If you want to get something done, sometimes you just have to do it yourself.
Even though his players rarely — if ever — live by that motto, Penn basketball head coach Jerome Allen has decided to take the burdens of the coaching staff and put them on his back. Again.
After Scott Pera, the Red and Blue’s assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, resigned late last week to take a similar position under new head coach Mike Rhoades at Rice, Allen slowly realized he needed to find a replacement.
After spending the weekend in deep rumination and thought, Allen had a breakthrough while painting during his “quiet time” on Sunday afternoon.
While working on a delicate nature piece in his living room, Allen realized that he was the perfect man to replace Pera.
“I have a deep appreciation for what the position of top assistant coach and recruiting coordinator means at this university and for this program,” Allen said. “Getting this job was a product of effort and energy.
“Now, it’s on me.”
Allen was hired as a volunteer assistant coach for the Quakers prior to the 2009-10 season. Despite having zero experience in any coaching positions in the United States up to that point, the entirety of Penn Athletics looked the other way as Allen was brought on board.
And in a series of Frank Underwood-esque move, Allen quickly maneuvered his way to the top.
Allen helped convince the mainstream media that then-head coach Glen Miller was guilty of receiving illicit funds from unnamed donors and witness tampering. As special prosecutor Amy Gutmann began drawing up articles of impeachment, Allen forced Athletic Director Steve Bilsky to fire Miller and promote Allen to head coach.
But things haven’t gone so well for Allen as head coach. Despite a second-place finish in the Ivy League in 2011-12, the Red and Blue have failed to register double-digit wins since.
With Pera gone and the pressure rising on his status as head coach, Allen knew he needed to provide Penn Athletics with a viable candidate with the qualifications to serve as an assistant coach.
“I’m really happy to return my roots as an assistant coach,” Allen said. “Nothing makes me happier than serving this program, and though I’m going to continue leading this team as its head coach, I’m certainly comfortable serving as an assistant as well.”
Allen’s decision to serve as both assistant and head coach is an unprecedented one. Never before in the history of any Penn sport has any person served in more than one position on the same coaching bench. Until now, that is.
Still, as Allen’s power continues to grow within University athletic circles, he has generated rivals from other sports.
It was even rumored at one point that former baseball coach John Cole believed Allen rose to the position of head coach in an unbefitting manner. When Cole confronted Allen, Allen allegedly dug up a controversial editorial authored by Cole when he was a college student.
Nevertheless, as Allen assumes Pera’s former responsibilities, there’s no telling if he plans to stop his ascension anytime soon.
“I’m not satisfied with just being the head coach,” Allen said. “And I won’t be satisfied with two positions either. We’re slowly building our way up from the bottom to the top of the Ivy League, and I plan to be along for the entire ride in every way.”
