Rodney Allison enters his fifth season as the head football coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Allison continues his yearly improvements with the program, whether it's in recruiting or game attendance figures.
The program's recruiting hauls have been ranked among the top 11 nationally in three of the last four years, including the nation's top-ranked Division I-AA signing class in 2004.
In 2006, the Mocs had to endure a seven-game road schedule. However, in the team's four home games at Finley Stadium, UTC averaged an attendance increase of over 1,300 per game.
Allison's signature moment last season came on Sept. 23 when the Mocs recorded their first victory over Southern Conference rival Georgia Southern since 1996, snapping a nine-game losing skid to the Eagles.
A four-game turnaround is quite an accomplishment in college football, and UTC's 6-5 winning record in 2005 is just what Head Coach Rodney Allison predicted would happen. Only it occurred one year earlier than anticipated.
In his third season directing the Mocs, Allison led the 2005 squad to its first winning season since 1997. UTC improved from a 2-9 the previous year to its 6-5 mark with victories over Tennessee Tech, Jacksonville State, Wofford, Liberty, Elon and The Citadel.
For his efforts, Allison received consideration for Southern Conference Coach of the Year honors.
Now in his fourth season as the Mocs' head coach, Allison continues to bring in top-notch recruiting classes, the results of which have led to the team's improvement. The program's recruiting hauls have been ranked among the top 11 nationally in each of the last three years, including the nation's top-ranked class in 2004.
Allison was hired by UTC on Dec. 6, 2002. Athletics Director Steve Sloan lured Allison to Chattanooga from Clemson to take his first head-coaching job. Allison was a star quarterback for Sloan's Texas Tech football squad in the mid-1970s. Sloan once hired Allison to join his coaching staff at Duke, and the teaching and leadership attributes that attracted him back then were once again the drawing cards to bring him to UTC.
In 2003 in Allison's first year, the Mocs showed marked improvement in all phases of the game. He led UTC to Southern Conference victories over Elon, The Citadel and Western Carolina. The Mocs knocked The Citadel out of a certain NCAA Division I-AA playoff berth and shut out Western Carolina's high-powered offense in a 38-0 win.
The Mocs improved to fifth place in the SoCon in 2004 with wins over Western Carolina and Appalachian State. In the victory over the Mountaineers, the two teams combined to set an NCAA and SoCon single-game record with 16 touchdowns.
With a year under his belt, Allison and his staff signed the nation's top-rated recruiting class in Division I-AA in 2004, according to Rivals.com. The staff followed up the No. 1 rating in 2005 with a fourth-ranked recruiting haul.
Prior to his arrival at UTC, Allison spent four seasons with the Clemson Tigers as the defensive ends coach for head coach Tommy Bowden.
Allison's impact on the Clemson defense was evident. His defensive ends helped the Tigers record nearly 100 sacks over his last three years. In 2002, the Tigers ranked 38th nationally in total defense and 50th in scoring defense. They ranked 18th in rushing defense in 2001.
Allison brings more than two decades of football coaching experience to the Mocs program. Other than his stints at Texas Tech, Duke and Clemson, he also enjoyed coaching success at Auburn and Southern Mississippi.
He worked on Terry Bowden's Auburn staff from 1993-98, serving as running backs coach, special teams coach and offensive coordinator in different years. Allison and the Tigers forged a perfect 11-0 record in 1993, and they were ranked No. 4 in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll. The Tigers went 20-1-1 during Allison's first two years at Auburn and earned three Bowl Game berths during his stay.
While coaching the running backs at Auburn, three of his pupils gained over 1,000 yards in a season. James Bostic led the Southeastern Conference in rushing in 1993, and Stephen Davis was tops in the SEC the following year. Both backs enjoyed success in the National Football League.
Allison worked as an assistant at Southern Mississippi from 1988-92. His star pupil while working with the Golden Eagles' quarterbacks and running backs was quarterback Brett Favre. After an outstanding college career at USM, Favre has gone on to an extraordinary career in the National Football League. He won a Super Bowl title with the Green Bay Packers in 1996 and is the NFL's only three-time Most Valuable Player honoree.
During Allison's tenure at USM, the Golden Eagles participated in two Bowl Games. They completed a 10-2 season in 1988.
Allison served on Sloan's Duke staff from 1984-86 as the running backs coach.
As a college quarterback, Allison led Texas Tech to three Bowl Games - the 1974 Peach Bowl, the 1976 Bluebonnet Bowl and the 1977 Tangerine Bowl. In 1976, he passed for 1,458 yards, ran for 706 and was voted the Most Valuable Player in the Southwest Conference. In 1977, he was nominated for the Heisman Trophy. A team captain, he played in the Hula Bowl and the Japan Bowl Senior All-Star Games.
He was inducted into the Texas Tech Athletics Hall of Fame in October, 2003.
Allison played football professionally for one year for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League in 1978. He returned to his alma mater in 1979 as a graduate assistant coach for the late head coach Rex Dockery. The following year, he was hired full-time as the running backs coach by Jerry Moore, currently the head coach at Appalachian State.
Allison is a 1980 graduate of Texas Tech with a degree in Physical Education. He is married to the former Leigh Harris of Durham, N.C., and the couple has two children, Sloan, 19, and Ashleigh Delle, 16.
