In the early Nineties, I worked as a freelance sportswriter. I was also running a tab at the Elephant’s Delicatessen on Northwest 21st Street. They’d float me some pastrami on crusty bread and I’d pay whenever I could. Barely earned enough to survive but I met some interesting people. – JDW ***
When Ernest Duncan Allen first became a head coach, a simple plaque, the gift of a friend, hung in a place of honor on the imitation wood paneling of his modest office.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena
Whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood.
A man who knows the great enthusiasms and the great devotions.
Who spends himself in a worthy cause.
Who in the end knows the triumph of highest achievement
And if he fails at least fails while daring greatly.
So that his place shall never be with cold and timid souls.
Who know neither victory or defeated.
Pokey doesn’t know Theodore Roosevelt said those words. He doesn’t care. “I know who gave me the plaque,” he says, his priorities clear.
Get to know Pokey Allen, Boise State’s new football coach, and you’ll become a fan. He’s a nice guy. “I’m a nice guy,” he says. He likes people. “I like people,” he says. It shows. It’s not just talk.
Pokey acts like a nice guy, treating people as he would like to be treated. “To be a good football coach, you have to be a good human being,” he says simply. “I think it comes through.” Loud and clear.
Allen has been a winner since Pokey, Sr., a highway patrolman in Missoula, taught him a few of the cliches that make the most sense. Keep trying. Never quit. Work hard. Lessons he took to the University of Utah, where he was team captain, as well as the Most Valuable Player of the 1964 Liberty Bowl champions.
And an Academic All-American. Honorable mention.
His face marred with dust and sweat and blood, Pokey played pro ball in the Canadian Football League, finishing with the Norfolk Neptunes. “A real bad ending to a real mediocre career,” he recalls, despite starting at defensive back and subbing for the legendary Joe Kapp at quarterback.
The end of his playing days was Allen’s cruelest blow as an athlete. “When it’s over, it’s tough. It’s a transition,” he explains. “I can barely remember the disappointment itself… just how bad it was. Pro ball was an excuse to stay young.”
Pokey has been a coach ever since. In Canada. In the pros. Big colleges, small colleges. CFL, USFL, PAC-10. Defensive coordinator. Guest coach. Assistant coach. Head coach. Pokey Allen is ready to take that next step.
“You think about football as a sport,” Poke says, thinking about it. “Sometimes you even think, ‘Is it worth it?’ The positives really outweigh the negatives. It’s a tough sport. It’s hard. It’s not a recreational sport. But, when you come out of it, you’re a better person.”
Getting better is what life’s all about. “It’s amazing how many teams don’t get any better. We try to work as hard as we can each week to get better,” says the man who puts in seventy-hour weeks during pigskin Autumn. “You’re practicing for a reason. To improve. To become more skillful.”
Pokey Allen is a man who knows great enthusiasms and great devotions. Oh, the stories they tell about him.
Pokey’s friend and former colleague Steve “Dream” Weaver tells about the time Pokey thought his team’s practice wasn’t up to par. “It was cold, rainy, sleeting really. The kids were tired; people were complaining. They didn’t want to work. Next thing you know, Pokey’s out in the middle of the field. He’s taking off his hat, his jacket. His shirt. He starts jumping up and down, and he’s screaming. ‘I’m forty-something years old, and I’m out here, and I’m not tired!’ And on and on. And the rain and the sleet is pouring down. The kids just looked at each other, like they couldn’t believe their eyes. The rest of practice went great; Pokey finished it bare-chested.”
Coach Allen’s place is not with the cold and timid souls, it’s with his ball club.
“We’d gotten our butts kicked,” recalls Weaver. “The team was traveling by bus. Pokey was scheduled to fly back home for a big fundraiser. A big, important fundraiser. When Pokey came out of the stadium, the guys were all set to leave. They were beat up; their star’s leg was broken. They were defeated physically, and thoroughly. Pokey took one look at them and said, ‘Call the school. Tell’em I can’t make it. These kids need me. I’m taking the bus home, too.”
Pokey Allen – priorities still straight – is home here at Boise State now. Go, Broncos!!!
[Ernest (Pokey) Allen, whose success as head football coach at Boise State the past four years was overshadowed by his battle with cancer, died December 31, 1996 at St. Patrick’s Hospital. He was 53.]