McAllister joined the SXU Athletics staff in 2004 as head coach of the Saint Xavier University men's cross country and track teams.  In 2008, SXU finished fourth overall at the conference cross country meet and sent two of its track student-athletes, plus a distance-medley relay (DMR) team to the NAIA Track & Field Championships.  In 2005, McAllister was named both the CCAC and NAIA Region VII Coach of the Year as his Cougars captured conference and region cross country titles in only their second season of competition. SXU garnered third-place honors in both the CCAC and NAIA Region VII in 2006 and 2007.

McAllister brings a wide variety of track/cross country experiences to Saint Xavier University having coached at all levels from high school to NCAA Division I.  Known as "Coach Mac" to his runners, he has coached at the collegiate level at Chicago State University (1978-79) and West Texas State University (1979-1982), where he was named Missouri Valley Cross Country Coach of the Year in 1979.  McAllister has also coached at the high school level locally at Mendel Catholic, Leo, Brother Rice and Joliet Township.

McAllister graduated from DePaul University in Chicago in 1970.  He currently resides in Manhattan, Illinois.