Highland Park will honor legendary football coach Randy Allen by naming its home field after him in a ceremony that will take place at halftime of Friday’s game against Cherry Creek (Colo.).
Randy Allen Field at Highlander Stadium will be a tribute to the man who ranks second on the state’s all-time wins list with 449 career victories after a 3-0 start this season. Corpus Christi Calallen coach Phil Danaher holds the state record, having won 490 games before retiring after the 2021 season.
Allen is a four-time state champion, winning titles at Highland Park in 2005, 2016, 2017 and 2018, and his 85 career playoff wins are second-most in Texas all-time behind Danaher’s 93. Highland Park is the winningest program in state history with 889 all-time victories, and its six state championships are tied for 10th-most in UIL 11-man football history.
Allen announced he was retiring in 2018, but the retirement lasted less than three weeks. He has been at Highland Park since 1999 and has a record of 296-36 at the school.
Two former Highland Park star quarterbacks — Scott Smith and Lance McIlhenny — will be inducted into Highland Park’s Football Ring of Honor over the next two weeks. McIlhenny went on to have a standout career at SMU, teaming up with famed running backs Eric Dickerson and Craig James, while Smith was the man Allen replaced as Highland Park’s head coach.
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