CS Long Beach Hires Allen, 71 : 49ers: Former NFL coach inherits football program with no on-campus stadium and a lack of community and student support.

It began as a news conference and ended as a pep rally. It featured a 71-year-old coach who hasn’t paced a college sideline since Sputnik did laps around the globe. It included one-liners perfected on the rubber-chicken circuit, slogans honed on football fields far and wide, challenges issued to teams years before. It even featured a cheer by Mr. Sis-Boom-Bah himself, the one, the only, George Allen.

Allen became the eighth and certainly most celebrated football coach in Cal State Long Beach history Tuesday as he returned to the profession he knows best and loves dearest. His contract, signed only several minutes before he stepped to the podium for his introduction to the media, 49er players and boosters, calls for an annual base salary of $66,000, as well as an estimated $35,000 in income generated by outside contributions. According to university President Curtis McCray, the contract is subject to review each year, although the understanding is that Allen has received a three-year commitment from the school’s administration.

“I didn’t come here for the money,” Allen said. “I can make more money in two weeks with speaking engagements than I can coaching here a year or more. I came here for the other reasons.”

Allen, a former Ram coach, inherits a football program unaccustomed to success or attention. The sport was nearly dropped by the athletic department after the 1986 season, and only a vigorous fund-raising effort saved it. Once salvaged, the 49ers compiled an 11-24 record during the next three years, which explains why Coach Larry Reisbig resigned last month.

There are other difficulties. Only 70 athletic scholarships are available at the moment, as opposed to the 95 scholarships allowed by the NCAA. In fact, when Allen recognized former Ram great Dick Bass in the back of the hotel meeting room, he launched into an impromptu recruiting session.

“Hey, No. 22!” he said. “Hey, listen, you got any eligibility left?”

The program also is hampered by the absence of an on-campus stadium and a lack of community and student support.

“This is one of the five toughest jobs in America,” Allen said.

In short, it is just the sort of situation Allen relishes.

“I’m not a miracle worker,” he said. “I took this job because it was so tough, so difficult.”

He also took it despite the wishes of his wife, Etty, who threatened to start smoking again if he accepted the job, a sacrilegious statement, considering Allen’s passion for fitness. One son, Bruce, told Allen that he surely must enjoy suffering to enter such a program. Another son, Greg, a psychiatrist, offered to lend his professional assistance.

Allen wavered in his decision until late Monday night. At one point, he told a Times reporter that he would decline Long Beach’s coaching invitation. But about an hour later, he changed his mind, thus sparking a publicity chain reaction that reached its pinnacle at Tuesday afternoon’s news conference.

The negotiations were interesting. Allen asked for 20 season tickets on the 50-yard line. Long Beach officials asked him if he wanted more.

Allen asked for 10 parking passes. They said they could get him 20.

So much for the demand for 49er football.

One of the other perks Allen requested was a car and driver to take him to and from his home in Palos Verdes Estates. McCray said Tuesday that the university would not pay for such a service, but if certain boosters wanted to, well, that would be fine by him.

Nor was McCray concerned about Allen’s affiliation with the National Fitness Foundation. Allen serves as acting chairman and fund-raiser of the organization. “We’re looking at that relationship now,” McCray said. “We like it.”

Allen’s arrival was met with curiosity and interest by several 49er players who attended the news conference. John Grimes, a redshirt defensive end last season, took his last final exam of the semester Tuesday morning and was scheduled to return home to Reno later in the day. Instead, Grimes decided to postpone his trip and see his new head coach.

“Hey, I’m just glad to have somebody in there at this point,” he said. “I mean, his heyday was before I was born.”

Did he know of Allen before the announcement was made?

“Nope,” he said. “I’m sure my dad will know who he is.”

Allen’s past is well-documented. He spent 12 seasons with the Rams, five as their head coach. From there, he went to the Washington Redskins, where he led the team to its first playoff appearance since 1945. In 1972, perhaps his finest year, the Redskins advanced to the Super Bowl. In all, Allen’s professional record was 118-54-5.

But it was Allen’s sort of cornball enthusiasm that separated him from most of his professional peers. His teams were composed mainly of weathered veterans who played as if they were still in college. In hiring Allen, Long Beach officials said they hoped to take advantage of the coach’s knack of resuscitating a program short of breath.

They received a glimpse of things to come Tuesday afternoon. Before he stepped from the podium, Allen turned to the audience and said, “Let’s have three cheers for the 49ers.” Moments later, the sound of hip-hip-hoorays rumbled through the hotel lobby.

Allen was back, all right.