Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1972
- Class:
- 1948
Allyn McKeen is one of the legendary figures in the history of Mississippi State football, having served as head coach from 1939-48.
He arrived in Starkville from West Tennessee State Teachers College (now the University of Memphis), where he posted a perfect 10-0 record in his second and final season.
McKeen was the architect of an immediate turnaround at State, taking over a program that posted a 4-6 record prior to his arrival and leading the Maroons to an 8-2 mark in his first season.
McKeen was named SEC Coach of the Year following the 1940 season that saw the Maroons finish 10-0-1 with an Orange Bowl victory and a final AP ranking of No. 9 – the highest in program history. It was MSU’s first 10-win season, a feat that would not be replicated until 1999, and the first time State went undefeated since going 3-0-2 in 1903.
McKeen’s 1940 squad reeled off three-consecutive wins over ranked opponents to conclude the season – a shutout of No. 11 Ole Miss, a road triumph at No. 17 Alabama and a thrilling win over No. 13 Georgetown in the Orange Bowl. State would not appear in the Orange Bowl again until 2014.
1941 proved to be another legendary season for McKeen, winning the program’s first and only SEC Championship. State finished the year with an 8-1-1 overall record, a 4-0-1 mark in conference play and a No. 16 final ranking.
The Maroons traveled to Oxford for what is perhaps the most consequential Battle for the Golden Egg ever played – the winner clinched the SEC crown. MSU came back home with a 6-0 win over No. 14 Ole Miss. The season concluded with a road win at San Francisco one day before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
McKeen finished his career at Mississippi State with a 65-19-3 record – his .764 winning percentage remains the best of any coach in program history and is seventh all-time in the SEC among those who coached at least nine seasons. He compiled five seasons of eight wins or more, a feat that would not be replicated by an MSU coach until Dan Mullen from 2009-17. He is the only Bulldog head coach to finish ranked in the AP Poll Top 20 three times.
McKeen was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1977 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1991.
