Assistant JV football coach Grady Allin will be leaving the football program September 25 in order to join the military.

Allin has always been interested in a military role. He has looked into other positions, but was able to finally decide on the military.

“I have always wanted to go into the army or some sort of military type of role,” Allin said. “I started into a couple of other things, but ultimately the military was always there and I committed to it a few years ago.”

Allin has a long history with football, allowing him to pass down his knowledge to the players. He played for three years at Roseville High School, including one season for current JV football coach Tim McDowell. Allin then moved on to play at Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz.

Defensive back Dylan Rose believes that Allin’s prior football experience has given the team an advantage.

“He has a lot of coaching experience which is good for us,” Rose said. “He has definitely impacted our defense directly. I know he used to play defense for a long time so he is super knowledgeable about it.”

Rose believes Allin was able to impact their team by bringing positive energy.

“Coach Allin has great energy all the time,” Rose said. “It’s super nice to have him out there because even on super hot days when everyone has low energy – he’s there to hype up practice and make it exciting and fun everyday.”

Receiver Ethan Cunningham agrees with Rose. He also believes Allin’s positive energy and overall attitude has had a very good impact on the team.

“He’s always in a good mood, jumping around.” Cunningham said, “I think a lot of people have become attached to Coach Allin and saw him as more than just a coach, because he’s always there for us.”

McDowell believes Allin was able to bring a lot to the team because of his prior football experience.

“His experience is pretty vast since he not only played through our program for three years and went on to play two years at junior college,” McDowell said. “He has a high football IQ and is able to translate it very well into the kids.”

McDowell’s relationship with Allin has grown over the years and he now considers him to be a close friend, and is especially proud of Allin and what he has accomplished.

“Obviously I’m concerned that he will be joining the military and possibly be fighting in combat, but we are also really proud of him,” McDowell said. “We know it’s something he’s very excited to do.”