Auburn football’s Elijah McAllister has a knack for making things look easy.

When McAllister entered his senior season of high school football at Rumson-Fair Haven in Asbury Park, N.J., he hadn’t played a lick at defensive end. But as he came back after tearing both his ACLs, he had to try something new.

“He missed a ton of time in football, missed a ton of time in basketball,” said Jeremy Schulte, who was Rumson-Fair Haven’s defensive line coach when McAllister was a player. “When he came back as a senior, he had never played defensive end before. And that was his future.”

McAllister’s lengthy, 6-foot-6 stature and 230-pound build had schools looking at him more as a defensive end than a tight end.

Knowing he had some catching up to do after his time away from the field, McAllister and Schulte would work for 15-20 minutes before the start of football practice.

“Everything that he did during that time was to get better. And we have that with a lot of kids,” Schulte said. “A lot of kids are very intrinsically motivated. But to watch how he went about it, it was different.”

By the end of his senior campaign at Rumson Fair-Haven, McAllister tallied 23 tackles for a loss, forced a pair of fumbles and defended six passes.

It was a comeback story that McAllister not only made look easy, but one few at the school have forgotten about. Instead, McAllister’s success is used as a school-wide example of what can be accomplished with hard work.

“We tell them that, Elijah has told them that… Our kids know that,” said Schulte, who now serves as the school’s head football coach. “He’s left that impact on our school.”

Considering the footprint McAllister left out of high school, no one has been surprised by his journey since.

After excelling in the classroom at Rumson-Fair Haven, where Schulte jokes he probably didn’t miss a single homework assignment, McAllister knew he wanted to get the best education possible in college.

Eventually, after being rated a 3-star prospect by 247Sports, Vanderbilt came knocking with an offer.

“Really there wasn’t a long time between the offer and the acceptance there,” Schulte said of the Commodores’ offer.

At Vanderbilt, McAllister went on to major in medicine, health and society with double minors in psychology and business. He eventually graduated with his bachelor’s degree and went on to pursue his master’s degree in education studies and diversity.

Surely juggling his studies and playing football in the SEC wasn’t easy. But McAllister made it appear that way.

After not seeing action in his freshman season in 2018, McAllister appeared in all 12 games as a sophomore before returning to the bench during 2020′s coronavirus-abbreviated season. In 2021, McAllister returned to the rotation as an outside linebacker and appeared in all 12 games, finishing with 23 tackles, a sack and an interception against Florida.

Not too bad for a guy who had limited experience heading into his senior season of high school.

“He is one of the most competitive people I’ve ever met in my entire life,” Schulte said, adding that as nice as McAllister is, he finds his mean streak come game time. “It’s a totally different person. It’s really funny. But that’s the mark of a competitor.”

But after not securing a starting spot at Vanderbilt in 2022 but still appearing in all 12 games, McAllister’s competitiveness led him to the transfer portal, where he hoped to land at a program that would give him an opportunity to earn a starting spot, as well as continue his education.

McAllister’s name was in the transfer portal for just 11 days when Hugh Freeze’s football program and Auburn’s College of Education got the veteran player’s nod.

Freeze’s commitment to leading a faith-based football program was a selling point for McAllister, whose father is a pastor.

“The foundation of our relationship is based off faith. That’s a unique thing that not a lot of people have,” McAllister said of his relationship with Freeze. “I think that allows us to have confidence in who we are as people and also confidence leading the program. It’s something that he stays strong with. He’s an amazing person of faith. I’m excited about that.”

The opportunity to lead Auburn’s locker room, which is set to feature more than 40 new names on the roster, was another part of the Tigers’ pitch to McAllister, who was a captain at Vanderbilt in his final season.

And if you need proof that McAllister is doing just that on The Plains, turn to the fact that the first-year Tiger was selected to represent Auburn at SEC Media Days.

What came as a surprise to some considering McAllister has yet to play a down for Auburn, was all but that for those who know him.

“I’m glad that he’s here, because the college football world needs him to have a platform,” Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea said of McAllister at SEC Media Days. “I’m proud of him and appreciate him for what he contributed to our program.”

Being a player representative at media days is never easy and it comes with pressure. And one can imagine that becomes amplified when you’re a first-year player being asked about a first-year head coach of a program that is surrounded by nothing but question marks.

But in true fashion, McAllister, prepared with his own opening statement, made it look easy.

“Anyone who’s ever talked to him, they know what it’s like meeting him for the first time. You’re very impressed by him. When he talks to you, he makes you the most important person around,” Schulte said. “And he was that way as a freshman in high school. Everything he’s doing now, none of us are really surprised about because when he came in freshman year, that’s exactly the type of kid that he was.

“I think a lot of people are going to know Elijah McAllister’s name within the next decade or so, just based on things he’s gonna do. He’s something special. He only comes around every once in a while.”