George Allen Preferred Vets to NFL Draft - Foretelling of Prime, Kiffin & Today’s College Football

The Transfer Kings 

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. 

The Future Is Now for a New Day

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

He Was Given an Unlimited Budget, Which He Exceeded 

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.

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.

Jim Harbaugh and Connor Stalions - George Allen Type of Guys

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.

The Fleck Effect From George Allen 

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’s Final Season – A College Football Triumph 

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.

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!”