Tamera Allen Sr. is coming back to where it all started.
Allen, a 2000 Clarksdale High School graduate, was an all-purpose back at running back and wide receiver and also played special teams on the football team. He earned his associate’s degree in health and physical education and recreation at Coahoma Community College in 2002 where he played running back on the football team. He is going to Mississippi Valley State University pursuing his bachelor’s degree.
Allen is the new running backs coach for the Wildcats. His son, Tamera Allen Jr., graduated this past spring and was the starting quarterback for two years. Allen was an assistant coach at WA Higgins Middle School under Anthony Chestnut since 2017. Anthony Chestnut is the father of 2020 CHS graduate Zeilon Chestnut. Zeilon Chestnut currently plays for CCC.
“Coach Chestnut asked him (Allen Jr.) to get in contact with me,” Allen said. “That’s how I started at the middle school. I actually came in as a paraprofessional. You have to take this state test and you have to pass this test to be on the sideline legally, first aid and stuff like that.”
Allen thought about being a high school assistant coach his son’s senior year, but it did not happen.
“I actually didn’t know he was going to move me up that fast,” Allen said. “I’ve only been at the middle school for about three years.”
Allen worked in hospitality at Gold Strike Casino in Tunica for eight years, but he only started working for the Clarksdale Municipal District on a full-time basis recently.
“Last year, I got laid off in the pandemic and that’s really how all this got started,” Allen said. “Here I am right here today.”
Allen prefers being a coach.
“Weekends, holidays off,” Allen said. “You get your summer off. I love it. I enjoy doing this. I really do.”
He specifically said he is glad to be back with the Wildcats.
“This is like tradition,” Allen said. “I told my son when he first started playing like me you’re coming along Clarksdale High School. This is a football town. You’ve got a lot of tradition over there. A lot of people came before you so you’ve got to love that Wildcat man. We’re used to winning around here.”
Allen was not part of a football team for many years, but he kept up with the game through newspapers, the radio and the MaxPreps.com website.
“Once you learn it, you never forget it,” Allen said. “I always kind of kept an eye on them from a distance.”
Some of Allen’s high school teammates were linebacker Mario Haggan, who played for Mississippi State and in the NFL, Tarnaka Counslor, who was a Jackson State running back and one of the top rushers in the school’s history and Mandrell McGregory, who was a cornerback, played for Murray State and intercepted quarterback Tony Romo when he was at Eastern Illinois. Romo was a longtime Dallas Cowboys quarterback and is currently an NFL announcer on CBS.
Allen grew up watching quarterback Marcus Taylor who signed with LSU but played for Alcorn State and Michael Vaughn who was an Alabama and Green Bay Packers wide receiver when they were with the Wildcats.
“Growing up and watching them play, that’s how I learned about the tradition of Clarksdale football,” Allen said.
The Wildcats are going into their second year and their new stadium next to the high school.
“It’s starting to grow on me,” Allen said. “I’m kind of used to Crumpton Field, but it’s starting to grow on me. It actually looks kind of small when you’re standing here, but when you look at it on film, it’s actually got a lot of glow to it. Because when you’ve got the camera pointing back, you get to see the backdrop. I think that’s the best part of this field is the backdrop. On game night you have all these lights, everything lit up, the Expo Center (across the street). Then you have the baseball field (next to the football field). It actually looks kind of good on film, but it is growing on me. I guess once you start getting into those playoff games, those championship games and started filling it up, that’s what I’m used to seeing. A lot of people filling up the stands.”
The Wildcats were forced to forfeit before the second round of the playoffs in 2020 due to a COVID outbreak on the team. Allen had a message for his son, who was the quarterback.
“Once we get ready to have a state championship, I’m going to make sure you have a seat with me,” Allen said. “You can ride up on the bus with me and finish what we all started. Because they actually had a good year. I thought they were going to make a good run, too. It’s unfortunate that COVID-19 happened. It happened to a lot of people, but we didn’t want to end the season on that note right there.”
Allen is keeping things in perspective as a coach.
“My goal as a coach is to me is more about producing productive young men then athletes because a lot of these kids, they’re not going to play football in college,” Allen said. “But you want them to be productive young men and good fathers and, hopefully, they’ll go along to take care of their families and do good things in life.”
