Pokey Allen
Encyclopedia
Ernest Duncan "Pokey" Allen, Jr. (January 23, 1943 – December 30, 1996) was a football
player and coach in the United States
and Canada
. He served as the head football coach at Portland State University
from 1986 to 1992 and at Boise State University
from 1993 to 1996, compiling a career college football
record of 87–41–2. Allen led his Portland State Vikings to consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division II National Football Championship
in 1987 and 1988 and guided the 1994 Boise State Broncos
to the Division I-AA title game.
at the University of Utah
in Salt Lake City. As a quarterback
and cornerback
, he led the Utes
to a 32-6 victory over West Virginia
in the 1964 Liberty Bowl
and was named the game's most valuable player
. Professionally, Allen played three seasons in the Canadian Football League
with the British Columbia Lions
and Edmonton Eskimos
.
in Burnaby
, B.C.
, Canada
. Five years later, he was named co-coach of the team. After nine years at Simon Fraser, Allen returned to the U.S. and became an assistant coach at Montana
in 1977, followed by other assistant coaching positions with Eastern Washington
and California
.
In 1983, Allen signed on as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Express of the USFL
, the new professional league which played its games in the spring. Two years later, he moved to Portland, Oregon
, as defensive coordinator
for the Portland Breakers
.
in 1986. Allen coached the Vikings to their first playoff appearances, including back-to-back trips to the Division II finals
in 1987 and 1988, though the team lost both games. He was named coach of the year in the Western Football Conference five times.
Allen was as much noted for his personality as his coaching. He took part in a humorous series of television commercials to sell tickets for Portland State games, with stunts such as dancing the Hokey Pokey
, betting a month's salary on attendance at the game, allowing fans to vote on whether to pick heads or tails at the coin toss, and most famously, a series of commercials in which Allen promised to have a meteor, an elephant, or himself (shot out of a cannon
) land in the backyard of anyone not buying Portland State season tickets.
in Boise
in late October and soundly defeated the I-AA Boise State Broncos
52–26. After Boise State lost their next three games to close out the season, head coach Skip Hall
promptly resigned and Allen and his entire coaching staff were hired away from Portland State.
In his second year at Boise State in 1994
, he led the Broncos to a 10–1 regular season and a Big Sky
championship, the first since 1980
. The Broncos were invited to the 16-team Division I-AA playoffs and advanced to the national finals, but lost, 24–14, to Jim Tressel
's Youngstown State Penguins
at Huntington, West Virginia
, and finished the season at 13–2.
Allen kept his reputation for publicity stunts. During the run to the 1994 national championship game, Allen challenged local supporters, promising to ride a horse in downtown Boise
if Bronco Stadium
was sold out for their annual rivalry game versus Idaho
, in which the Vandals
had won 12 straight over the Broncos. The stadium was sold out, BSU won the game 27–24, and Allen kept his promise.
, a rare form of muscle cancer
. He returned to coach the Broncos in 1995, but after a recurrence of cancer in December, took a leave of absence and assistant Tom Mason filled in as interim head coach in 1996. As the Broncos stumbled to just one win in their first ten games, Allen returned for the final two games of the 1996 season, against New Mexico State
and Idaho
. His win against NMSU was his first and only Division I-A win. He resigned in December, following a 64–19 loss to Idaho in November, and died three weeks later at the age of 53.
Boise State's come-from-behind, trick play-laden victory in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl
, which brought even more national attention to the program that Allen helped build, came 10 years to the day after Allen's burial.
Allen was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame
in 1998.
Gridiron football
Gridiron football , sometimes known as North American football, is an umbrella term for related codes of football primarily played in the United States and Canada. The predominant forms of gridiron football are American football and Canadian football...
player and coach in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He served as the head football coach at Portland State University
Portland State University
Portland State University is a public state urban university located in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1946, it has the largest overall enrollment of any university in the state of Oregon, including undergraduate and graduate students. It is also the only public university in...
from 1986 to 1992 and at Boise State University
Boise State University
Boise State University is a public university located in Boise, Idaho. Originally founded in 1932 as a junior college by the Episcopal Church, the university became an independent institution in 1934, and has been awarding baccalaureate and master degrees since 1965...
from 1993 to 1996, compiling a career college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
record of 87–41–2. Allen led his Portland State Vikings to consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division II National Football Championship
NCAA Division II national football championship
The NCAA Division II National Football Championship began in 1973. Prior to 1973, four regional bowl games were played in order to provide postseason action for what was then called the NCAA College Division and a poll determined the final champion....
in 1987 and 1988 and guided the 1994 Boise State Broncos
1994 Boise State Broncos football team
The 1994 Boise State Broncos football team represented Boise State University in the 1994 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Broncos competed in the Big Sky Conference and played their home games at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho.The Broncos were led by second-year head coach Pokey Allen.Boise...
to the Division I-AA title game.
Playing career
Allen played college footballCollege football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
at the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
in Salt Lake City. As a quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
and cornerback
Cornerback
A cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...
, he led the Utes
Utah Utes football
The Utah Utes football program is a college football team that currently competes in the Pacific-12 Conference of the Football Bowl Subdivision of NCAA Division I and represents the University of Utah. The Utah college football program began in 1892 and has played home games at Rice–Eccles...
to a 32-6 victory over West Virginia
West Virginia Mountaineers football
The West Virginia Mountaineers football team represents West Virginia University in the NCAA FBS division of college football. Dana Holgorsen is the team's 33rd head coach. He has held the position since he was promoted in June 2011 after the resignation of Bill Stewart. The Mountaineers play their...
in the 1964 Liberty Bowl
Liberty Bowl
The Liberty Bowl is an annual U.S. American college football bowl game played in December of each year from 1959 to 2007 and in January in 2009 and 2010. The Liberty Bowl was sponsored by AXA Financial and was known as the AXA Liberty Bowl from 1997 to 2003...
and was named the game's most valuable player
Most Valuable Player
In sports, a Most Valuable Player award is an honor typically bestowed upon the best performing player or players on a specific team, in an entire league, or for a particular contest or series of contests...
. Professionally, Allen played three seasons in the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
with the British Columbia Lions
British Columbia Lions
The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team competing in the West Division of Canadian Football League . Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Lions play their home games at BC Place Stadium in Downtown Vancouver, having previously played at Empire Stadium in East Vancouver from 1954...
and Edmonton Eskimos
Edmonton Eskimos
The Edmonton Eskimos are a Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. They currently play in the West Division of the Canadian Football League . Edmonton is currently the third-youngest franchise in the CFL, although there were clubs with the name Edmonton Eskimos as early as 1895...
.
Early coaching career
Following his CFL playing career, Pokey Allen became an assistant coach in 1968 at Simon FraserSimon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
in Burnaby
Burnaby, British Columbia
Burnaby is a city in British Columbia, Canada, located immediately to the east of Vancouver. It is the third-largest city in British Columbia by population, surpassed only by nearby Surrey and Vancouver....
, B.C.
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Five years later, he was named co-coach of the team. After nine years at Simon Fraser, Allen returned to the U.S. and became an assistant coach at Montana
Montana Grizzlies football
The Montana Grizzlies football program represents the University of Montana in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision of college football. The Grizzlies have competed in the Big Sky Conference, where it is a founding member, since 1963...
in 1977, followed by other assistant coaching positions with Eastern Washington
Eastern Washington Eagles football
The Eastern Washington Eagles football team represents Eastern Washington University in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision...
and California
California Golden Bears football
The California Golden Bears football team is the college football team of the University of California. The team plays its home games at California Memorial Stadium, however the team played at San Francisco's AT&T Park in 2011 while Memorial Stadium was being renovated, the team will return to...
.
In 1983, Allen signed on as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Express of the USFL
United States Football League
The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...
, the new professional league which played its games in the spring. Two years later, he moved to Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, as defensive coordinator
Defensive coordinator
A defensive coordinator typically refers to a coach on a gridiron football team who is in charge of the defense. Generally, along with his offensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach...
for the Portland Breakers
Portland Breakers
The Portland Breakers were a professional American Football team that played in the United States Football League in the mid 1980s. Before moving to Portland, Oregon, the franchise was previously in Boston, Massachusetts as the Boston Breakers and New Orleans, Louisiana as the New Orleans...
.
Portland State
Following the folding of the USFL, Allen became the head coach at Portland State UniversityPortland State University
Portland State University is a public state urban university located in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1946, it has the largest overall enrollment of any university in the state of Oregon, including undergraduate and graduate students. It is also the only public university in...
in 1986. Allen coached the Vikings to their first playoff appearances, including back-to-back trips to the Division II finals
NCAA Division II national football championship
The NCAA Division II National Football Championship began in 1973. Prior to 1973, four regional bowl games were played in order to provide postseason action for what was then called the NCAA College Division and a poll determined the final champion....
in 1987 and 1988, though the team lost both games. He was named coach of the year in the Western Football Conference five times.
Allen was as much noted for his personality as his coaching. He took part in a humorous series of television commercials to sell tickets for Portland State games, with stunts such as dancing the Hokey Pokey
Hokey Pokey
The hokey cokey or hokey pokey , also known as the okey cokey, hokey tokey, or cokey cokey, is a participation dance with a distinctive accompanying tune and lyric structure. It is well known in English-speaking countries...
, betting a month's salary on attendance at the game, allowing fans to vote on whether to pick heads or tails at the coin toss, and most famously, a series of commercials in which Allen promised to have a meteor, an elephant, or himself (shot out of a cannon
Human cannonball
The human cannonball is a performance in which a person is ejected from a specially designed cannon. The impetus is provided not by gunpowder, but by either a spring or jet of compressed air...
) land in the backyard of anyone not buying Portland State season tickets.
Boise State
In 1992, Allen's Division II Vikings visited Bronco StadiumBronco Stadium
Bronco Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in Boise, Idaho, the home field of the Boise State Broncos of the Mountain West Conference. Since 1997, it has hosted the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Bronco Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in Boise, Idaho, the home field of the Boise State Broncos...
in Boise
Boise, Idaho
Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...
in late October and soundly defeated the I-AA Boise State Broncos
Boise State Broncos football
This page discusses the Boise State football program. For more Boise State athletics, see Boise State Broncos.The Boise State Broncos football program represents Boise State University in college football and compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I as a member of the Mountain West...
52–26. After Boise State lost their next three games to close out the season, head coach Skip Hall
Skip Hall
-External links:...
promptly resigned and Allen and his entire coaching staff were hired away from Portland State.
In his second year at Boise State in 1994
1994 Boise State Broncos football team
The 1994 Boise State Broncos football team represented Boise State University in the 1994 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Broncos competed in the Big Sky Conference and played their home games at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho.The Broncos were led by second-year head coach Pokey Allen.Boise...
, he led the Broncos to a 10–1 regular season and a Big Sky
Big Sky Conference
The Big Sky Conference is an intercollegiate college athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I, with football competing in the Football Championship Subdivision. The BSC was founded in 1963. Member institutions are located in the western United States in the states of Arizona,...
championship, the first since 1980
1980 Boise State Broncos football team
The 1980 Boise State Broncos football team represented Boise State University in the 1980 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Broncos competed in the Big Sky Conference and played their home games at Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho. The Broncos were led by fifth-year head coach Jim Criner...
. The Broncos were invited to the 16-team Division I-AA playoffs and advanced to the national finals, but lost, 24–14, to Jim Tressel
Jim Tressel
James Patrick Tressel is a gameday consultant for the Indianapolis Colts, and former collegiate football head coach at both The Ohio State University from 2001 to 2011 and at Youngstown State University from 1986 to 2000. Tressel is most notable for his time at Ohio State. He was hired by the...
's Youngstown State Penguins
Youngstown State Penguins football
The Youngstown State Penguins football team represents Youngstown State University in college football. Youngstown State currently plays as a member of the NCAA at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision and are a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference...
at Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River. Most of the city is in Cabell County, for which it is the county seat. A small portion of the city, mainly the neighborhood of Westmoreland, is in Wayne County. Its population was 49,138 at...
, and finished the season at 13–2.
Allen kept his reputation for publicity stunts. During the run to the 1994 national championship game, Allen challenged local supporters, promising to ride a horse in downtown Boise
Boise, Idaho
Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...
if Bronco Stadium
Bronco Stadium
Bronco Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in Boise, Idaho, the home field of the Boise State Broncos of the Mountain West Conference. Since 1997, it has hosted the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Bronco Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in Boise, Idaho, the home field of the Boise State Broncos...
was sold out for their annual rivalry game versus Idaho
Boise State – Idaho rivalry
The Boise State–Idaho rivalry is a college football game between the Boise State University Broncos and the University of Idaho Vandals, the only two Division I FBS programs in the state of Idaho. The game had been played annually from 1971–2010, and with the exception of the 2001–04 games, the...
, in which the Vandals
Idaho Vandals football
The Idaho Vandals are a college football team that represents the University of Idaho. The Vandals currently compete in the Western Athletic Conference of the Football Bowl Subdivision of NCAA Division I...
had won 12 straight over the Broncos. The stadium was sold out, BSU won the game 27–24, and Allen kept his promise.
Cancer and legacy
Shortly after the 1994 championship game, Allen was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcomaRhabdomyosarcoma
A rhabdomyosarcoma is a type of cancer, specifically a sarcoma , in which the cancer cells are thought to arise from skeletal muscle progenitors. It can also be found attached to muscle tissue, wrapped around intestines, or in any anatomic location...
, a rare form of muscle cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
. He returned to coach the Broncos in 1995, but after a recurrence of cancer in December, took a leave of absence and assistant Tom Mason filled in as interim head coach in 1996. As the Broncos stumbled to just one win in their first ten games, Allen returned for the final two games of the 1996 season, against New Mexico State
New Mexico State Aggies football
The New Mexico State Aggies football team represents New Mexico State University in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football competition as a member of the Western Athletic Conference ....
and Idaho
Idaho Vandals football
The Idaho Vandals are a college football team that represents the University of Idaho. The Vandals currently compete in the Western Athletic Conference of the Football Bowl Subdivision of NCAA Division I...
. His win against NMSU was his first and only Division I-A win. He resigned in December, following a 64–19 loss to Idaho in November, and died three weeks later at the age of 53.
Boise State's come-from-behind, trick play-laden victory in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl
2007 Fiesta Bowl
The 2007 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl was a college football bowl game played as part of the 2006–2007 Bowl Championship Series of the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season...
, which brought even more national attention to the program that Allen helped build, came 10 years to the day after Allen's burial.
Allen was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame
Oregon Sports Hall of Fame
The Oregon Sports Hall of Fame honors Oregon athletes, teams, coaches, and others who have made a significant contribution to sports in Oregon. The first class was inducted in 1980, with new inductees added in the fall...
in 1998.