WHEN OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
3/31/2025 9:45:00 AM | Football
FB walk-on Michael Allen has made the most of his chances on and off the field
By Jerry HillBaylor Bear Insider
Growing up in Stillwell, Kansas, Michael Allen remembers Christmas holiday trips when his family would drive to Dallas and then go through Waco on the way to San Antonio to visit his mom's side of the family.
"We'd always drive by McLane Stadium," he said. "And as a kid, I would kind of look out and be like, 'What's that?'''
Fast forward to Sept. 3, 2022, when Allen suited up as a freshman walk-on safety for the Baylor football team in a 69-10 season-opening win over Albany and "ran down on three or four kickoffs."
"Honestly, I had never envisioned getting a chance to be at this level of football," said Allen, a 5-foot-7, 183-pound safety who has now played in 19 games for the Bears, primarily on special teams. "It was kind of surreal. It wasn't like, 'Man, you made it!' Because you haven't really done anything yet.
"But it was a cool opportunity to just look up and say, 'Hey, you earned this. You've worked really hard.' I was so grateful in that moment, being like, 'Man, you shouldn't be here. But by the grace of God, He put me here for a reason. So, how do I make the most of this opportunity'''
Maybe more off the field than on, but Michael Allen's contributions to Baylor and specifically the Baylor football program are undeniable. He has definitely made the most of his opportunity.
"He's one of those guys that he's kind of like a jack of all trades," said Josh Ehambe, Baylor Athletics' Director of Mission Impact & Enrichment. "Anything Mike wants to do, he's going to do it. There are going to be so many doors opened up for him, it's just about discerning the will of God in his life and going in the right door."
There's no truth to the rumor that Michael came out of the womb carrying a football. But football "was something that was ingrained in me" from the very beginning.
His grandfather, the late Grady Allen, is in the Texas A&M Hall of Fame and played five seasons with the Atlanta Falcons as a reserve linebacker. Dennis Allen, his uncle, also played at A&M and is now the defensive coordinator with the Chicago Bears after stints as an NFL head coach with the Oakland Raiders and New Orleans Saints.
"We were always watching whatever game Uncle Denny was coaching," Michael said. "And whenever we went to hang out with Grandma and Papaw (Kay and Grady Allen), we were all throwing the ball around. That's kind of all I knew."
After playing soccer, football, baseball and basketball growing up, Michael said he had to pick two when he got to Class 6A Blue Valley High School in Overland Park, Kansas. And he chose baseball and football, even though "I was one of the worst in football, to be honest."
"I was kind of undersized, but that was just what I was passionate about. I loved it," he said. "At the time, I was probably better at soccer, but I'm very glad I chose football."
As a senior, Michael tallied 105 tackles and three interceptions for a Blue Valley team that finished 8-2. With a preferred walk-on offer from Iowa State, Baylor "wasn't on my radar," he said, until family friends Derek and Lynette Winkler encouraged him to contact the Baylor coaches.
"She is the reason I'm at Baylor," Michael said of Lynette, "a dear friend of the family" who used his mother, Dr. Putul Allen, as her pediatrician. "I'm just so thankful for her. And she's been like a mom to me here. That was another big pull of, I've got friends that feel like family down in Waco. They live right on the Brazos (River), so 15, 20 minutes away. And they're huge Baylor people."
Initially, Baylor didn't even have a walk-on spot available for him. But then-Associate AD for Football Relations David Wetzel continued to work tirelessly behind the scenes to make it work out. As soon as the PWO offer from Baylor came, "I committed. Coach Wetzel is the main reason I made it to Baylor."
Michael said Iowa State, and particularly then-offensive coordinator Nathan Scheelhaase (now with the Los Angeles Rams), were "first-class when it came to recruiting."
"They let me sit on that offer for a long time, which is kind of unheard of in this profession," he said. "But they just said, 'Hey, we want you. if you want to be here, you can be here. If you don't, that's okay.'''
When he first arrived at Baylor in May 2022, Michael said he "didn't know a single person here."
Even after winning the state championship as a junior, Michael had quit baseball to go through track workouts in the spring of his senior year at Blue Valley, because he felt like he had to get faster for Division I football.
"I had a crazy workout schedule leading up to May," he said. "I wanted to make a good first impression. Especially as a walk-on that didn't really know anybody at all, you have to have a head-down, work-hard mentality. To earn the respect of everyone around you, you just have to outwork everybody.
"Once you make those relationships and you earn a little bit of that respect, you can start to talk a little more and have some of those roles. But that first year, man, it was just, let's go to work. That's all I knew."
Earning respect through the summer conditioning program, Michael wasn't the fastest guy, "but I'm going to try and beat you in every single rep."
"A lot of the stuff with (strength coach) Vic Viloria and the strength staff is, 'What is your breaking point?''' Michael said. "So, for me, it was trying not to break. And when other guys were breaking, then you lift them up and you carry their weight, plus all of your weight."
Already thinking like a coach, Michael's biggest strength was his mind, learning the schemes and being able to help even the older guys in film study. He credits senior linebacker Dillon Doyle as "being the first guy to take me under his wing."
"It's weird as a freshman, because you've got to kind of stay in your lane," he said. "I'm not going to go around and act like I know everything, because I know nothing. These guys have been here for four or five years.
"But those guys were workhorses. And to Christian Morgan's and Dillon Doyle's credit, they just love football. And it didn't matter who it came from. If they could learn something, they were going to learn something. And then, it was just me asking questions like, 'Hey, how do you see this if we're in this?' I think we were able to build relationships that way."
With a new special teams coach in each of his first three seasons at Baylor, as a walk-on, Michael has had to start at the bottom each time and work his way up. But halfway through the 2023 season, then-special teams quality control coach Tyler Hancock asked him to be the "off returner" on kickoff returns, who "runs all the calls, gets the wedge set up and is kind of the lead blocker for the main return guy."
That's the spot Michael was playing when Richard Reese had back-to-back kickoff return touchdowns of 96 and 93 yards in the Bears' 34-31 season-ending loss to West Virginia in 2023.
"We hadn't really had the season we wanted to (3-9), but that was one of the coolest things I've been able to do," Michael said "Me and Rich are boys, so that's something that we're going to remember the rest of our lives."
It happened again last season, when Michael was the lead blocker for Nevada transfer Jamaal Bell's 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in a 38-31 overtime loss to Colorado in the Big 12 opener.
"Honestly, I wrote a bunch of goals down when I first got here," Michael said. "And luckily, I've been able to check a few of those off. Nowhere near, obviously, where I want to be. You always want more, but at the same time, be grateful for what you've done."
With the objective of becoming a coach, Michael has had the golden opportunity to signal in defensive calls from the sidelines the last two years and actually got to sit in on staff meetings during the 2024 season.
"I had kind of a crazy class schedule, but every single opportunity I had to sit in on those meetings, I just sat in those meetings and just learned," he said. "The reason I wanted to come to Baylor was to learn under one of the greatest defensive minds this game has to offer (head coach Dave Aranda). So, why would I not try and take advantage of that opportunity to the fullest?
"I have about four notebooks at the house from just this year alone, that are just full of notes from all different game weeks and all different game plans."
Arguably, Michael's most impactful moment came midway through the 2024 season, when Aranda asked him to give the pregame speech before the Oct. 19 game at Texas Tech. The underdog Bears rolled over Tech, 59-35, that night to start a six-game winning streak that earned them a bid to the Texas Bowl.
"Michael is someone that just carries so much respect from guys that are playing a lot, to freshmen, to coaches, really everyone," Aranda said. "And Michael just told the truth, told about here we are, where we are in the season, how important this game is, what can be possible and what we need to do. I had a thing planned after Michael talked, but he did such a great job, I didn't even talk. It's just so much stronger when it comes from players."
Involved with FCA since high school, Michael started a player-led Bible study last year with deep snapper Garrison Grimes, who transferred to BYU after the end of the season.
"We don't believe in coincidences. It wasn't a coincidence that God had us reading the book of Ecclesiastes and talking about how there's a time for every season," Michael said. "And whether we lost to Iowa State or we beat Texas Tech, we had 30, 35 guys on the team show up every Tuesday night. I was just really moved by that."
Just before the team headed to Houston for the New Year's Eve Texas Bowl matchup against LSU, Michael was
one of five Baylor football players baptized in the hydrotherapy pool at the Fudge Football Development Center. Joined by Brendan "Bama" Bett, Wes Tucker and Dylan Schaub, Allen baptized defensive lineman Treven Ma'ae and was then baptized by Ehambe.
"There was always this service mentality, but I had never really thought about myself," Michael said of his decision to be baptized. "I prayed about it and just felt that it was the right time. It was just an incredible experience. It was football guys, sitting in the football pools, and all the coaches were there. It was just a really special night."
Ma'ae, who went through the Big 12 Pro Day in Frisco earlier this month, said Michael was his small group leader for Bible study, "so we went on the journey together. And it just seemed right."
Finishing his undergrad degree in finance and management this May, Michael was accepted to Baylor's MBA program. He credits his parents, Geoff and Putul Allen, for "supporting me every step of the way." They are both at Children's Mercy in Kansas City, with Dr. Geoff Allen serving as the associate chair of quality and safety in the Department of Pediatrics.
"I wouldn't be where I am today without them," he said. "They instilled in me a strong work ethic and taught me how to treat people the right way."
While Michael plans to play his fourth year with Baylor football this fall, he said, "we'll kind of see what happens from there."
"I just want to be where my feet are and make the most of this year," he said. "And then, I would love to get into the coaching profession when I'm done. I don't know exactly what that looks like yet, but that's kind of the plan.
"My uncle (Dennis Allen) has been a key role model in my life from a very young age. Being around my high school coaches and then learning every day from (Baylor safeties coach and defensive coordinator Matt Powledge), I see how much a coach can positively impact a life. I just want to give back to the sport that has given me so much."
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