For the toughness he showed on a routine basis, Austin Allen deserved to have a better senior season than he had in 2017. Not only did he miss several games but the season was so disappointing that his head coach was dismissed by the conclusion of the campaign.

Arkansas drew some heat at the time for firing Bret Bielema before he had an opportunity to walk into the locker room and meet his players. It may not have been a good look at the time, however, it did allow Bielema to address his team personally one last time.

During a recent appearance on Bo Mattingly’s Sports Talk with Bo radio show, Allen described the emotional scene which capped off the worst season of Allen’s football career.

Here’s what Allen had to say when he was asked to describe the scene following the Mizzou game from his point of view.

“It was a senior year through a horror book,” Allen joked. “It was miserable. For us, walking off the field after Missouri, got in the locker room, everyone’s down. A lot of tears. Seniors that won’t ever play again and not being around those guys again.

“Coach B walks in and no one knows anything, he kinda gets us all up front and says he’s been let go. It was… not… it was one of those things where (you ask), ‘Is this really happening right now?’ We just lost a heartbreaker to Missouri and Coach B gets up and tells everyone he’s being let go and all the coaches and all their job security is up. It was tough, especially for the guys that are coming back, there was so much, ‘What do we do now? What’s going on?'”

While the coaching turnover from Bielema to Chad Morris might cause some to hold it against the new Razorback coach, Allen has taken the opposite approach and was quick to praise the new leader of Arkansas football.

“With the hire they have in Coach Morris, I think he’s great for them. Everyone I talk to says he’s the real deal. He’s pushing them, this new strength staff is grinding them. I wish things went different with Coach B. He’s a guy where I wouldn’t be in this position without him. He really cared for his players. He put in so much work for us… He’s what you want in a coach.”

While things obviously didn’t go as expected for Allen, he at least has a chance to end his playing career on the right note after landing an invite to the NFL Combine. Should he impress during the pre-draft process, there’s a chance he makes an NFL roster. If he can return to his junior year form, there’s no doubt he will impress at least one team in a league starving for good quarterback play.