John Allen

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - John Allen has been named the new head football coach at Lock Haven University.

Allen, a 1996 graduate of James Madison University is no stranger to Lock Haven University or the Lock Haven community, having served as an assistant coach at LHU from 1996 to 2003.

While at LHU, he assisted in all phases of the game including wide receivers and special teams coordinator (1996-99), defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator (1999), offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach (2000-03).

Since 1996, Allen has remained a resident of Lock Haven.

“We had three outstanding final candidates with different strengths,” said LHU President Barbara B. Dixon. “John brings experience, strong support from alumni, and a great love and enthusiasm for the football program at Lock Haven University. We are confident that he will do a great job leading LHU football.”

Lock Haven Director of Athletics Sharon E. Taylor echoes the feelings of President Dixon.

“I think President Dixon captured the sentiments of those of us involved in the search process,” said Taylor. “John brings a wealth of experiences and personal contacts to this position which should benefit our student-athletes. He is committed to LHU and we all need to do whatever we can to help him and the team be successful.”

Most recently Allen has been at the Pennsylvania State University. Since 2008, he has been the coordinator of player development with the Nittany Lions.

Allen’s previous head coaching experience came at one of the game’s highest levels. In 2007 he was the head coach of the Berlin Thunder in NFL Europe.

Prior to his appointment as head coach of the Berlin Thunder he was the offensive coordinator for the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe for three seasons.

In 2005, he helped lead the Amsterdam Admirals to the World Bowl, the league’s championship.

He also has Division I Bowl Game coaching experience, having gone to the Outback Bowl (2011), Capital One Bowl (2010) and the BCS Rose Bowl (2009) with Penn State.

Allen couldn’t be more excited about his new position.

“I’m very excited and looking forward to hitting the ground running,” said Allen. “Lock Haven University has always had a special place in my heart and there are a lot of positives here. We can recruit here, we can win here and this a good time for the program, I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Allen will assume his duties as head football coach in the next two to three weeks.