Key Points:
- Not to name drop, but Allen was one of NFL standout Barry Sanders’ early coaches.
- He gained a reputation for his tireless effort to help children who weren’t expected to succeed.
- The “good old boys’ network” denied him a high school head coaching position.
Recently, Coach Larry Allen received some long-overdue recognition.
Allen, who coached junior league and high school football in Wichita for more than 42 years, received the Theo Cribbs Jr. Man of the Year Award at a dinner attended by more than 50 of his former players.
Speaker after speaker shared stories about the major impact Allen had in their lives.
“He taught us more than football. He taught us about life, about staying out of the system and going to colleges,” said William Polite, who was on one of Allen’s earliest teams. “Coach Allen had a motto, ‘I’m not just here to build football players, I’m here to build young men.’”
He was successful in his goal, with many of his players going on to stellar positions at work and in the community.
“There are NFL players, teachers, preachers and pastors, doctors and lawyers and even just Christian married men taking care of their responsibility, and I am very proud of their accomplishments,” said Allen
He gained a reputation for his tireless effort to help children who weren’t expected to succeed and had little hope. He gave them the confidence they needed to overcome the negative forces in their life by turning them into positives.
“Many of my former guys did not have a dad in the home, but I made it clear while mentoring them that that could not be an excuse for not being successful,” said Allen. “In fact, that should be the motivation you need to be successful, so never give up and feel sorry for yourself, because hard work and dedication to a cause can change the course of your life.”
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The ICT Dawgs youth football program bestowed Allen with the Theo Cribbs Jr. Man of the Year Award in memory of another legendary local coach. Cribbs founded the Wichita Bulldogs in the early 1980s, after working more than a decade with the Wichita Colts organization. Through both organizations, he mentored children and instilled in them discipline and pride. He remained involved until his death in 2023.
Early Days
Allen grew up in sports: football, baseball and basketball. With a big family full of boys, and one girl, life at the Allen house revolved around sports and church.
His father, Alvin “Pappy” Allen, founded the Wichita Colts junior league football program in 1964.
It was, and still is, one of the city’s most successful youth football organizations. That’s why this recognition from the Wichita Bulldog speaks extra volumes about Allen’s impact.
Allen grew up in the Colts program and when he aged out of it, he transitioned to Wichita South High School, where he was a star. In 1972, he helped South win its first city football title.
“Larry was the man who led the team to the championship,” said his former South High team manager Randy Ehrlich. “As the star running back, Larry was in a league of his own. He didn’t showboat or act special, but when the quarterback put that football into his gut, as running back, he was phenomenal – bobbing and weaving, lightning-fast runners that put the crowd on their feet.”
Even back then as the team leader, he had a powerful saying: “Never, never, never give up!”
After high school, Allen attended Garden City Community College on a football scholarship. After that, he played Division 1 ball at the University of Ohio.
After college, he had offers to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, and Seattle Seahawks – but he was thrown a curve ball when his mother passed.
He decided to turn down the offers to come back to Wichita and help his siblings and family members who needed direction. He focused on family, completing his education and marrying his high school sweetheart. He and wife Deborah will be married 50 years this December.
“Guys, if you had a choice of coming home every night to such a beautiful woman as Deborah or playing professional football, what would you do?” he said at the banquet in full appreciation of his bride.
Coaching
Allen began his coaching career with the Colts in 1976. Early on, he worked with the older boys, getting them ready for high school football and beyond.
Along the way, he produced a number of community college, Division 1, and NFL players. While Allen didn’t want to name any of the players for fear of leaving some out, others were willing to name drop.
Most successful among them was Wichita legend Barry Sanders, who, as an eighth- and ninth-grader, completed a lot of his high school preparatory skill development on Allen’s team. Sanders went on to win the Heisman Trophy and played 10 seasons for the Detroit Lions.
In addition to coaching junior league football for 21 years, Allen was an assistant coach on the high school level for 21 years: 10 at Kapaun Mt. Carmel, three at Wichita Heights, five at Wichita Southeast, and three at Sunrise Christian Academy.
“One of the biggest tragedies is that he was never allowed to [head] coach at the high school level,” said Polite. “He was one of the brightest football minds in the city for years, but the good old boys club, they wouldn’t give him a chance.”
It would be decades before Wichita hired an African American as a head high school football coach, even though they had several head basketball coaches, including Allen’s brother, Greg Allen.
Personal Life as an Example
Allen did all of his work molding players and young men while working full time at Boeing Aircraft from 1976 through 2006. In addition, he and his wife had and raised three children.
“The coaching was a bonus,” said Allen, who called football his therapy and a passion he inherited from his father.
Still active, he works for USD 259 doing what he loves, mentoring young men in the school district’s Future Ready Program. He’s also authored a workbook, “The Lord’s Champion,” to help youth become the kind of men “the Lord designed us to be.”
Allen has always been equally passionate about his faith in God and shared it openly with his players.
“My Christian journey and my family commitment hopefully showed my guys that faith in God plays a major role in any success you plan to have in this life,” said Allen. “I always spoke this way to my guys. Thank God many of them were listening, because every church I go to in the urban community, I find many of my former players there serving, preaching and praying. All my coaching, teaching, training, & equiping is on full display and that makes me very proud.”
