The incredible journey of Kentucky's Josh Allen

Josh Allen, Kentucky’s splendid outside linebacker, has these three pieces of advice to those who are struggling to make their dreams come true:

“Be patient.”

“Don’t settle.”

“Stay hungry.”

This philosophy has served Allen well as he continues on a life and football journey that is simply one of the best stories in all of college football.

Here’s why: In 2015 Allen was a rangy 210-pound defensive end/OLB from Montclair, N.J. who couldn’t get a sniff from an FBS program. He was a two-star recruit and, according to a story published by 247/Sports.com, was the 2,121st (you read that right) prospect in the nation.

When No. 3 Georgia plays at No. 9 Kentucky for the SEC East championship on Saturday Allen, now a fast and totally unblockable 260 pounds, will be the best player on the field.

“It’s all about hard work,” said Allen when we talked by phone on Wednesday. “Nothing in life comes easy.”

Indeed. Here’s how it happened:

As a senior at Montclair High Allen’s coach, John Fiore, was literally begging colleges to just to look at him.

Rutgers, the only FBS team in the state and a mere 30 miles away in Piscataway, said no.

Fiore had a personal connection to Boston College. They said no.

Finally, the only football playing school at any level that said yes was Monmouth, an FCS school with an enrollment of 4,400 students, located about an hour from Montclair. Allen verbally committed to Monmouth while Fiore kept looking for an FBS opportunity.

Then Fate stepped in. According to 247/Sports, Kentucky needed to pick up another defensive lineman after a couple of late de-commitments from its 2015 recruiting class.

Fiore had a coaching friend whose brother, Louie Matsakis, was a quality control assistant at Kentucky. Introductions were made and Kentucky eventually took Allen. He has played in every game since he walked onto campus. On such decisions are special seasons—like the one Kentucky (7-1, 5-1 SEC) is having now--are made.

Going into Saturday’s game Allen leads the SEC in sacks (10), tackles for loss (14.5) and has been the football equivalent of a closer when Kentucky has needed a defensive stop to preserve a game. In last Saturday’s 15-14 win against Missouri, Allen had 11 tackles and two sacks, both of which resulted in fumbles.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was asked to compare Allen to Florida’s very talented defensive ends, Jabari Zuniga and Jachai Polite.

“He’s faster and bigger,” Smart said of Allen. “He can play the run. He can drop in coverage. You have to know where he is at all times. When you’re looking at a defensive end he’s your prototype guy. All the coaches talk to each other in this league and everybody knows what a good player he is.”

Allen followed his own advice about patience at the end of the 2017 season. He has a young son and going to the NFL early was tempting after a junior season when he was a second-team All-SEC pick. Had Allen left Kentucky he was projected to go somewhere in the fourth or fifth round..

“I wrote down a lot of pros and cons,” Allen said when we talked this week. “I knew I had a lot of stuff to work on in order to be a complete and well-rounded player.”

Kentucky Coach Mark Stoops felt strongly that Allen could become a first-round draft choice if he came back and had a big senior season.

Stoops knows what a first-round draft pick looks like. He’s coached 11 of them.

“I did expect him to come back and be a dominant player,” Stoops told reporters in his weekly briefing. “I truly knew in my heart he was a first-round draft pick. I don’t think there is any question about that now.”

A mock draft on CBSSports.com has Allen going as the No. 3 pick to the Oakland Raiders.

The No. 3 pick in the 2018 draft, quarterback Sam Darnold, received a four-year contract worth $30.25 million—all of it guaranteed.

And now Allen gets to play in what is being labeled as the biggest football game in Kentucky history. It was something he never could have imagined when he was headed to Monmouth.

“I can say that honestly,” said Allen, whose sister was a McDonald’s All-American who played basketball at Louisville. “I never would have imagined being a part of something like this. I certainly wanted something good to happen in my life.

“Saturday is going to be unreal.”