Redwood High School’s Curtis Allen is the Visalia Times-Delta/Tulare Advance-Register’s Leo Robinson Coach of the Year for the 2025-26 school year.
The award is given to Tulare County’s most outstanding high school football coach.
A resurgent season
A year removed from a 0-5 start, the Rangers turned their season around immediately under the leadership of Allen —the Rangers’ first-year head coach who was the College of the Sequoias head football coach from 2005-10.
That coaching experience paid off right away.
Redwood kicked off the 2025 season with a win over Centennial for the first time in 17 years. The Rangers defeated the Golden Hawks 41-20 and also ended an 11-game losing streak to the Bakersfield school.
After suffering back-to-back losses to Clovis North and Tulare Union, Redwood put together an eight-game winning streak en route to an outright East Yosemite League championship and a trip to the Central Section Division II semifinals. During that run of success, the Rangers surrendered 15 points or fewer in seven of those victories.
The offense shined, too, under Allen, even with backup quarterback Luke Sanchez starting for most of the season.
Allen and his staff, which included offensive coordinator Kenny Jackson, orchestrated an offense that set a new school record for most points scored in a single season with 470 — an average of 39.1 points per game. The Rangers doubled their win total from the previous year, improving from 4-7 to 9-3, behind an offense that produced 4,477 yards of total offense (1,505 passing, 2,972 rushing) and 60 offensive touchdowns (22 passing, 38 rushing).
Senior running back Jimmie Burk led the way with a record-setting season, bolting for 1,862 yards and 23 touchdowns to become the program’s all-time career leading rusher.
Redwood’s three losses came to playoff teams — Clovis North (6-5), Tulare Union (9-3), and Bakersfield (10-3) — that went a combined 25-11. Those defeats came by a combined 14 points.
The Rangers also re-established themselves as Visalia’s premier public school program, beating Golden West, El Diamante, and Mt. Whitney by a combined score of 138-34.
Allen even incorporated a life-building and skills program during the season to help his student-athletes focus on community service, life planning, mental health, financial literacy, and how to be a man.
Allen was aided by a dedicated coaching staff headlined by Jackson, Greg Duncan (running backs), Darryl Hardwick (receivers), Aaron Ueland (offensive line), Brad Pendergast (tight ends/fullbacks), David Clements (defensive coordinator), Kyle Bell (defensive line), Brandon Dodson (defensive backs), and Josh Martin (linebackers).
What coaches and players said about Allen during the season
“He contributed and helped everyone understand how to play and do better. It’s a vision in my opinion.” — Redwood linebacker Michael White
“I think the most amazing thing coach Allen has done is, he’s really worked us on the football field to the weight room to the film room. He’s always making sure that we’re the best we could be.” — Redwood right tackle Marcus Medrano
“Coach Allen, he is a life coach. Not just to the people that are on his team, but to people that have graduated from underneath him, or people calling him for advice with relationships, financial hardship. He’s a life coach for everybody.” — Redwood offensive coordinator Kenny Jackson
Leo Robinson Coach of the Year Award
The Visalia Times-Delta/Tulare Advance-Register honors Tulare County’s most outstanding high school football coach with the Leo Robinson Coach of the Year Award. Still the Central Section’s all-time winningest head coach, Robinson guided Woodlake High School to six section titles (1972, ’82, ’85, ’86, ’87, ’89) and 18 league championships from 1962-2002.
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Redwood High’s Curtis Allen earns Leo Robinson Coach of the Year award
Reporting by Vongni Yang, Visalia Times-Delta / Visalia Times-Delta
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
