By Rock Westfall
As the Transfer Portal and NFL Draft reach near climatic peaks, the late great George Allen comes to mind. The Pro Football Hall of Fame coach avoided rookies, preferring veterans instead. His motto was “The Future is Now,” making him a Godfather to today’s college football.
In 1966, the desperate Los Angeles Rams hired Chicago Bears defensive coordinator George Allen as their new head coach. Los Angeles had only one winning season since losing the 1955 NFL championship game. It proved a wise hire, as Allen won 73% of his games with the Rams.
George “Papa Bear” Halas sued Allen for breach of contract and the Rams for tampering. It was the beginning of a volatile head coaching career that led to a posthumous induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Allen’s was a career that, ironically, has more in common with today’s college football than the NFL.
In his time, Allen generated continuous headlines for trading NFL Draft picks for seasoned veterans and plucking experienced players (transfer portal) off waivers in preference to inexperienced newcomers (recruits). Allen often illegally traded draft picks that he didn’t even have. He also hired spies for espionage against other teams and found creative ways to compensate his players. Sound familiar?
Indeed, all of that relates to the current state of college football.
George Allen is best known for his glory days with the Rams and the Washington Redskins. But his methods were decades ahead of his time in the context of the college game.
#TBT to George Allen & Richard Nixon chatting on the practice field in 1971.
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) February 5, 2015
MORE | http://t.co/DExJ3oYMZo pic.twitter.com/JY7p9MYY4z
George Allen loathed the concept of rookies because they made rookie mistakes. He didn’t want to train players how to play football. Instead, Allen wanted players who already knew how to play and could be plugged in with little hassle. In that way, he was a football Godfather to Deion Sanders and Lane Kiffin.
In particular, Coach Prime is as extreme about filling his roster with transfer portal players as Allen was in stocking his Rams and Redskins. Although Kiffin is a better recruiter than Sanders and more willing to coach up new talent, he is best known as the “Portal King” because of his highly-rated transfer classes.
Kiffin and Sanders are relentless in mining the portal for a “Future is Now” coaching philosophy, just as Allen was regarding free agents and trades to load his roster with experienced help.
Rick Snider’s Washington is reading “The Future is Now” on Washington Redskins coach George Allen. pic.twitter.com/pA7ZXj3LCL
— Rick Snider's Washington (@Snide_Remarks) June 4, 2023
Another coach that has gone full throttle George Allen in his “Future is Now” mode is Ohio State’s Ryan Day. At the end of a disappointing 2023 season, Day parted ways with his relatively successful QB Kyle McCord, replacing him with Kansas State veteran transfer Will Howard. Howard has starting experience and led K-State to the 2022 Big 12 championship. It is a move reminiscent of when Allen acquired New Orleans Saints veteran Billy Kilmer for his Washington Redskins.
While Day has no problem bringing in strong recruiting classes of rookies he is not shy about finding quality additions in the portal, just like Allen would do. Ryan Day is facing a pressure-packed “Future is Now” season and is getting after it George Allen style. In fact, Day and Ohio State were declared big winners in the early portal period of 2024
In 1972, Redskins HC George Allen was fined $5000 for trading the same second round draft pick to two different teams, and for trading the same third and fourth round picks to two different teams as well https://t.co/zO7hCGT3a6 via @zodabcom
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsHH) March 22, 2019
Another coach in the George Allen tradition is Billy Napier of Florida. Napier has not yet reached Allen’s level of success, but he certainly matches Allen’s penchant for spending money.
On the day Allen was hired by the Washington Redskins, he was given an unlimited expense account. A couple of weeks later, team president Edward Bennett Willians joked that Allen had already exceeded his budget.
He gave Redskins' coach George Allen "...an unlimited budget and he exceeded it." https://t.co/XNxDUxLZiy
— Chris Montgomery (@TimTam1958) May 21, 2020
In his first weeks on the job at Florida, Napier hired more staff personnel than the governments of some nations. The jokes about more blue polos in the team photos than players in uniforms are part of Napier’s legacy and relation to Allen.
140 blue polos
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) August 23, 2022
116 blue jerseys
Think Billy Napier beefed up the Gators support staff? It's on steroids. https://t.co/qsupsizNzW
George Allen was well known for sending spies to observe and film other team’s practices. Legendary Hall of Fame coach Tom Landry of the Dallas Cowboys, among others, confronted the NFL about Allen having spies planted at a hotel near the Cowboys’ training facility. Other NFL coaches suspected that Allen had their locker rooms wired for sound with bugging devices. Of course, Allen denied all of it and tried to turn the tables on his accusers.
With these antics, Allen is a kindred soul to Jim Harbaugh, who denied knowledge of the infamous sign-stealer and Michigan assistant Connor Stalions. Of course, Stalions wormed his way into a job on the Michigan sidelines with the direct purpose of coding signals of the opposition with stunning success but ultimately punishment for him, Harbaugh, and Michigan.
From Remembering the Greatest Coaches and Games by Stewart, published 2018, I've had quite a few quotes that show the rule bender (or straight up rule breaker) George Allen was though his paranoia that he was being spied on was one reason he spied on others: pic.twitter.com/viBseIepnY
— Football Stories (@OldNFLStories) October 21, 2020
In addition to his fanaticism for veterans over rookies, Allen was quite the motivator. He could give a fiery speech or an odd story that he hoped would relate to football. Allen would dance and lead his team in cheers after big wins. He also had a reputation for motivational gimmicks.
In those traits, Allen was a football grandfather to Minnesota head coach PJ Fleck. Nobody in college football better resembles Allen when it comes to overt attempts at inspiration than Fleck.
George Allen knew how to motivate the Redskins in the early 70’s @Redskins @addicted2helmet @NFL @Ol_TimeFootball @Super70sSports @NFL @EbbetsVintage @ProFootballHOF @NFL_Journal pic.twitter.com/2B8xWQbtBi
— NFL Classic! (@79_nfl) February 5, 2020
George Allen coached one season of college football in the final year of his life. In 1990, Allen took over a financially strapped and losing Long Beach State program. He led the 49ers to a 6-5 record and would have attained bowl eligibility in today’s world of expanded bowl games. Sadly, Allen died a few weeks later of heart arrhythmia. The Long Beach State program that he helped save folded after one more year.
While I was coaching at Long Beach State, our head football coach was NFL Hall of Fame legend George Allen. Stood in awe when I first saw him there. Allen was still very active at 72 (he did wind sprints with the team in the Southern California heat). 0827 #CSULB #GoBeach pic.twitter.com/RWwoTLxUuD
— Scott Davis (@Chiseled_Scott) August 27, 2019
Ironically, this NFL legend left his final mark on college football, a sport that he is in tune with now than ever before.
George Allen was a man far ahead of his time and one to whom college football fans and coaches can relate and appreciate in numerous ways.
On the other hand, this week, NFL Draftniks and George Allen would no doubt be engaged in fierce debates.
But all would be in agreement that in today's college football, “The Future is Now!”
Bruce Allen reminisces about his father, George Allen. We remember the HOF Head Coach today on his birthday.
— Pro Football Hall of Fame (@ProFootballHOF) April 29, 2020
@Redskins pic.twitter.com/oLXs1lxcCD
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