Memphis Tigers defensive end Jaylon Allen channels 'underdog mentality' as he becomes football leader

Jaylon Allen was always going to be a defensive end.

Growing up, the Memphis Tigers player had what he calls an "underdog mentality," fighting and working even as he was perennially undersized. He thinks that's why his dad decided he'd be on the defensive line.

He tried playing basketball in middle school, but there were a few issues.

"That didn't go well," he said. "I was tackling people on the court. They were like 'Yeah, get him off.' So I stopped playing basketball in middle school because I was tackling, like, two people a game. Plenty of flagrants and technicals and everything else."

So football was his main sport, and it worked out pretty well. He came to Memphis in 2018 and is entering his sixth and final year with the Tigers, undoubtedly a day one starter and a key leader on the defense.

Allen, who went to Atascocita High School in Humble, Texas, just northeast of Houston, picked the Tigers partly because of a Atascocita-to-Memphis pipeline that included players such as Patrick Taylor, Coye' Fairman and Tre'Veon Hamilton. He also liked it because of the city's identity, the "Grit and Grind" concept he thought mirrored his mentality as an underdog.

"I just heard so much about Memphis and I heard the grittiness, the way they work," he said. "And I was like, 'This is my personality.' Like, I pride myself on being an underdog. I always think of myself, even if I'm not, I'm feeling like, 'Yeah, I'm the underdog.'

"I'm usually the smallest guy on the line. They look at me like, 'Oh, yeah, we're gonna block him.' I always . . . got that gritty mentality. So when I heard Memphis had that, I was like, 'Oh, yeah. This is what I need to grow.' "

Basketball didn't work out, but there was one other sport besides football where his natural instincts served him well: wrestling. Allen, who wrestled throughout high school, loved the "me vs. you" aspect. He was pretty good, and — no surprise here — competitive.

He still remembers when he lost and who he lost to: Matt Dean of Kingswood High School in a district meet.

"He just knew more technique than me," Allen said. "If I would've joined earlier . . . "

There's an obvious path from Allen the wrestler to Allen the defensive end, and he'll draw it f you still can't see it. He treats every play like a fight between him and the guy standing across the line of scrimmage.

"It's a controlled fight," Allen said. "Other people, they're doing their positions, they're running routes or covering or doing something like that. O-line, D-line? We're fighting. At the line, every single play."

His role and productivity have risen across the board with each season at Memphis. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound lineman totaled 58 tackles (10 for loss) and five sacks, plus an interception and fumble recovery in 2022. Those were all career highs or tied for career highs.

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Now he's ready for his biggest role yet, and that includes the ever-important job of being a leader. He admits he struggled to learn the "Memphis way" when he first got to campus, but now he's the one teaching young players about the program and what coaches expect. His career at Memphis is longer than that of any current coach except head coach Ryan Silverfield.

And his mentality is easy for everyone to see, including defensive line coach Kyle Pope.

"He knows how things should be done," Pope said. "If a guy has any questions or is confused about anything, he's the type of guy that says, 'Hey, look, this is an example. This is how you get it done.' So he definitely sets an example for those guys.

"He comes with passion every single day, fire within him, and with a guy like that, you just love to have that person. Because you know when we step on the field, you ain't got to worry about 22."

Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @thejonahdylan.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Sixth-year Jaylon Allen ready for his chance to lead Memphis defense