Athletic Director Scott Allison '79 signs off

From his time as a two-sport student-athlete in 1975 through the end of June, when he will retire from the athletic director post at which he has served since 1993, it seems there is no portion of Roanoke College’s vast sporting life – indeed, the life of the institution in general – that Scott Allison has not impacted.

President Emeritus Michael Maxey, whose time at Roanoke coincided closely with Allison’s, agreed. One way to evaluate Allison’s tenure, he said, was to consider the number of search committees on which Allison served.

“He’s the kind of person we’d put on a search committee that had nothing to do with athletics,” Maxey said. “That’s always a test. Who do you put on your search committees when it has nothing to do with their own area? You do it because you trust their judgment. And we always trusted Scottie because of his understanding of the big picture for the College.”

Busy man that he is, Allison indicated that his place in history wasn’t a topic he’d considered much.

“I never thought of it like that,” he said recently, “but I have been here a long time.”

Maybe he hasn’t had much time to measure how utterly immersed his personal and professional life has been in the Roanoke College experience, but we can.

Consider:

• Allison played eight varsity seasons of Maroons soccer and lacrosse as a student-athlete, was team captain of each, a national champion in lacrosse (a suburban Baltimore guy, he was recruited from the public schools to play soccer, his top sport), and a 1979 graduate. He was inducted into the Roanoke College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1991.

• He returned as a coach in 1986 after coaching lacrosse and women’s soccer at Dartmouth College, the United States Naval Academy, Salisbury University and Washington College.

• Soon after starting as head soccer and lacrosse coach at Roanoke, the College won Old Dominion Athletic Conference titles with each, once in the same year.

• After the two-season stint at the helm of the lacrosse program, he immediately added to his soccer duties a successful one-year run leading women’s tennis to the first winning campaign in program history.

• His formidable soccer coaching resume included eight ODAC titles and six NCAA Division III appearances, along with sundry conference and state coach of the year honors.

• As the lead athletic administrator, he has fronted a department that supported men’s and women’s teams that have earned 100 ODAC championships and 131 NCAA appearances going into the 2023 spring season.

As if he couldn’t resist, Allison’s farewell tour is marked by a final return to double duties. His job title is listed on the department home page as athletic director/associate head golf coach.

Allison was a force on the Roanoke men’s lacrosse team. He served as a team captain and was later inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame for his performance on both the soccer and lacrosse teams.

If anybody is qualified to summarize Allison’s accomplishments in simple terms, it is Salem newspaper reporter Brian Hoffman ’74, who has been covering college sports for more than 40 years.

“Everything runs smoothly all the time,” Hoffman said of the Allison reign.

A more personal view on how Allison has run his department comes from one of his most recent coaching hires. Women’s lacrosse coach Erica Brown, who joined the staff in 2022 with 12 years of head coaching experience at two other colleges, said she’s always felt supported by Allison.

“After working for a number of different people before Scott, I came in here a little on-guard, I guess you could say,” Brown said. “Working for someone who actually, genuinely and honestly cares about those around them, it just makes a difference when you come into the office. You want to do well because you know your boss has your back.”

She means in deed as well as word.

“He’ll stop by our office, he knows what’s going on with the program, he knows our players and their families,” Brown said. “Whenever he’s leaving the office, he’ll stop and say, ‘Do you need anything? If you do just let us know.’”

Coach Allison offers words of wisdom to the men’s soccer team in 2011.

Maxey confirmed that impression.

“Scott is a man of the people when you’re thinking of the athletes and coaches he is in charge of.”

Many of the College’s younger coaches describe Allison as a mentor. One of them is Men’s Soccer Coach Ryan Pflugrad ’02, who played for Allison and returned to helm the program in 2013.

“It’s hard to know where to start, but his influence on me personally, the impact he had in my life and on Roanoke College athletics in general and, more specifically, on our soccer program, is immense,” Pflugrad said. 

Veterans of the department tend to stick around. Women’s Soccer Coach Phil Benne, who also served as Allison’s assistant men’s soccer coach, has been in the position for 30 years. Volleyball Coach Blair Trail has served since 1999, Track and Field Coach Eugene Galloway has been at Roanoke for eight years, Carla Flaherty has been head women’s basketball coach since 2014, Briana Banks just finished her ninth season as field hockey coach, and Mike Mitchell is in his tenth year as softball coach after a two-year stint as an assistant.

“You look up and down the hall here and see coaches who have been here a very long time,” Brown said, “and you don’t stay at a place if you’re unhappy or if you do not appreciate the leadership.”

Allison returns the compliment.

“I’ve had great people to work with. I’ve been very lucky,” he said.

Not to be overlooked are Allison’s extensive labors in fundraising, planning and execution. During his time at Roanoke, the College has invested millions in new facilities, including the 154,000-square-foot Cregger Center, which houses a 2,500-seat multi-sport arena and a field house with a 200-meter indoor track. The center, which also holds a fitness center, athletic hall of fame and training rooms, is the shining nerve center of the Athletic Department.

Under the Allison administration, varsity sports softball, baseball, men’s and women’s swimming, wrestling and men’s volleyball have been added to an already impressive menu of competitive opportunities for students. Cycling, which is not an NCAA sport but is predicted to be popular as a club sport, was also recently introduced.

And, in what could be an earth-shaker for the college, the possibility of adding football is being seriously discussed.

“Those discussions will continue after I’m gone,” Allison said.

The argument may be made that as Allison turns in his keys, athletics at Roanoke College has never been stronger.

Allison may be leaving, but his ties to the community are staying put. He and his wife, Bonnie, will continue to live in the same quiet Salem neighborhood. His grown children, son Brooks ’11 and daughter Claire ’13 have careers that have taken them elsewhere, but they have their own bonds with the College.

Allison plans to use his professional background to do some consulting work in the field. Other than that, he’ll keep playing golf and reconnecting to his many college pals who, like he did, stayed in the area.

One of them is Salem restaurateur Bob Rotanz ’78, Allison’s lacrosse teammate and Roanoke Hall of Fame star of the 1978 national championship team. Rotanz and Allison have been close since college and live a block away from each other.

“He may be one of the nicest guys I’ve met in my life,” Rotanz said. “Great guy, great friend. To be able to play two sports in college and be captain of both teams says a lot about him as an athlete and a leader. He is a special guy.”

 Allison addresses the crowd at an end-of-season lacrosse banquet.