Mark Allen was named Illinois' pitching coach in October 2019 and will begin his sixth season with the Illini in 2025. Allen joined the Fighting Illini after nine seasons in professional baseball, including the 2019 season as the San Francisco Giants' pitching coordinator.
Allen, who spent most of the 2024 on medical leave while battling cancer, will remain on leave during the 2025 season.
2024 saw right-hander Jack Crowder (9th round, 279th overall) selected in the MLB Draft by the Baltimore Orioles, with fellow right hander Joe Glassey signing a minor league contract with the O's. Logan Tabeling was also signed to a minor league deal by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In 2023, right-handers Jack Wenninger (6th round, 186th overall) and Riley Gowens (9th round, 279th overall) were selected in the 2023 MLB draft by the New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves, respectively. Wenninger went 6-4 with a 4.59 ERA (41 ER/80.1 IP) with 76 strikeouts en route to a All-Big Ten Second Team selection, picking up two Big Ten Pitcher of the Week awards along the way.
In 2022 Cole Kirschsieper was selected by the Miami Marlins in the 12th round (352nd overall) in the 2022 MLB Draft after going 7-2 with a 3.40 ERA (33 ER/87.1 IP) his senior season, en route to a Second Team All-Big Ten selection.
In 2021, Allen had two of his pitchers selected in the MLB Draft. Andrew Hoffmann (12th round, No. 367 overall) was picked by the Atlanta Braves and Nathan Lavender (14th round, No. 412 overall) went to the Mets.
Illinois was off to a hot start in 2020, Allen's first with the program, with ranked wins over #13 Texas A&M and #23 Oklahoma State before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the season before the Illini could make a run at back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths. Freshman Cole Kirschsieper was already only one win away from Illinois' all-time freshman top 10 when the season was cancelled. Following the 2020 season and shortened MLB Draft, Garrett Acton (Oakland Athletics) and Ty Weber (San Francisco Giants) each signed minor league contracts as free agents.
Allen oversaw all of San Francisco's minor league teams and pitching development during the 2019 season. Five of the Giants' eight minor league clubs reached the postseason and the Sacramento River Cats won the Triple-A national championship.
"I am humbled and honored to have this opportunity at the University of Illinois," said Allen. "I am extremely excited to begin working alongside our baseball coaches, our baseball players, our entire athletic department and the University. I would like to thank Dan Hartleb and the entire Illinois family for giving me this chance to positively contribute in any and every way I can to our Fighting Illini student-athletes and their futures."
"I am extremely excited about the opportunity we have with the hiring of Mark Allen," said Hartleb. "Mark's knowledge, experience, and people skills are off the charts. His past experiences as a collegiate coach, minor league instructor, and his most recent position as a pitching coordinator show his great abilities with development and also evaluation in the recruiting process. Mark fits in our Illini family in so many ways, starting with the type of person that he is. He will be a great asset to our program moving forward and I'm extremely excited to get to work with him."
Prior to joining the Giants, Allen spent eight seasons with the Cleveland Indians organization as a scout, cross checker, national pitching cross checker, and pitching coordinator. He started as an area scout in 2010, before becoming a cross checker from 2014-16, then moving to the assistant pitching coordinator role through 2018. During his years with the Indians, Allen also coached on the field in the Arizona League for three seasons. He began coaching in the Indians organization in 2014 with the AZL Indians, helping the team to the Arizona League championship.
Allen played college baseball at Vernon Junior College (1994-96), Texas-San Antonio (1996-97) and Phillips University (1997-98) before going into coaching. He made coaching stops at St. Gregory's University (1998-99), Northlake Junior College (1999), Frank Phillips College (2003-04), North Central Texas College (2004-08), the Northwoods' Wisconsin Woodchucks (2007), and Seminole State College (2008-10). Allen helped lead Seminole State, one of the top junior college programs in the country, to the 2009 JUCO World Series.
Allen and his wife Angela have two daughters, Skylar and Avery. Skylar is on the beach volleyball team at South Carolina.
