Allen Burrell, the new head coach for the Mount Michael Varsity football team, is working to change the football culture at Mount Michael. He played football at Overland High School and in college. Now, he is bringing his knowledge and experience to the Mount Michael football program.
Allen Burrell attended North Dakota State University, where he played football and ran track and field. Burrell was very successful in both of those sports. In his football career, he racked up 798 receiving yards and had eleven touchdowns. In his track and field career, he was a four-time NCAA Division II All-American. He also finished fourth in the 100-meter dash at the 2004 national meet. Burrell also holds the 100-meter dash school record running 10.22. Burrell was successful both on and off the field. While being a great athlete, he managed to acquire a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.
After graduating from North Dakota State University, Burrell pursued a career in football. “I chased my dream of trying to become a professional athlete by having a short stint in the Canada Football League,” Burrell said.
Along with that, Burrell tried becoming an actor, which did not manifest the way he wanted. After that, he wanted to continue to be involved in the game of football. “After my first-year coaching under Fred Petito at Millard North, I knew I wanted to become a head coach. I loved how he ran the program with structure, commitment, and discipline and how all his players respected him and appreciated the life lesson he gave,” Burrell said.
After coaching at Millard North, Burrell brought his skills to Creighton Prep. At Prep, Burrell was an assistant coach. “I got the opportunity to learn about the game of football from all angles, in addition to how to operate a football program that is a Catholic-based institution,” Burrell said.
There is a difference between being an assistant coach at Prep and being the head coach at Mount Michael.“The cons of being an assistant at Prep would be not being able to implement my ideas fully,” Burrell said.
Now, using his 15 years of coaching experience, Burrell can implement all of his ideas fully into the Mount Michael football program.
Burrell and the rest of the coaching staff are working to change the football culture at Mount Michael. “My goal is to create a competitive culture, one that will make and value aggressive intelligence on and off the field,” said Burrell. The team can already see this, especially on defense. In the Knight’s first game against Crete, they allowed less than 100 total rushing yards. Burrell has also pushed to get better equipment for the team. This includes better uniforms, practice jerseys, and shoulder pads.
“Good equipment is essential because it keeps everyone safe first and foremost,” said Burrell.