Jack Allen, Head Coach
For Tarleton State head coach Jack Allen, a new baseball season is simply
another challenge to conquer. This season -- Allen's 36th in coaching and
13th at the Tarleton helm -- will be no different as he looks to guide the
Texans on their quest for another Lone Star Conference South Division title.
The veteran skipper, who sees coaching as a challenge similar to "piecing
together a never-ending puzzle," has overcome plenty of challenges in his
coaching career. And, he has the hardware to prove it.
A longtime junior college coach, Allen has amassed an impressive 1,201-684-3
record in his 35 years, including a 387-285-3 mark over the past 12 campaigns
with the Texans. While at Tarleton, his teams have won two LSC divisional
titles, one Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association championship and one
NAIA District 8 crown, in addition to earning one NCAA regional berth.
Allen, who took over the Tarleton program prior to the 1990 season, put
together an enviable record of 814-399 in 23 seasons with Ranger Junior
College. Included in those totals are nine conference championships, seven
regional championships, and four state championships. Allen coached Ranger's
program to junior college national championships in 1973 and 1978.
Success has been constant at Tarleton ever since Allen arrived, even though
the Texans' program was just two years old at the time.
Allen, who was inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall
of Fame prior to the 2000 season, has led the Texans to eight 30-win seasons,
including five in the past seven years. He turned the young program into a
well-respected NAIA power, and the past seven years have seen him do the same
at the NCAA Division II level.
Tarleton made its big breakthrough in the Division II ranks in 1998 as Allen
led the Texans to the South Central Regional Tournament. That marked the first-
ever NCAA appearance for any Tarleton team since the school moved its membership
in 1994.
Allen garnered LSC South Division Coach of the Year honors that season, having
led the Texans to a second-place league finish and postseason appearance. He
earned league Coach of the Year acclaim again in 1999 after guiding Tarleton to
the South Division title and a second-place finish in the LSC postseason tournament.
In 2000, the Texans again won the South Division crown and qualified for LSC
postseason play for a third straight season, sending a message to conference
opponents that Allen and his troops were here to stay.
Allen's tenure at Tarleton started in 1990 when he led the Texans to a 29-20-1
record. That was followed by consecutive 40-win seasons, which resulted in him
being named NAIA District 8 and Area II Coach of the Year in 1992.
His 1991 team posted a 41-22 record while winning the TIAA title and finishing
third in NAIA District 8. The '92 squad enjoyed a first-place finish in District
8 and was second in Area II after compiling a 41-27 mark.
The Texans won 36 games and finished as District 8 runners-up in 1993 before
posting a 26-26 record in '94, which remains Allen's only non-winning season
as Tarleton's skipper.
In 1995, he guided Tarleton to a second-place finish in its initial year in
the Lone Star Conference. Also during that season he became just the 19th
collegiate coach to record 1,000 victories.
After going 30-26 in 1996 and 27-24 in '97, the Texans turned the corner in
1998 and have been a force in the LSC and South Central region ever since.
During his time at Tarleton, Allen has coached 24 first team All-Lone Star
Conference players and seven All-Americans. He earned his 300th win at Tarleton
with a 3-2 decision over Texas A&M-Kingsville that put Tarleton in the 1998
LSC Championship game, and his 1200th overall coaching victory came last year
against Eastern New Mexico.
A native of Ranger, Allen graduated from Ranger Junior College in 1956 and
spent two years playing professional baseball before earning his bachelor's
degree at Sam Houston State in 1963. He then returned to Ranger as head baseball
coach and remained in that post until 1985.
Allen, who was selected to the National Junior College Athletic Association
Hall of Fame in 1986, received his master's degree from Sam Houston State in
1971 and his teaching certificate at Tarleton in 1989. Aside from his coaching
duties at Ranger, Allen has worked as a part-time scout since 1973 with the
Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, and San Diego Padres.
He has been a member of the Stephenville Optimist Club and Ranger Lions Club,
he served 10 years on the Ranger City Commission and he was director of the
Ranger Boys Club in addition to working four years as mayor of the city of
Ranger.
In his profession, he is past president of both the Texas Junior College
Baseball Coaches Association and the National Junior College Baseball Coaches
Association, a member of the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association,
United States Baseball Federation, American Baseball Coaches Association, and
the Ex-Pro Baseball Players Association of Texas.
He has been honored by Ranger Junior College with its Distinguished Alumni
Award in 1974, by the National Junior College Athletic Association with a
Distinguished Service Award in 1985, and as Baseball Coach of the Year by
the Texas Sports Writers in 1973, National Junior College Athletic Association
in 1973 and 1978, and the America Association of College Baseball Coaches in
1973 and 1978.
Jack, 65, and his wife, Linda, reside in Lake Leon, Texas.