Defeat Off the Field Came in 1988 in Orange County

“I never give up,” George Allen said in 1988. “I’m not used to having setbacks, but we’ll overcome this.”

The setback had been dealt not by a football opponent but by the Orange County Board of Supervisors, whose enthusiasm for Allen’s pet project, a $50-million physical fitness academy in Laguna Hills, waned as the years went by.

Finally, even Allen’s staunchest supporter on the board, Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, voted not to renew the academy’s $1-a-year lease on county-owned land.

“To date there has been no evidence, sadly, of progress being made either in the planning or the fund raising,” Riley had conceded. “I was--and others were--caught up in the enthusiasm of the coach.”

Until then, Allen’s enthusiasm had carried the day. While chairman of the President’s Council of Physical Fitness and Sports, he conceived of a private, nonprofit academy for research into physical fitness and for training coaches.

Since the President’s council couldn’t be involved in fund raising, Allen formed the private National Fitness Foundation in 1982.

In 1985, cities such as Indianapolis and Dallas were beckoning Allen’s academy with open arms, but Allen fell in love with 175 acres of county-owned land in Laguna Hills near Interstate 5.

His pitch to county officials hit home--”This is even more important than football,” he cracked--and the board eventually agreed to donate use of the land for up to 90 years and to spend money for environmental studies.

After that, the relationship between Allen and government officials went sour. Allen complained about having to “plead” before the Orange County Planning Commission “when you’ve got communities across the country welcoming us with open arms.” He complained about the red tape of the California Coastal Commission.

In return, Riley complained that it was “humiliating and embarrassing” that Allen had still made no legal commitment to building his academy in Orange County.

In 1988, news broke that while Allen’s foundation had raised more than $2.7 million for the academy, nearly 90% of it had been spent on salaries, fees, travel and conference expenses. No construction had been started.

The foundation’s tax returns also showed Allen drawing a salary of $78,126 in 1985 and $125,000 in 1986. Allen said he had donated most of it back to the foundation.

Finally in 1988, county supervisors let the land lease expire, effectively killing the project. Not a shovelful of earth had been turned for the academy, and it never took root anywhere else.

“We didn’t get the (financial) support in Orange County . . . or any other support,” Allen said.

Riley countered that Allen received nothing but support--at first.

“When they listen to him, everybody thinks it’s great. When he leaves, they get to thinking about it, and (funding) doesn’t come through,” Riley said at the time.