Tough travels helped Bailey

Everyone has heard the stories.

It is quite common to have heard an elder describe the pains they encountered to get to school on a daily basis.

Perhaps it was uphill and in the snow.

None of those are funny to Allen Bailey.

For Miami’s most productive defensive lineman, getting to school was quite the venture.

In fact, living in the tiny community of Hog Hammock, a 60-person village that sits on Sapelo Island in Georgia, Bailey was forced to take a ferry 30 minutes and bus another 15 minutes to reach high school.

Returning home, if time allowed as the ferry stopped running at 5:30 p.m., required the same. If not, Bailey was left staying with friends.

The grind taught discipline to one of the nation’s top high school players.

“It was an everyday thing. I have three brothers and sisters, so we would wake up at 6 a.m. and catch the ferry for school,” he said. “We had to get up and do the same thing, and most of the time when the ferry left it was still dark.

“But it really taught me time management, to be honest with you, because if you missed the ferry, you are stuck.”

Living on such a remote island, the recruitment of Bailey was rather interesting. Rated the nation’s seventh-best linebacker, coaches either visited McIntosh County Academy or were relegated to hitting the water.

“When they came to recruit me, they had to catch a boat to get to my house and meet my parents,” Bailey chuckled. “Either that or they could catch a speedboat. Most of them wanted to see me at school, but a couple of them went out of their way to come to the island to see me.” 

Now in his junior season at Miami, Bailey’s work ethic is paying off — he enters Saturday’s game with Virginia (3-5, 2-2 ACC) with seven sacks, averaging the second-best mark in the league.

Seeing those that remain in his village struggle in recent years (population declined 40 people in four years) has also intensified Bailey’s desire to perform even beyond his time as a Hurricane.

“It is motivation to do something for the small area that I am from,” Bailey said. “I want to do something with myself.”

Now listed at 6-foot-4 and 288 pounds, Bailey started at Miami as a linebacker and switched to the defensive line as his body grew.

He split time last year at defensive end and defensive tackle, but opened the current season inside. Depth issues forced Bailey back to the outside several weeks ago.

The latest move was well received.

“I am just trying to improve my play defensive end from last year,” Bailey said. “I focused on being good at both defensive end and defensive tackle, but coaches always tell me at defensive end that I can cut the field in half.

“That is an advantage at times.”

It was also a move that was necessary given the injury situation for the Hurricanes — the team has not started the same lineup on defense in back-to-back games all year.

Defensive linemen Marcus Fortson and Adewale Ojomo and reserve linebacker Jordan Futch have been lost for the season. Linebacker Sean Spence did not play last week, as was the case with reserve defensive end Eric Moncur and Ray Ray Armstrong.

“I’ve never seen these many injuries,” Miami coach Randy Shannon said. “We are not the same team we were at the beginning of the season.”

Bailey said the team must move on as they attempt to stay in the mix for the Coastal Division title and a premier bowl game.

“People know that we have nicks and things like that, but we have to keep pushing. Some of the young guys have to step up and play a role here and there. I might have to grind more and be in for more plays, but everybody is going to work.

“If you ain’t ready, we are going to get you ready.”

Although it came in a winning effort, Miami’s undermanned defense struggled mightily last week against Wake Forest. The Hurricanes (6-2, 3-2) allowed 33 first downs, the most given up in the program’s 84-year history.

They also allowed 408 passing yards, something that had been bettered twice by opponents in program history.

Yet the Hurricanes salvaged the win.

“In the end a win is a win, but there are minor things that you have to do to improve for the next game so the same things don’t happen,” Bailey said. “We know we can’t slip up against [Virginia]. It is a must win. It is a one-game season every week now. We just have to focus on who we have now.”