University of North Carolina Athletics
Mr. Versatility: Meet Allen Mogridge
October 27, 1999 | Football
Oct. 27, 1999
By Laura McCoy
Athletic Media Relations Student Assistant
No word describes senior Allen Mogridge quite as well as "versatile". He is the rare offensive lineman who has both a touchdown reception and a quarterback pressure on his resume.
Little did he know when he signed to play football at Carolina that he would see so much of the field. During his career, he has played tight end, fullback, defensive end, linebacker and offensive tackle for the Tar Heels and has done it all without complaint. "I'm just happy to be on the field," Mogridge says. " I feel like I've learned a lot, but I still have a long way to go in a short time. I never thought my senior year would fly by so fast, but it really has."
Throughout his career, Mogridge has proven to be not only multi-talented but also the quintessential team player. While being recruited, he remembers telling Carl Torbush, then an assistant coach, that he wanted to help the team any way he could. Mogridge could not have guessed how many ways he would be called upon to help.
He spent the entire 1998 season as the starter at tight end, where he made four catches for 32 yards. He caught a four-yard touchdown pass against Miami and had a 15-yard reception to set up a touchdown against Duke. Before his senior season, however, he moved yet again and this year has started every game at right offensive tackle.
"Nothing can compare to the feeling that I had when I caught that ball for a touchdown against Miami," says Mogridge. "But I also enjoy playing offensive line. There's so much to learn at the position that sometimes I wish I had been playing it all four years. But I wouldn't trade anything for the experience that I've gotten here. I really do just enjoy doing whatever the team needs to get better."
At Sevier County High in Sevierville, Tenn., Mogridge became accustomed to playing on both sides of the ball. A bout with mononucleosis kept him out of all but five games his senior year, but he still earned all-conference honors at tight end and was named all-state at defensive end for the second consecutive year. He also lettered four years in basketball, twice earning all-conference honors, and three years in track & field.
Impressed by the UNC coaching staff and the quality education that Carolina offered, Mogride fell in love with the school right away and signed on to play for the Tar Heels. He redshirted during his first season in Chapel Hill, then spent two years playing mostly on special teams. In a 45-6 win over Wake Forest in 1996, he was credited with two tackles and two quarterback pressures.
Throughout his career, Mogridge's willingness to help out wherever necessary has earned him the respect of his teammates, especially linebacker Brandon Spoon. Spoon is so confident of Mogridge's abilities that he has asked his friend to tackle yet another position, that of best man in the July wedding of Spoon to his fiancee, Abby Melvin.
"Mogridge is by far my best friend," says Spoon of his roommate the past two years. "He hosted me on my official visit to Carolina, and we've become very close ever since. He's like a brother to me. He's honest and sincere and maybe the funniest guy I know. There's nothing we wouldn't do for one another."
And since there's also nothing Mogridge wouldn't do for the Tar Heels, he was very receptive to the coaching staff's request that he put on what he calls "extra baggage". Shortly after last year's Las Vegas Bowl win in December, he began his transformation from 240-pound tight end to 290-pound offensive tackle. By the start of the season, he had gained roughly 50 pounds, and, according to Spoon, eats constantly to maintain his new physique.
"He makes himself eat a pizza every night and since that gets costly, sometimes he just fixes a big plate at the cafeteria and brings that home," says Spoon. "Either way, he's always eating."
"Well, I do basically eat a pie every night, but I'm almost afraid I'll lose weight if I don't eat right before I go to bed," counters a laughing Mogridge. "I try to make sure I've got something in there when I fall asleep, and then I wake up the next morning and start my routine all over again."
After graduation, Mogridge's next routine will likely be to teach and coach football, perhaps in North Carolina or back in Tennessee. His most immediate ambition, however, is to wrestle Spoon for the heavyweight title. Yet again, his versatility could come in handy. As could that excess baggage.
