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46 | July 20, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger sports<br />

mokenamessenger.com<br />

On the lookout for a guy who’s hard to miss<br />

Former East<br />

offensive lineman<br />

named to watch list<br />

Jon DePaolis<br />

Freelance Reporter<br />

In the early 2010s, fans of<br />

the Lincoln-Way East football<br />

team could hardly miss<br />

Nick Allegretti on the field.<br />

The standout offensive lineman<br />

was a key player on<br />

some offensive juggernauts.<br />

But now, the nation may<br />

be catching up to what those<br />

around the Lincoln-Way<br />

East football squad already<br />

knew.<br />

Allegretti, a 2014 graduate<br />

of Lincoln-Way East and<br />

current offensive lineman on<br />

the University of Illinois at<br />

Urbana-Champaign football<br />

team, has been named to the<br />

Rimington Trophy watch<br />

list. The award recognizes<br />

the nation’s top center.<br />

“I don’t even have a lot of<br />

words for it,” Allegretti said<br />

of being named to the watch<br />

list. “It’s an awesome honor<br />

to even be on that list.”<br />

Though it is an award he’s<br />

kept track of since he was a<br />

teenager, Allegretti was unaware<br />

he was on the watch<br />

list until a former teammate<br />

reached out to him.<br />

“I don’t really have social<br />

media, so I didn’t even know<br />

about it,” Allegretti said. “I<br />

actually got a text from Joe<br />

Spencer, our old center, congratulating<br />

me. I had no clue<br />

what he was talking about.”<br />

From experience to<br />

leadership<br />

Allegretti is no stranger<br />

to success. He played a crucial<br />

role on the 2012 East<br />

football team that got to the<br />

Class 7A state title game. In<br />

2013, he was selected for the<br />

U.S. Army All-American<br />

Bowl after a season in which<br />

he had 56 pancake blocks in<br />

2013.<br />

After being redshirted his<br />

freshman year, he played in<br />

11 games in 2015. He mostly<br />

played at center and guard,<br />

but also on special teams.<br />

But Allegretti also showed<br />

his willingness to do whatever<br />

the team needed when<br />

an injury led to him playing<br />

defensive tackle.<br />

“I had not played defense<br />

since eighth grade,”<br />

Allegretti said. “It was a<br />

Tuesday or Wednesday of<br />

the week [leading up to<br />

the] Western Illinois game.<br />

One of my teammates went<br />

down, and we looked at our<br />

D-line, and we didn’t have<br />

many people left. We had<br />

no depth. Coach came up to<br />

me after practice and said,<br />

‘What do you think about<br />

playing D-line?’ I said, ‘All<br />

right, let’s go!’”<br />

Allegretti moved to the<br />

other side of the ball, and,<br />

on just two days of practice,<br />

he played as a rotational guy<br />

on the defensive line in the<br />

second half of the season.<br />

The following week, against<br />

North Carolina, he got<br />

thrown in on the defensive<br />

line during the first quarter.<br />

“It was a quick turnaround,”<br />

he said, laughing.<br />

“I hadn’t played it in about<br />

six years, and never really<br />

at a competitive level. But it<br />

was fun, and I got to experience<br />

something new.”<br />

For Allegretti, the willingness<br />

to switch sides of the<br />

ball was innate.<br />

“It’s just the way I was<br />

raised,” he said. “My mom<br />

and pops taught me to do<br />

whatever I could do to get<br />

onto the field and do whatever<br />

I could for the team.”<br />

Last year, however, Allegretti<br />

was able to get back<br />

to what he does best — protecting<br />

the quarterback. In<br />

2016, his sophomore season,<br />

Nick Allegretti, a redshirt junior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, started<br />

all 12 games last season for the Illini. His success led to him being included on the watch<br />

list for the Rimington Trophy, which is awarded to the nation’s top collegiate center.<br />

University of Illinois Athletics<br />

Allegretti started in all 12<br />

games — mostly at strong<br />

side guard.<br />

“Last year taught me that<br />

the more I know about the<br />

offense, the better I’d be,”<br />

Allegretti said. “I felt like<br />

last year was a huge opportunity<br />

for me. It was a blast.”<br />

He also got a taste of playing<br />

center again, starting at<br />

the spot in a game against<br />

Murray State when starter<br />

Joe Spencer was out with an<br />

injury.<br />

Allegretti credits Spencer<br />

and others for learning not<br />

only the physical aspects of<br />

college football but also the<br />

mental, more leadership-involved<br />

traits.<br />

“The first three years, I got<br />

to play under guys like Mike<br />

Heitz and Alex Hill, and<br />

Teddy Karras for two years<br />

and Joe Spencer,” he said. “I<br />

got to learn from all of those<br />

dudes. I think I’ve learned<br />

a lot about leadership from<br />

them.”<br />

And those leadership lessons<br />

were invaluable, especially<br />

considering the turnover<br />

the Illini have had on<br />

the coaching staff during Allegretti’s<br />

time at the school.<br />

“I got here, and the first<br />

three years we had three<br />

[different] head coaches,” he<br />

said. “It was tough, and not<br />

what I expected obviously.<br />

But after the last coaching<br />

change and Coach [Lovie]<br />

Smith came in, I feel like<br />

the whole team [thought] the<br />

athletic department found us<br />

a coach we can win with.”<br />

Allegretti said the biggest<br />

difference since Smith took<br />

over the program is the way<br />

the program is run.<br />

“It’s run like an NFL program,”<br />

he said. “We come<br />

in, go to film, get treatment<br />

and go to practice. It’s a very<br />

efficient program, and we<br />

don’t waste any time. If we<br />

are at the stadium, we are<br />

doing something productive.”<br />

Going into this season, Allegretti<br />

is slated for a bigger<br />

role on the offensive line —<br />

something he’s ready for.<br />

“The Big Ten is a tough<br />

conference, a physical conference,”<br />

he said. “No matter<br />

what team you are or where<br />

your program is at, if you<br />

want to win a single game in<br />

the Big Ten, it is going to be<br />

hard.<br />

“But I think we have the<br />

ability to go out there and<br />

win a lot of games this year.<br />

We have a lot of young kids,<br />

and a lot of kids who are<br />

stepping up.”<br />

He pointed to running<br />

back Kendrick Foster and<br />

quarterback Chayce Crouch,<br />

who he said has stepped up<br />

to be a leader on the team.<br />

“He’s a playmaker,” Allegretti<br />

said of the young quarterback.<br />

He said he also realizes<br />

with his age and experience,<br />

he needs to be a good example<br />

for his younger teammates.<br />

But he also has high<br />

expectations for the year.<br />

“The No. 1 most important<br />

thing we have to do<br />

is play hard and physical,<br />

no matter what,” he said.<br />

“If you go out there and<br />

have a brain freeze, come<br />

off the ball and still play<br />

hard. When we go back and<br />

watch film on Sunday, you<br />

can’t say, ‘I took that play<br />

off.’ We have the players we<br />

need and we have the talent.<br />

But if we take plays off,<br />

we’re not going to win the<br />

games we need to. We need<br />

every single player, 11 at a<br />

time, and everyone on the<br />

sidelines to be engaged and<br />

give 100 percent effort.”<br />

A bright future<br />

Allegretti recognizes his<br />

playing career at Illinois is<br />

winding down, but his goal<br />

still remains to play the<br />

game as long as he possibly<br />

can.<br />

“Whether it is another<br />

two, five or 10 years …<br />

whatever it is, I want to play<br />

as long as I can,” Allegretti<br />

said. “I absolutely love the<br />

sport. There’s nothing like<br />

competing at this level.”<br />

But that doesn’t mean it is<br />

his only option. He said he<br />

will graduate in December<br />

with an accounting degree,<br />

and he has his sights set on<br />

perhaps pursuing a master’s<br />

degree.<br />

“Whenever football ends,<br />

I’m really excited to get into<br />

the business world,” he said.

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