(WLOS) Maybe the most popular coach at Rosman High School is Tyrea Allen. "The kids think he walks on water," joked head football coach Dusty Robinson. "And it's because he thinks the same about them."
Allen is the head Junior Varsity football coach for the Tigers, a position he assumed once Robinson took over as varsity coach at the end of 2019.
"Tyrea was who I wanted in that JV spot because he brought so many qualities that I deem necessary for the young guys especially," Robinson explained. "He's a great encourager, he's a great motivator, and he's relentlessly positive."
Even when the expected gaffs of a JV football game occur, Allen claps his hands furiously and focuses less on what didn't happen and instead on what should happen the next time.
"They're trying to figure out life," mused Allen. "They've got a lot of hormones going and it's tough to keep their focus a lot of the times and finding ways to reach each and every one of them is a challenge."
Allen also provides a unique perspective for the Tigers. Paging through the year books at Rosman, that reliably go back more than 60 years, it is firmly believed that he is the first Black football coach in school history.
"Coming here I never even thought about it, to tell you the truth," he said. "I always take things for face value and that's just something that's been instilled in me. Mom always taught me to treat everyone the same, no matter what."
"He would be a great coach whether he was white or black and there's no doubt about that," asserted Robinson. "So yes, in that respect quote unquote color doesn't matter. But representation matters; representation matters and I think you would be hard-pressed to make an argument that it's somehow negative that our kids are seeing an African-American gentleman in a position of authority."
That's not to say that everyone shares Robinson's view. Allen emphasized that ever since he began dating his now-wife when they were in college together at Mars Hill, that the Rosman community has been nothing but welcoming. It's when they travel that he tends to be reminded of his place in history.
"I've heard people say, 'You're different than the others.' I've also been asked hard questions that I never even would indulge myself with, whether it be in the grocery store or at the gas station or something like that," Allen said. "Just because of the way I look you go ahead and assume, but that just gives me an opportunity to show who I really am."
While he's teaching the game of football to the next generation, his simple presence is a lesson in itself.
"In our lives we're going to encounter folks of different backgrounds, different races, different ethnicities, what have you," said Robinson. "And I believe it removes some of the underlying stigma to see, to get a taste of that now."
It also allows Allen to share some of the other, broader life lessons that he learned through a career that took him all the way to the Minnesota Vikings training camp.
"You don't necessarily know where the defense is going to go, the defense doesn't know what the offense is doing," Allen said. "They can have an idea, but they don't know exactly what's going on and you have to have the mentality to concentrate, to focus, and to execute regardless of everything that's going on outside of you. And that's life in a nutshell."