Baylor safety Michael Allen’s résumé just got another major line on it.
The fifth-year senior has been named a semifinalist for the 2026 William V. Campbell Trophy, the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame announced Wednesday in Irving, Texas. Allen is one of 206 nominees across all NCAA divisions and the NAIA, and one of 95 from the FBS ranks, on this year’s semifinalist list.
The Campbell Trophy honors the player judged to be the best in the country for combining academic success, football performance and leadership. The same group of nominees also makes up the pool for the 2026 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards Presented by Fidelity Investments.
To get on the list, players had to be nominated by their schools, with each school limited to one nominee. Candidates must be seniors in their final year of eligibility or graduate students who already have a degree, carry at least a 3.20 GPA, be a first-team player or major contributor, and show strong leadership and citizenship.
Allen has checked every box at Baylor, where he’s built a reputation as one of the most respected leaders on the roster. He has appeared in 31 career games and has mostly handled the role of lead blocker on kickoff returns. In his career, he has returned four kicks for 84 yards, including a 27-yard runback against Prairie View A&M in the 2026 home opener.
His role goes beyond special teams. Allen is described as a hybrid "player-coach" who attends defensive staff meetings during the week, then signals in defensive play calls while also contributing on all phases of special teams.
Allen’s work away from the field has been just as notable. He has logged more than 100 hours in the Waco community, with service that has included helping prepare school lunches, building homes for underserved areas of Waco, organizing toy drives and reading to elementary school students.
One of his biggest efforts has come through Baylor’s chapter of Uplifting Athletes, the national nonprofit that raises money and awareness for rare disease research. As the chapter leader, Allen has spent the last four years organizing and leading fundraising events that brought in more than $10,000 for rare disease research by getting teammates, campus partners and community members involved.
He’s also been a standout in the classroom. Allen holds a perfect 4.0 GPA while working toward a master’s in business administration. Before that, he earned a finance and management degree from Baylor with a 3.96 GPA.
The Campbell Trophy nod adds to a growing list of honors for Allen early in the 2026 season. He was already named to the AFCA Good Works Team as a Wuerffel Trophy semifinalist and is also a nominee for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award.
The NFF will name 12 to 16 finalists on Oct. 21.
Each finalist will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as part of the 2026 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class. Those finalists will then head to the Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas for the 68th Annual NFF Awards Dinner Presented by Las Vegas on Dec. 8, where one player will be announced as the winner of the 37th Campbell Trophy and see his scholarship increase to $25,000.
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