OPEN DOORS

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

When Michael Allen finishes his MBA in December and plays out the last of his five seasons with Baylor football, he will leave here with a treasure trove of notebooks, memories and ideas that he will take with him into the next step of life and career.

From a walk-on safety who knew no one when he came in after high school graduation in May 2022, Allen leaves the Baylor program as a team captain who earned the respect of every one of his teammates and as a future coach who has been a welcomed regular in defensive staff meetings for the last three years.

"Mike has such a great read into the dynamics of the team," Baylor head coach Dave Aranda said. "He can decipher, 'Hey, this is what needs to be said and how to say it.' Just way talented that way. So much respect from the team. When he speaks, it gets quiet fast. When he comes to talk to me, I'm listening, and I'm going to apply whatever he says, because I know it's coming from a really good place."

It's been quite the journey for Allen, who had a preferred walk-on invite to Iowa State when a family friend asked him to at least look into Baylor.

"Me and my mom came down to Waco and just checked it out," he said. "I visited the football facilities, and I remember they had a practice going on, and I was trying to peek through the fence to see what was going on. I visited the campus and was amazed at the things I was seeing. And the faith component was a big to me."

Initially told that Baylor didn't have a walk-on spot available for him, Michael got a call just months before he graduated from then-Associate AD for Football Relations David Wetzel that a walk-on safety had quit, "and there's one spot if you want it."

"I felt convicted that God was telling me this is where you need to be," Michael said. "If that's not God opening a door, I don't know what is."

That was just the first of many doors that opened for Michael, who opened some of them by putting his head down and working and earning the respect of his teammates.

"I was a last-minute walk-on, so I knew that I had to go earn everything. Nothing was going to be given to me," he said. "From the first day I got on campus, it was like, 'How can I make an impact in any way that I can?' I knew that you had to earn a voice, you had to earn your role. I didn't really say a whole lot. I just tried to go to work and outwork everyone in that building."

Still on his phone is a list of goals that he wrote down before he even arrived at Baylor.

"I had eight goals written down: make the travel squad; earn playing time; earn a scholarship; win a Big 12 title; play in a College Football Playoff game; maintain a 3.9 GPA; graduate in three years; and graduate with an MBA in five years," he said.

Able to check off six of those goals, Michael said that winning a Big 12 championship and playing in a CFB game "are the two that I want to be able to check off after this season." The Bears (4-1, 2-0) are hosting TCU (2-3, 0-2) at 6 p.m. Saturday at McLane Stadium.

The first box was checked off on Sept. 3, 2022, when Michael suited up as a freshman walk-on for the Bears in a 69-10 season-opening win over Albany and "ran down on three or four kickoffs."

"Honestly, if you had told me when I first got here that that was going to happen that first game, I probably wouldn't have believed you," he said. "That first game, kind of getting a taste of it and getting to go play, that was just kind of an affirming moment for me, that 'Hey, you're built for this, you can do this, and this is just the beginning.'''

By the 2023 season, he was helping the coaches by signaling in defensive calls from the sidelines and also started contributing on special teams. As the "off returner" on kickoff returns, Michael was the lead blocker when Richard Reese had back-to-back kickoff return touchdowns of 96 and 93 yards in the season finale against West Virginia.

"I think there was still some doubt creeping in, because that was a really hard year, going 3-9," he said. "Any glimmer of hope or any glimmer of light in that season was just an affirmation of, 'Hey, you know it will get better, and you can get better.' But that was a really special moment and one I'll probably remember for a really long time."

Maybe emboldened with a little confidence, Michael went to Aranda's office before the 2024 season and asked if he could just sit in the back of defensive staff meetings and "just learn from you guys and how you approach things and how you game plan."

"I think he was a little hesitant at first, just because that's probably weird for a player to be in there with all the coaches," Michael said. "So, he kind of hesitantly said yes. I don't know if he anticipated that I would take full advantage of that, that I would go every single day and to every single meeting that I could. If I wasn't in class, I was in that defensive staff meeting."

Learning from Aranda, former DC Matt Powledge and current coordinator Joe Klanderman, Michael filled up a stack of notebooks with all his notes and ideas that he gathered from those meetings, soaking up every bit of knowledge that he possibly could.

"As a player, you don't always see all the whys and reasonings and structure behind it," Michael said. "But sitting in those meetings has just been incredible for me and my growth and my knowledge, just picking the brain of all those guys."

That year ended with a loss to LSU in the Kinder's Texas Bowl, but not before Michael and four of his teammates were baptized in the hydrotherapy pool at the Fudge Football Development Center. Michael was baptized by Josh Ehambe, Baylor's former Director of Mission Impact & Enrichment, before he himself baptized defensive lineman Treven Ma'ae.

Although he was involved in FCA and had even led team bible studies, "I had never been baptized," he said.

"I always thought it was going to be this certain way, this moment and whatnot," he said. "And I kind of had this realization, 'Man, what better place to do it than in the hydrotherapy pool at the football facility with all your bothers that you've grown in your faith with.' So, I just said yes and surrendered to what God had for me. I just had a call in my heart that I need to do this."

After making the decision to come back for a fifth year, Michael was voted a team captain and awarded a single-digit jersey before the 2026 season. But he pivoted instead and gave the No. 0 jersey to defensive lineman Hosea Wheeler, a sixth-year transfer from Indiana

"It was an absolute honor to get voted that single digit," Michael said. "I was just so appreciative of the guys for that. But I thought, man, what an opportunity to not only lift up Hosea for all the things that he was doing, but also just to unite the guys and bring this team closer."

During a players-only meeting, Michael presented the jersey to Wheeler, "and everyone went crazy."

"That just speaks to Hosea and who he is, the leader he is and what he means to the team," Michael said.

It also speaks to the character of Michael Allen, who has already been named to the AFCA Good Works Team and watch list for the Witten Collegiate Man of the Year and is a semifinalist for the Wuerffel Trophy and Campbell Trophy for his community involvement.

"To much is given, much is required," said Michael, who has been involved in building houses for the underserved, preparing school lunches, facilitating toy drives and reading to elementary school children. "I believe that's not really a responsibility, it's an honor to get to do those things, because I never thought that I'd be in this position."

The nephew of longtime NFL coach Dennis Allen, currently the defensive coordinator with the Chicago Bears, Michael said his next step will be coaching on some level.

"I don't know exactly where that's going to be or how that's going to look," he said. "I just know that I want to be somewhere where I can impact people and serve around the right people. . . . I'll pray about it and see what doors God opens up, like the one He opened here."

Players Mentioned

Michael Allen

Hosea Wheeler

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