After little output from the position in 2010, tight end is an area of focus as UM aims to improve in the red zone. By MANNY NAVARRO
How rough was 2010 for tight ends at the University of Miami? Well, there’s a few unattractive statistics that shed light:
• Last season marked the first time in 16 years a Hurricanes tight end failed to make double-digit receptions (Syii Tucker and Gerard Daphnis each had nine catches in 1994).
• The 22 combined catches for 236 yards and one touchdown by Asante Cleveland, Chase Ford, Richard Gordon and Cory White was the leanest output by a group of UM tight ends since Bubba Franks and Dan Smith combined for 14 catches, 180 yards and four scores in 1998 (Franks had 13 of those catches).
• The stat that coach Al Golden feels best represents UM’s tight end futility: UM’s Red Zone Offense. That’s where Golden believes the lack of a reliable pass-catching option near the goal line saw the Hurricanes drop from 69th in touchdown efficiency in 2009 with Jimmy Graham and Dedrick Epps to 104th last season.
So will UM get more out of its tight ends in 2011?
“Oh, for sure,” said Cleveland, who led Canes tight ends with eight catches for 110 yards last season.
“I think we’ve definitely gotten a lot better. We’ve all grown a year older [and] wiser and added a guy whose been around in Blake Ayles from USC. Plus, I love the way [offensive coordinator Jedd] Fisch is using the tight ends. We’ve got double-tight end sets, a lot of reads and it seems like we’re getting a lot more passes, getting utilized a lot more heavily — as vertical threats and being released in the flat. I like it.”
Cleveland, a 6-5, 255-pound sophomore out of Sacramento, Calif., is one of six tight ends competing for playing time (Golden said before camp it’s likely five would travel).
When camp began Aug. 6, the leaders on the depth chart were the seniors: Ford (6-6, 245) and Ayles (6-5, 265). But both have missed time this week due to undisclosed injuries and Golden said they were going to be held out of Sunday’s first scrimmage, though they aren’t expected to be out long.
That’s opened the door for Cleveland, who missed the spring after having surgery to repair a torn right labrum (he said he suffered it before the start of his freshman year), and redshirt freshman Clive Walford, a 6-4, 245-pound former basketball star at Belle Glade Glades Central.
The others competing for some work: White, a 6-6, 275-pound former offensive lineman who will likely be used most in blocking situations, and former defensive end Dyron Dye, a 6-5, 275-pound redshirt sophomore who was switched to tight end this week.
“I like our group, I like it from top to bottom,” tight ends coach Brennan Carroll said. “We have a lot of different styles of players, guys that can do a lot of different things, guys who have lot of speed, versatility. That’s going to create matchup issues with defenses. Plus, we can still be a physical, down-low team.”
With Ayles and Ford out, Walford has been running with the first team most of this week. He drew praise from Golden after Sunday’s scrimmage (which was closed to the media), but is still relatively raw, having only played football as a senior in high school.
“Kid has a ton of talent,” Carroll said. “He just needs to work on his base fundamentals, hand placement, stance, things like that.”
Walford said he spent a lot time this summer talking to Graham, a former basketball player who didn’t play football until his senior year at UM, about making the transition to football.
“Jimmy is a big time inspiration,” Walford said. “He just tells me to buy into the system, believe in the coaches and make a commitment.
“Right now, I feel like I’m learning a lot. Blake is teaching me a lot about how to run my routes and when to stick my foot in the ground, how to use my hands and stuff like that. Chase, mainly I’m learning from him how he always stays low on his blocks, never plays high.”
Ayles, the nation’s top tight end recruit in 2008, caught 14 passes for 182 yards and one touchdown in 27 games at USC. He transferred to UM in January where he was reunited with Carroll. “He pushes us and I have all of the respect in the world for him and I’m going to whatever he tells me to do,” said Ayles, who is rooming with Cleveland during camp.
“It’s crunch time for me, no more messing around.”
Cleveland said there’s no way Carroll will let his unit underperform. “He’s one of those people at 5:30 in the morning, he’ll be the one yelling, trying to get people hyped up,” Cleveland said.
“During the spring we were doing a test early in the morning and doing all these drills and stuff. He was the most energetic person out there by far, yelling, screaming at people. You could tell people were dead tired. It seemed like he hadn’t slept. But he was wired. I think we’re all going to play with that same passion, same enthusiasm.”
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