Greenville High School head football coach Gene Allen recently turned in his letter of resignation to the Butler County Board of Education after 16 years of coaching in the public school system.

The board approved the resignation last Thursday evening before the public.

Allen, who has a part of two 5A AHSAA state championships, had been the Tiger's head coach since 1990. The Allen family is moving to the north central part of the state as he recently accepted a head coach and athletic director position at Talledega High School.

"I found out about the job opening from Frank Brown," Allen said. Brown was the previous principal at Greenville High School. Brown is now principal at Talledega High.

Originally, Allen was contacted by Brown and asked if he knew of anyone who was interested in the coaching position.

After learning about Talledega's program, Allen became interested in the job.

In the last four years, Talledega's football record was 3-37.

"It has always been a dream of mine to rebuild a football program.

When I found out more about the status of the football program, I became interested in the job," Allen said.

Allen explained it was time to get out of the comfort zone and rekindle that fire he had in his earlier years of coaching.

"It will definitely be a great challenge, but I like challenges," Allen said. "The opportunity set before me is exciting and I anticipate evaluating the current coaches and players at Talledega."

The Allen family has several family members and friends in Greenville.

"We will leave numerous friends and family members behind but Amy and I will visit as much as possible," he said. "Greenville is my home town and it will always have a special place in my heart."

Allen said he will take the memories of Greenville to Talledega.

The coach was married in Greenville and his children were born here.

"I can't express the thankfulness and gratitude that I have for the people here in Greenville," Allen said. "There is something special about the people here and I will miss that."

Allen also will miss the players he had coached.

"I will miss every player that I had a chance to coach at Greenville High," he said.

"I am blessed to have had such great kids on the team throughout the years."

During the years, Allen got to know numerous families around the area through his coaching career.

Several families had one or more players that suited up for the Tigers. Allen also had his fair share of assistants come through GHS.

"The assistant coaches here deserve more credit than I do. They all worked hard to help the football program get the reputation it currently has," he said. "All the Tiger fans expect Greenville High to win every game in every season. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way because I expected to win every ballgame."

Allen felt blessed with the quality of coaches and players that came up through the program.

"We all had chemistry and that came into play on the field," Allen said.

He has had been involved with coaching and athletics has entire life.

"Coaching is all I ever wanted to do.

Even at an early age, my passion for sports and the competition was evident," he said.

Allen's passion for competition and desire for a challenge now takes him to Talledega High. However, he will remember where he came from.

"I will always remember where my roots are," Allen said.

So, from capturing the 5A state championship before an electrified home crowd of Greenville in 1994 to heading a defense that upset the mighty Russellville Tigers in a classic double overtime thriller in 1987, Allen will look to add similar glorious moments for Talledega's football program.

He said he hopes to realize these similar moments because of the stories and times that never grow old.

Allen will take over as Talledega's coach on Monday and officially will take on duties of the athletic director in June.

"I would like to thank everyone who has helped me and my family through the years.

They all know who they are," Allen concluded.