GRAND FORKS — New UND assistant football coach Gordie Haug still has the message on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter.

It was Nov. 21, 2014 — the first time Haug, then the director of recruiting at Wyoming, reached out to a relatively unknown junior college quarterback named Josh Allen after a previous Wyoming quarterback target fell through.

“Josh was kind of the next guy up,” Haug said. “We got to him really late in the process. We talked for the first time Nov. 21, 2014, first visit on Dec. 9 and signed on Dec. 21.”

With that history in place, last week was another surreal moment for Haug in Allen’s rise to superstardom.

Allen, now the Buffalo Bills quarterback, was named the 2024 NFL MVP last Thursday. The 28-year-old Allen edged out two-time MVP, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

The No. 7 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Allen led Buffalo (13-4) to its second AFC Championship Game appearance in five years and one win shy of its first Super Bowl appearance since the 1993 season.

He finished with 3,731 passing yards, 28 passing touchdowns and six interceptions to go with 531 rushing yards and 12 scores in 17 regular-season starts. Allen went on to record 636 passing yards, six total touchdowns (four passing, two rushing) and no turnovers in three postseason games.

Back in 2014, Allen was still a little-known prospect. Haug said Wyoming assistant David Brown had previously coached at Fresno State and had mentioned he saw a kid with a live arm at a camp there.

There wasn’t a lot of film available on Allen, who was at Reedley College in California and didn’t start the first few games of the season.

As Allen took over the starting role, Haug said he liked the film and showed it to Wyoming offensive coordinator Brent Vigen, a former North Dakota State assistant. Vigen, a Buxton, N.D., native, who came to Wyoming with Haug and former Bison head coach Craig Bohl, is now the head coach at Montana State.

Haug and Vigen presented the film to Bohl.

“(Bohl) said ‘yep,'” Haug said. “The rest went pretty damn quick.”

Allen was part of Bohl’s staff’s first true recruiting cycle in Laramie. Haug was tasked with running recruiting at Wyoming like an NFL system, which Haug ran for 10 years.

Wyoming’s offense — a pro-style offense — was a draw for Allen, as was the former Bison staff’s recent quarterback pedigree with FCS stars Brock Jensen and Carson Wentz.

“The biggest thing was we were the only ones to believe in him,” Haug said. “Him being a farm kid from a small town helped. When he stepped on campus, that arm was live. It was always the arm.”

Allen, though, needed plenty of development.

“He was a young-looking dude who wasn’t shaving yet and skinny-fat at 200 pounds,” Haug said. “But he was the most competitive dude I’ve seen on the football field. For him to change his body and add 45 pounds within a year and do it the right way … it’s pretty special.”

Allen began his college career at Wyoming in 2015, which happened to be the year the Cowboys started the season with a 24-13 loss to UND — still UND’s lone victory over an FBS opponent.

Indiana transfer quarterback Cameron Coffman started against UND, finishing with 270 yards and two touchdowns.

Late in the game, though, Allen came in and was 1-for-2 for 19 yards in his first Division I college experience.

Allen would start the following week against Eastern Michigan and break his collarbone.

Wyoming went 2-10 in 2015 but Allen was part of a special recruiting class that produced nine NFL players.

“He broke the bone, had screws, went through rehab and healed quick,” Haug said. “He could’ve played at the end of the season, but we kept him on scout and he was ripping up our defense.”

Allen would throw for more than 3,200 yards in 2016, then more than 1,800 in 2017 before entering the NFL Draft.

“Remembering the first practice where he was so out of shape and throwing up in the garbage cans to being MVP and doing this is pretty incredible,” Haug said.