Ryan Allison: Linebacker Mentality

Nov. 13, 2008

Most players heading into their final year are not worried about a position change. If so, they are usually subtle. But not for Ryan Allison.

The senior from Lake Orion made the rare switch from catching passes as a wide receiver to hitting opponents as a linebacker. With a cut across his nose after a recent practice, it's safe to say he's finally found a home on the football field.

Rated among the nation's top 40 wide receivers out of high school, Allison was recruited to play receiver in a spread offense. He saw action his first three seasons, catching nine passes, but primarily played on special teams, increasing his tackle total each year.

But it was his effort during practice that initially prompted the position switch.

"Toward the end of the season last year, I was a backup on kickoff coverage," said Allison. "I think it was Otis (Wiley) that got hurt in practice one day, so I filled in. I was just sick of it, I wasn't playing a lot, and it wasn't a live drill or anything, but I stuck the returner and then Coach D yelled `Make that guy a safety'. So from then on it became a joke between us, but later in the year it became more serious. Lo and behold during bowl practice, I was playing safety."

With the increased practice time allotted before the Champs Sports Bowl, Allison tried his hand at safety before settling in at WILL linebacker during spring drills. He collected three tackles and a pass break-up in the spring game, and was well on his way to making a contribution on defense with his athleticism.

"I think the transition was difficult in the fact of knowing the schemes," said Allison. "When you're a receiver, you're told the play, and just go with the play. On defense, you react to what's going on around you. I was studying the playbook a lot. It was a big transition for me."

"As special teams coordinator, I know how tough kids are, and he is as tough as anyone on our football team and he can hit," said linebackers coach Mike Tressel. "For that to stand out in a wide receiver is probably pretty rare. He's big - he had had to diet for three years to stay under 220 pounds for him to run the way we needed to run at wide out. We got him off that diet, and bang, he's a linebacker."

Allison continued to see action on special teams in the first six games of this season, but with a spread offense looming in the seventh game at Northwestern, defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi altered his lineup to get the speedy Allison more reps. He responded with a career-high 11 tackles, an amazing achievement considering Allison saw such limited playing time on defense up until facing the Wildcats.

"It was pretty surreal," Allison said of the Northwestern game. "I never really pictured myself in a situation like that. I had a lot of flashbacks from the Northwestern game the first time we were down there; I think I played punt block and that was about it. Then I go back there and get about 50 snaps on defense. It was fun. Nerves got to me a little bit, but after that first hit, it's just instincts after that. I felt the coaches trusted me, and I think that's the biggest thing. If the coaches trust you out there, you have to trust yourself, so I was pretty comfortable."

His solid play at Northwestern earned him more playing time, including his first career start on defense as a linebacker in the Michigan game, where he produced four tackles.

"The atmosphere was just awesome," said Allison of the win at Michigan, MSU's first in Ann Arbor since 1990. "At the end, I guess we didn't realize how many State fans were there until they started chanting `Go Green, Go White' throughout the whole stadium. It was a great feeling."

As is if the rivalry between the two schools wasn't enough, Allison almost had a sibling clash as well.

"My brother (Roger) was there, and he doesn't get to many games," Allison said. "He went to Michigan originally, so that would have been a good matchup between me and him, because he was a fullback and I'm a linebacker, but that didn't happen."

In some ways, Allison reflects the culture change that has transformed Spartan football since the arrival of head coach Mark Dantonio. Rather than being a finesse spread team, the Spartans are a hard-hitting group that resembles the toughness desired from their head coach. Nothing embodies that change more than a wide receiver turned linebacker.

"I think I always had the defensive mentality a little bit," said Allison. "I think that's what made me good as a receiver is that I blocked pretty well and I was physical, and that's carried over to the defensive side of the ball. I feel like I always had that inside."

Allison has proved that through hard work and persistence, a player can make an impact on the team at any point in their career. Change and adjustments are part of the game. It's what made Allison a valuable contributor on defense in his final season wearing the Green and White.

By Ben Phlegar, MSU Athletic Communications

This feature was originally published in the Nov. 8 edition of Michigan State Football Gameday Magazine.