It had been 12 years since Josh Allen and his JUCO football coach, Randy Whited from Reedly College, had seen each other. That was, until the Buffalo Bills' Week 6 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Whited, along with some family and friends, decided to make the trip to Vegas last Sunday to see his former quarterback suit up in person for the first time since his freshman year of college.

Unbeknownst to him, a friend arranged a pregame sideline reunion between the two. The day before the game, he was told the new plan, immediately being overtaken by emotions.

"I almost fell out of my chair," Whited said. "It was a really tremendous surprise. I was just hoping I was able to get his attention and just wave and say hello. This was never planned that way."

At the game, Allen began heading back to the locker room after warmups, with a whistle from his former coach grabbing his attention.

"I just whistled, and I know he'd heard it before," Whited said. "He's kind of like my son, man. He snapped his eyes around, and I didn't even wave. I just stood there, and he just kind of stuck a toe in the ground and changed direction slightly."

A big smile came over Allen's face as he jogged over to the sideline, embracing his former coach for the first time in over a decade.

The two shared a wholesome moment, including Whited congratulating the quarterback on the family he's built. With a smack on the chest from his former coach to cap it off, Allen headed into the locker room to continue his preparation for the game.

"Go win a football game," Whited told him.

Whited retired from coaching back in 2016, giving him the chance to watch Allen's growth into a superstar quarterback in the NFL. If you ask him, Allen's personality hasn't changed from the day he stepped onto campus at Reedley College back in 2014.

The same humility and humble mindset that a young Allen had while searching for a Division I scholarship has remained the same. Whited has been a witness to it all, with a moment between Allen and his son years after the two were tormenting JUCO defenses, bringing it full circle.

Allen ran into Whited's son at a Topgolf, recognizing him from his days back in Reedley, CA.

"I know who you are; you're Coach's son," Allen said to him. "Is he still bass fishing all the time?"

"That's probably the thing that I'm most enamored with," Whited said. "He is exactly the same guy now as he was as an 18-year-old facial-hairless guy with a country bumpkin haircut."

The biggest change Whited noticed was that Allen continued growing into his now 6-foot-5, 237-pound frame. Back in his JUCO days, Allen was listed at 6-foot-3 and 205 pounds.

Seeing the picture the two took at the game on Sunday helped put things into perspective for Whited. He compared it to when he last saw Allen 12 years prior, seeing a new, fully grown man.

"He's got his arms around us, and he can eat peanuts off the top of our head," Whited said.

Ever since Allen moved on from Reedley College, Whited has been there if needed, but he's stayed out of Allen's way as he's continued along his journey.

Whited was confident his former quarterback would be a special talent from early on. Allen entered the Reedley College's third game of the 2014 season at halftime, with his coach never looking back.

After his first half of JUCO, Allen's film jumped off the screen. Whited immediately knew he had a different caliber of player at quarterback.

"Gentlemen, that guy's unbelievable," Whited said to his coaching staff at the time. "He's going to be playing on Sundays."

27 touchdowns later, Allen made the jump to the Division I level, and the rest is history.

Whited knew he'd eventually get to see his former quarterback again, confident that he had the makeup of a competitor who would stop at nothing to get to the top of his craft.

"The only thing I told Wyoming coaches, and I told the scouts when they were calling prior to the draft, I said, 'Josh is a different guy. He's got the it factor. You can't coach it. You either have it, or you don't,'" Whited said.

Seeing Allen dicing up NFL defenses and making athletic plays that most humans couldn't dream of on Sunday didn't come as a surprise to Whited.

He thought back to the moments that set him apart prior to leaving to attend the University of Wyoming, seeing the same 'backyard football'-esque plays that drew him to recruit the lanky teenager back in the day.

Allen was just recently inducted into the Reedley College Hall of Fame on Sept. 19. Whited was there to witness all of the flashy plays early in the gunslinger's career, along with all of the moments off the field that truly make Allen the man he is today.

For Whited, the chance to be a part of the journey is all he can ask for. He tunes in every Sunday to see how his former quarterback is doing, proud to see the growth from his days of searching for an opportunity.

For Whited, Sunday's reunion served as a reminder that while Allen's stage has changed, the person hasn't.

"That's probably the last time I'll see him, you know, but he just needs to know that I watch him all the time when he's on TV," Whited said. "My friends love him. They ask me all kinds of questions about him, and I just say the same thing. He's humble. He's got a great Foundation, and he is who he is."