 1955 and 1958. He came in second place in the tournament in 1956 and tied for first place in a tri-state championship. Allen left Kentucky in 1962 to become a backfield coach for the NFL's

under head coach

. In 1970, he became a special assistant to Landry and headed the Cowboys' research and development department. In that role, he was responsible for scouting all of the Cowboys' opponents. The Cowboys won

in 1972 while Allen was with the team. Allen suffered a heart attack before the 1973 season, but remained with the team until 1983.

Death

Allen died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in 1988 at the Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas. "He was a tremendous coach, as well as a real bright type of guy who had a statistical mind," Landry said after his death. "He could keep up with anything." Landry also praised his sense of humor. Eugene Meeks, who played college football with Allen, said he was one of Kentucky's best-ever athletes and a dominant golf player during his time at the university.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Ermal 1918 births 1988 deaths American football quarterbacks 300th Infantry Sabers football players Chicago Cardinals players Cleveland Browns players Dallas Cowboys coaches Dallas Cowboys scouts Kentucky Wildcats football players Kentucky Wildcats men's golfers Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Kentucky Wildcats men's track and field athletes United States Army officers United States Army personnel of World War II Morristown High School (Morristown, Tennessee) alumni People from Hancock County, Tennessee People from Morristown, Tennessee Sportspeople from the Knoxville metropolitan area Coaches of American football from Tennessee Players of American football from Tennessee Basketball players from Tennessee Golfers from Tennessee Track and field athletes from Tennessee Military personnel from Tennessee