Miami Football News: Former Hurricanes DL Allen Bailey dies at the age of 37

Former Miami Hurricanes defensive lineman Allen Bailey died Tuesday night at the age of 37. 

Bailey was a top recruit for Randy Shannon in the 2007 class, signing with the Hurricanes out of McIntosh County Academy in Darien, Georgia. He was part of one of Shannon's best recruiting classes, a group that included wide receiver Leonard Hankerson and defensive back Demarcus Van Dyke.

He was a standout player on those Miami defenses from 2007-2010, making first-team All-ACC in 2009 and second-team All-ACC in 2010, recording seven sacks and 11 tackles for loss in each of those seasons. For his career as a Hurricane, Bailey had 19 sacks and 30 tackles for loss. 

Bailey was drafted in the third round (86th overall) by the Kansas City Chiefs and had a productive run there over eight seasons. His best time in Kansas City came in the middle of his career. Bailey had 41 tackles with five sacks and 10 tackles for loss in 2014 and added another 38 tackles, 4.5 sacks and seven tackles for loss in 2015. 

He signed a big contract to stay in Kansas City (4 years, $25 million), but some injuries slowed down his production in 2016 and 2017. Bailey recovered to have six sacks in the 2018 season, and he signed with the Atlanta Falcons as a free agent in 2019, finishing his career with the Falcons and retiring in 2021 after the team released him.

Several former teammates posted tributes to Bailey on social media. Anthony Chickillo, who was in the Hurricanes' 2011 recruiting class, posted a picture of him and Bailey flashing the 'U' after a NFL game between the Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers. And Colin McCarthy, who played with Bailey at Miami, posted his tribute on his X account.

All the tributes about Bailey mention his personality, his kindness, and the wonderful story of him coming from a small island off the east coast of Georgia and becoming a top player out of high school, an All-ACC performer with the Hurricanes and a 10-year NFL pro. It's unfortunate that such a life has ended so soon. 

Miami-FSU continues to bring in the ratings

Despite being moved to ESPN instead of their usual spot on ABC and facing competition from the Notre Dame-BYU game, the Hurricanes and Seminoles drew a huge number and peaked at 5 million viewers. 

That number shows that the Miami-FSU game is a major boost for television even when one of the teams is down. Last year, both teams were ranked, and the number peaked at 7.3 million in a primetime slot on ABC. 

Maybe the Seminoles can get their program together next season, and ABC will want to broadcast the game again, but that place is a mess.

Malachi Toney wins national award for performance against FSU

Toney not only saw a major boost in his Heisman odds on FanDuel (from +6500 to +1600), but he also won the Paul Hornung Award for National Player of the Week.

The super sophomore was a beast last Saturday against FSU. He had 11 catches for 152 yards and two touchdowns as a receiver, plus he rushed for 31 yards on two carries and completed a pass for a two-point conversion in the second overtime. 

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