gave Bill Belichick his first NFL coaching job. Both Vermeil and Levy would go on to employ Frank Gansz, whom Vermeil called "the finest special teams coach ever." Notable accomplishments Allen had the third-best winning percentage in the NFL (.681), exceeded only by Vince Lombardi (.736) and John Madden (.731). He also never coached an NFL team to a losing season. This was particularly notable in the case of the Redskins, who had finished above .500 only once over the past 15 seasons (1969, under Lombardi) before Allen's arrival. Allen was noted primarily as a defensive innovator and a motivator. He was an early innovator in the use of sophisticated playbooks, well-organized drafts, use of special teams, and daring trades for veterans over new players. He is also known for sparking the Dallas Cowboys–Washington Redskins rivalry. He was 7–8 against the Cowboys in his career. Allen was inducted to the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1998. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002. Personal life Family Allen married the former Henrietta (Etty) Lumbroso (1922–2013), with whom he had four children, three sons and one daughter. His son, George, is a Republican politician, having served as Governor and U.S. Senator from Virginia. Another son, Bruce, served as an executive for the Oakland Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Washington Redskins of the NFL. Allen's third son, Gregory, is a sports psychologist. His daughter, Jennifer, is an author. Death Allen's death may have been indirectly caused by a Gatorade shower. He died on December 31, 1990, from ventricular fibrillation in his home in Palos Verdes Estates, California, at the age of 72. Shortly before his death, Allen noted that he had not been feeling well since some of his Long Beach State players dumped a Gatorade bucket filled with ice water on him following a season-ending victory over UNLV on November 17, 1990. He remarked that the university couldn't afford actual Gatorade. The sports editor of the Long Beach State newspaper, the Daily Forty-Niner, was on the field that day and recalled that the temperature was in the 50s with a biting wind. Allen stayed on the field for media interviews for a considerable length of time in his drenched clothing, and boarded the bus back to Long Beach State soaking wet. Having promised a winning season to a football program on the verge of collapse, in