3-star TE Chase Allen’s football life comes full circle with pledge to Iowa State

AMES — Chase Allen was disappointed, if only for a brief time.

Allen, a three-star tight end on Rivals, Scout and 247 Sports, was supposed to be visited at home the very first day after the dead period by his recruiter Alex Golesh. Golesh was an assistant coach at Illinois and at the last moment, plans changed and he wouldn't be coming.

'Chase was obviously disappointed and I said, 'Chase, this is going to happen a whole bunch,'' said Terry Allen, Chase's father and former UNI head football coach. 'Then the next day, Alex was officially hired at Iowa State and said, 'I'm coming as a Cyclone.''

When Golesh gave Chase the news he was joining Coach Matt Campbell's staff in Ames as the recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach, the 6-foot-7, 225-pound tight end out of Nixa, Mo., was over the moon. With Golesh's move to Iowa State, parts of Chase's life started to come full circle.

'I thought, 'No way, this is crazy,'' Chase said. 'I told him about my history and he had no idea and we were just like, 'Wow this is meant to be.''

After stops as the head coach at Northern Iowa and Kansas, Terry Allen moved his family to Ames, where he was the associate head coach under Dan McCarney at Iowa State from 2002-05. That's when Chase, who was in elementary school, really started to latch onto football.

Chase remembers sitting in the coaches offices in the north end zone of the Jacobson Building watching games at Jack Trice Stadium and migrating to Hilton Coliseum to watch hoops in the winter. Even though the Allens moved in 2006 when Terry was named coach at Missouri State, Chase's positive memories of Iowa State stayed with him.

'I've always been a Cyclone fan since we lived in Ames,' Chase said. 'I idolized the players and knew how great the program was. I've always had a dream of playing there and when the opportunity came about it was just something I couldn't let go.'

Chase, who committed last Friday, will make it official Wednesday when he signs with Iowa State and ushers in a new era of Cyclones football. Iowa State beat Nebraska and Michigan in the final days of Chase's recruitment.

ISU has 25 commitments in the Campbell era and a No. 47 national ranking, according to Scout.

In the decade since the Allens left Ames, Terry has seen plenty of changes on the surface of the program, but said one important thing has felt the same in his interaction with the coaches.

'The renovation to the stadium and facilities have been a very nice upgrade,' Terry said. 'But I think probably one of the things that impressed me the most was — it sounds kind of weird — there are so many people there that say Coach Campbell is a lot like Coach McCarney and has brought back the Cyclone pride.'

Chase said versatility in size and pass catching fits what the ISU coaches were looking for, but committing to the program he looked up to as a kid involved more than just what the plan was on the field.

'I think the staff, of all the schools I've been recruited by, have my back the most,' Chase said. 'They're the ones that will be there and support every kid. It felt like a family and they're really excited about what they can accomplish. I am too, because coming in, I can be a real difference-maker.'

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