What Fred Whittingham said during week two of spring camp
Q: How big was it to get Brant to come back for another year?
Fred: "It was just great news. Awesome. And, you know, I feel like he had some things that he wanted to accomplish his Senior year individually and as a team. And I couldn't be happier, him and Dalton coming back actually."
Q: Was it kind of shocking to see [Dalton] come back too because it seemed like he was a little bit on the fence and you know, people were probably more shocked about Brant coming back than they were about Dalton.
Fred: "Yeah. You know, I don't know if you guys know, but both of them had been invited to the [NFL] combine and both of them turned that invitation to the combine down when they decided to stay. And, you know, I just think that both of them felt like, you know, there were things in their individual games and personal development to work on. Also because of the COVID year last year, this draft coming up is kind of overloaded with players and especially at the tight end position. So I think they both made a business decision as well to stick around for their senior year here and then put themselves in a great position for the following year's draft."
Q: What does Munir McClain's skill set bring to the room? He’s obviously a wide receiver transitioning to tight end. Why could he be successful at a new position?
Fred: "First of all, he's got great size. The kid’s about 6’3. He's close to 230lbs, he’s got an 83-inch wingspan and he's got the frame to put on more weight. He ran a… I think it was a 4.47 [40-yard dash] in our testing in February. And I think Munir, the ceiling for him is just sky-high. He's got a lot of athleticism. He will learn how to do to block on the line of scrimmage as a tight end. And I think he's going to be able to, if he keeps developing, to be one of those next great tight ends here at Utah."
Q: Given that you guys do employ some 13 personnel. How important is it to find a viable third guy behind Brant, Dalton, whether it's him or…?
Fred: "Yeah, it's huge because if you get one guy that for whatever reason breaks a shoelace can't be in at the moment. Right. You got to have somebody go in because that 13 personnel is such a valuable package for us. So you got to have that fourth guy that fifth guy that can go in and take that role. And like we always say, 'Next man up', you got to go in and have no drop-off in play."
Q: Kyle just said some very positive things about what Thomas Yassmin has looked like. What are you seeing from your vantage point?
Fred: "Same. I will add to what Coach Whitt said. He looks great through four practices. He's practicing very, very well. He's continued to develop his game because he's a guy that never played football before he got here. You know, he's in his fourth year. So he's, you know, a guy that we expect to be a major contributor this coming fall."
Q: Coach, I'm curious how the tight end position has evolved, especially in your time coaching the position, where it was a lot of single, you know, tight end usage before now it's 12, 13 personnel where you’ve got different types of athletes.
Fred: "Yeah. You know, when I first got made coach in 2016, Coach Roderick was the O.C. and we did use some tight ends that year. And then Coach Taylor came in and he's known as a spread guy and so even with that, you know, we did use some 11 and 12 personnel, but with Coach Ludwig's scheme, it is really run through the tight ends. Right? And so we've been able to, you know, have a big role in, in the entire scheme, both run game and throw game and it's been a lot of fun to be able to coach the position because you know that they want to catch passes, right? Tight ends don't want to just block all the time. And so it's awesome that they, they get to contribute in the throw game but, or I should say and, they, you know, it all runs through the run game. So, if we can run the ball effectively, it opens up the play-action pass and it just it makes us a more dangerous throwing team as well."
Q: And Coach, you previously served as recruiting coordinator. How has your success from last season translated early on in this next cycle?
Fred: "Yeah, you know, we can't name anybody by name, but there's some big-time tight ends that are considering Utah. Some people that fit the scheme really, really well. Some people that could come in and you know, play right away because we do lose Dalton and Brant, you know, a few other guys. So it's definitely gotten the attention of every tight end out there because of the scheme I think we had, as a combined group, I think we had more catches than any Power Five team at 102 or something like that. So like I said earlier, tight ends like to catch the ball so that can only help with recruiting."
Q: And then has everything been normal as far as being out on the road and all that? I mean COVID hasn’t really hampered any…
Fred: "Yeah. It was normal, It got back to being normal in January really when we were out recruiting and getting a lot of early looks at class of 2023 guys. And I expect, you know, after the spring game when we're all back out on the road in the spring it'll be, it'll be back to normal, hopefully."
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