SECONDARY
FOOTBALL STAFF: Secondary Coach Bobby Allen
BOBBY ALLEN
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Bobby Allen is in his 15th year on the staff at Arkansas in 2012. A two-time co-defensive coordinator at Arkansas, he is in his second stint as a coach of the secondary. He moved to the defensive backfield prior to the 2012 AT&T Cotton Bowl, going back to where he coached from 2003-07, after coaching the defensive tackles from 2008-11 and the defensive line in 2001. In the Razorbacks’ 29-16 win vs. No. 11 Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl, the secondary recorded 28 tackles, 1.0 for loss, one interception and one pass breakup while holding the Wildcats to just 173 passing yards on 16 completions. True freshman cornerback Tevin Mitchel had three solo tackles, 1.0 for loss, and his first pass breakup as a collegian in his first game under Allen’s tutelage. During the 2011 season, the defensive tackles contributed 132 tackles, led by Byran Jones’ 47 that ranked eighth on the team. The position group also added 9.5 tackles for loss and 11 quarterback hurries. Jones immediately benefited from Allen’s coaching as a true freshman in 2010 and was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. In 2010, Allen coached a unit that helped Arkansas to its first BCS appearance and ranked second in the Southeastern Conference in sacks with an average of 2.85 per game that tied for eighth nationally. UA made 95 tackles for loss in 2010, which tied for the second-highest total in school history. Arkansas also notched the third-highest single-season sack total (37) in program history. Allen has been an assistant coach at Arkansas since 1998 and is in his 30th overall season as a collegiate coach. He coached the Razorback cornerbacks from 2003-07 along with the free safeties from 2003-04. Under Allen’s guidance, the Razorback secondary ranked among the best units in the nation in defending the pass in 2007. Arkansas led the SEC and was second in the nation in pass efficiency defense with a rating of 97.8 and ranked second in the SEC with 20 interceptions, including 11 by Allen’s cornerback unit. In addition, two UA cornerbacks, Michael Grant and Jerell Norton, ranked in the top five of the conference’s passes defended category. Grant led the SEC with 21 (1.62 per game) passes broken up during the season, while Norton ranked fourth with 15 (1.15). Norton led the team, tied for fourth in the SEC and tied for 40th in the nation with five interceptions (0.38 per game) for 174 yards and one touchdown.
Grant led the cornerbacks and ranked fifth on the team with 75 tackles. He also grabbed three interceptions for 15 yards and earned a spot on the All-SEC second team. In 2006, cornerback Chris Houston, an honorable mention All-American, spent the season containing some of the best wide receivers in the nation. The junior held USC’s Dwayne Jarrett to his lowest receiving output in 34 games and stifled other standouts, including Tennessee’s Robert Meachem, Auburn’s Courtney Taylor and Vanderbilt’s Earl Bennett. Houston notched 45 tackles and a team-leading three interceptions for 129 yards and one touchdown. He also broke up a team-leading 13 passes. In 2005, cornerbacks Michael Coe, Houston, Grant and Matterral Richardson finished first through fourth, respectively, on the team with a combined 29 passes broken up. Coe and Grant also tied for second on the club with three interceptions each, and those four had a total of 117 tackles, helping the Razorbacks rank 34th in the nation in total defense by allowing 341 yards per game. In 2004, free safety Vickiel Vaughn was first on the team in tackles with 66 while freshman cornerback Darius Vinnett ranked fifth with 54 stops. In 2003, UA ranked fourth in the SEC and 21st in the nation by holding opponents to 187.0 passing yards per game. The Razorbacks also intercepted 17 passes, the third-most in the league. Since joining Arkansas’ coaching staff, Allen has served as defensive coordinator (1998, 2000), coached the inside linebackers (1998-99), the middle and strong side linebackers (2002), the defensive line (2001, 2008-11) and the cornerbacks and free safeties in 2003 and 2004. Prior to the 2008 season, Allen worked with cornerbacks exclusively from 2005-07. Allen has held or shared UA’s defensive coordinator duties on two separate occasions. He served as co-defensive coordinator with Keith Burns in 1998 and shared the duties with John Thompson during the 2000 season. When Burns left UA following the 1999 regular season, Allen was named the Razorbacks’ defensive coordinator for their meeting with Texas in the 2000 Cotton Bowl. In 1998, Allen helped direct a Razorback defensive unit that ranked sixth nationally in rushing defense, 10th in turnover margin and 13th in scoring defense. In 2000, Allen helped guide a Razorback defense that allowed just 292.1 yards per game to lead the SEC and rank 12th nationally in total defense. Allen began his coaching career at Colorado, where he served as a graduate assistant during the 1983 and 1984 seasons. After helping Minnesota to an Independence Bowl berth as a defensive secondary graduate assistant in 1985, Allen landed his first full-time position when he was named defensive coordinator at Drake where he served from 1986-88. Allen was a standout prep quarterback at Seneca Valley High School in Gaithersburg, Md., where he was named the Washington, D.C., area player of the year as a senior and also excelled in baseball and basketball. He went on to earn three varsity letters while playing three positions, kicker, quarterback and outside linebacker at Virginia Tech, where he earned a bachelor’s of science degree in marketing in 1983. Allen is married to the former Marcela Garcia. The couple has one daughter, Daniela, and three sons, Christian, Brandon and Austin. Brandon is a redshirt freshman quarterback for the Razorbacks.
PERSONAL
COACHING DUTIES: secondary BORN: March 5, 1959 FAMILY: Wife, Marcela; Daughter, Daniela; Sons, Christian, Brandon and Austin
EDUCATION
Seneca Valley (Germantown, Md.) HS, 1977 Virginia Tech - B.S. in marketing education, 1983 JOINED UA STAFF: Dec. 11, 1997 YEARS OF COLLEGIATE EXPERIENCE/ YEARS AT UA: 29/14 RECRUITING TERRITORY: Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Kansas JC
COACHING HISTORY
Dec. 2011- ..................................... Arkansas (Secondary) 2008-Dec. 2011.............................. Arkansas (Defensive Tackles) 2005-07.......................................... Arkansas (Cornerbacks) 2003-04.......................................... Arkansas (Cornerbacks and Free Safeties) 2002............................................... Arkansas (Middle and Strong Side Linebackers) 2001............................................... Arkansas (Defensive Line) 2000............................................... Arkansas (Co-Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers) 1999............................................... Arkansas (Inside Linebackers) 1998............................................... Arkansas (Co-Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers) 1997............................................Boise State (Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers) 1996.........................................Murray State (Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers) 1992-95........................................Holy Cross (Outside Linebackers/Secondary/Kickers) 1990-91................................... South Dakota (Defensive Coordinator/Secondary/ Recruiting Coordinator) 1989........................................ South Dakota (Secondary/Recruiting Coordinator) 1986-88............................................... Drake (Defensive Coordinator/Secondary) 1985............................................. Minnesota (Graduate Assistant/Secondary) 1983-84...........................................Colorado (Graduate Assistant)
PLAYING EXPERIENCE
Virginia Tech (quarterback/linebacker) 1979-81
POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE
ASSISTANT COACH Arkansas........................... 2012 Cotton Bowl 2011 Sugar Bowl 2010 Liberty Bowl 2008 Cotton Bowl 2007 Capital One Bowl 2006 SEC Championship Game 2003 Independence Bowl 2002 Music City Bowl 2002 SEC Championship Game 2002 Cotton Bowl 2000 Las Vegas Bowl 2000 Cotton Bowl 1999 Florida Citrus Bowl GRADUATE ASSISTANT COACH Minnesota............... 1985 Independence Bowl
The Allen family (front l-r): Bobby, Marcela and Daniela (back l-r): Christian, Austin and Brandon
PLAYER Virginia Tech........................1980 Peach Bowl