Ermal Allen

Ermal Glenn Allen (December 25, 1918 – February 9, 1988) was an American professional football quarterback and assistant coach. He grew up in Tennessee and attended the University of Kentucky, where he played basketball, track, golf, and football. After four years in the U.S. Army during World War II, Allen was drafted in 1947 by the Chicago Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He instead went to play for the Cleveland Browns of the competing All-America Football Conference, 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. He stayed at Kentucky after Blanton Collier took over as head coach in 1954, working as the team's defensive coordinator. In 1962, Tom Landry hired him as a backfield coach on the NFL's Dallas Cowboys. He became the head of the Cowboys' research and development department in 1970 and was charged with scouting opponents. Allen won Super Bowl VI and Super Bowl XII 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 and was a star athlete at Morristown High School. He attended the University of Kentucky, where he played football, basketball, track and golf. Allen was a triple threat man, 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. Several days later, he was again ruled eligible by the conference's executive committee. Kentucky head coach Bear Bryant said he was "delighted" with the decision. After quarterbacking Kentucky to victories over the University of Mississippi and University of Cincinnati, the conference reversed its decision and declared him ineligible. He spent the rest of the year coaching backs under Bryant. He competed to be a backup for starting quarterback Otto Graham in the team's T formation offense.

Coaching career

Allen returned to the University of Kentucky in 1948 and was named the football team's offensive coordinator under Bryant. The Cowboys won Super Bowl VI 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 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.