South Florida brothers are pioneers in the footwork revolution

New York Jets wide receiver Elijah Moore is drenched in sweat, working on top-of-the-route ball drills in the middle of Shirley Small Park in Fort Lauderdale on a blistering summer day.

A quick explosion of complex footwork is followed by an effortless leap as he high-points the football.

The former St. Thomas Aquinas standout is surrounded by dozens of players of all ages who are working on similar exercises, all under the watchful eye of trainer Tevin Allen.

Allen is the CEO of Gold Feet Global, a training company that specializes in footwork, speed, agility and position drills. He started the company in 2014 and has watched it grow from a local business to one that’s stretched far beyond the borders of South Florida.

He’s worked with the likes of Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry and Deebo Samuel and continues to be stunned by the company’s ever-growing success.

“I want to make sure that every time that somebody says that I’m a legend or I inspired them, that I feel it,” Allen said. “I never want to go get numb when I’m at the top or when I’m succeeding, because we did this out of love. And I never want to have that point to where I feel like this is supposed to be happening.”

Allen trains clients and runs the company along with his brothers, Tyrie and Junior. The trio, known as “tripod,” are all South Florida natives and played football at the collegiate level.

The idea for Gold Feet came at a low point in Tevin’s life. After getting benched as a sophomore at Illinois State, he spent the following spring break working and mimicking Chad Johnson’s workout videos from the NFL lockout in 2011.

From there he began to create his own workouts, pioneering the footwork revolution.

“If you want me to be completely honest, the footwork industry was nonexistent,” Junior said of what it was like when Gold Feet began. “Now being able to create formulas and have this foundation to the point where literally everyone in the is doing footwork, and it doesn’t matter what sport. … Everyone now is doing a little bit of everything.

“So, now we’re not just creating athletes, we’re creating super athletes.”

Allen and his brothers are almost surgical in the way they train their students. Their expertise is on building overall athleticism in the areas of speed, agility, coordination, rhythm and body control and catering their drills and workouts to that.

This unique, all-around training, combined with Allen’s experience and knowledge is what sets Gold Feet apart from the rest in the industry.

“I truly don’t believe anybody moves better than me,” Allen said. “That’s why I train all the athletes. They see me do it, they have a visual of it. I can get out there and line up on offense, line up on defense. I can train lacrosse, I can train baseball, I can build your spiritual, I can make sure you’re the most confident person on the field. So, I feel like that’s the separation.”

“I call myself the Swiss army knife, I can do it all, I do everything. Don’t put us in category. I don’t even like being called a footwork specialist, by title that’s what it is, but these are therapeutic sessions. This is more than just drills. This is life.”

Moore, has been working with Allen since he was a freshman in high school, when Gold Feet was just getting off the ground, nearly 10 years ago. He remembers being skeptical when he was first invited out, but considers it one of the best decisions he ever made.

A second-round pick in the 2021 draft, he says his game tape shows Allen’s effect on his game.

“We break down film, break down movement, things that I’m actually doing during the game,” Moore said. “You can watch my film and specifically see that I’m working on things. I hold myself high as far as route-running, someone who’s very efficient and a lot of that is because of [Tevin].”

In addition to the physical training that he does with his athletes. Allen also takes great pride in the work he does with them off the field.

One of the pillars of Gold Feet is “changing lives one session at a time,” according to Junior. And that change goes way beyond on-the-field work.

It also encompasses making a better community and creating better people for the future. This is Allen’s true focus and what he hopes his company becomes known for, more than for any footwork he can teach.

“We’re known for all of our athletes being the most efficient mover, but the cheat code behind the scenes is God,” Allen said. “Basically, we use the sports training to build a community, to help them grow spiritually, mentally, physically, which could potentially make them a better version of themselves.

“That gives them confidence, we call it ‘Godfidence,’ to where now the dream is closer.”

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