Tight ends coach Bronowski looks to mold a versatile group
When special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Jake Bronowski was hired, he knew he had a big task ahead of him. He had a tight end room full of players he didn’t recruit and understood there was a lot of criticism about the usage of players, specifically Gavin Bartholomew.
He didn’t shy away from the challenge. Now in spring ball, he’s a lot more familiar with the group and excited with their progress in the spring season.
Bronowski went down the line highlighting some of the guys in the room. He pointed out Jake Renda’s increasing physicality, Bartholomew’s desire to get better every day, Jake Overman’s surprising ability to “pop” and get contact.
“Josh Altsman, he will throw his body on the line every single day. You know, he wakes up and eats glass every morning and it makes it fun to coach,” Bronowski added colorfully. “... We put in our split zone stuff and now he’s coming right across and just leaving it all out there. For being ‘a little bit of an undersized guy,’ he is straining all the time.”
There’s a lot of versatility among the skill set of the tight ends. It’s beneficial for the type of offense new coordinatorKade Bell is implementing. There’san emphasis on quickness and explosiveness, and having multiple options at the position makes it easier to insert different players for different scenarios.
“We’ve been rotating,” Overman said. “We’re trying to get as many guys in there as we can. When you need a breather, you come out and just stay fresh while the defense is out there getting tired. Eventually, it’ll pay off for us and you’ll see a lot of touchdowns because of that. We’re just fresh the whole time.”
It also helps that Bell and Bronowski are working together to get the tight ends more involved in the offense. It was one of the biggest critiques last year under Frank Cignetti. Bartholomew was underused, as he played in 10 games and came away with just 18 catches for 326 yards and a touchdown.
Bronowski said that Bell is very open to new ideas and even implemented something from a Travis Kelce clip in the install.
“That’s the Number 1 thing coach Bell does such a great job of doing that for players,” Bronowski said. “He is so aware of what our strengths are as an offense, who our strengths are as an offense, and then how we’re going to be able to utilize those strengths. I tell those guys, ‘It’s on you. If we put something in that is designed to get the tight end the ball, and then we go out there and bust.’”
Bartholomew is likely to be the first option, but Bronowski was asked about who’s likely to partner with him.
“It’s always going to be by committee,” Bronowski said. “With our room, it’s just every single guy vying to get better every single day and knowing the offense. Coach Bell’s gonna move people around and put them in position to be successful, you know, so it’s on us to make sure we know the ins and outs of all that so we can
go out there and execute.” Spring with the specialists
It might be surprising to hear that in the early days of spring practice, there’s not a lot of kicking being done. Even at Thursday’s practice during the portion open to the media, all of the practice punts were coming from the machine. It doesn’t help that they’re practicing at the indoor facility, which makes it a bit more difficult to punt.
But Bronowski likes it this way. It makes it more challenging for his players.
“It kind of allows them to narrow their focus a little bit more, not so much on the results,” Bronowski said. “... We stay away from punts because I want to go strike people, want to go to use our hands. That’s an important part of it. It’s such an intricate play. And the timing of everything is so important. That’s how we teach things.”
He’s been impressed with redshirt freshman and Steel Valley grad DB Cruce Brookins — a common name that has come up during spring drills — saying he’s one of the top pack point guys in practice. Freshman Nigel Maynard missed his second semester senior year to come to Pitt early, and his performances have been notable, as well.
Ultimately, the spring is all about the fundamentals, especially for the special teams. Bronowski said it’s
fun to watch his players grow their positional skills while running a special teams drill.
“If I’m working a punt release, well, heck, that’s helping me as a receiver,” Bronowski said. “I’m working kickoff, it’s helping me as a receiver and it’s helping me as a DB. It’s all about time and space. When we’re doing special teams drills, yes, the byproduct of that is going to be us being dominant on special teams, but it’s also making them better football players.”
Veteran Ben Sauls
There’s a good amount of youth within the special teams, but one player who has been key in helping the young guys is Ben Sauls.
The redshirt senior kicker is in his fifth year with the Panthers, and Bronowski has leaned on him.
“He’s the leader of our specialists room,” Bronowski said. “He has such a confidence about himself. ... He’s been through so many different things, ups and downs. That set him up to have such a great year right now. That’s what he’s done because he’s learned from it. But that’s what makes him different.”
He’s hoping he can improve upon it heading into the fall.
“Personally, I wouldn’t consider that a good performance by any means,” Sauls said. “I like the fact that there were zero misses inside of 40. But I don’t like the fact that there were misses at all. I know where my work needs to go into, it really comes down to just finishing my swing. ... Whether that’s a confidence issue or belief in myself, if I just get through the ball, it’s probably going to go in.”
Bronowski challenged all the older specialists, but especially Sauls, to help the younger guys adapt to the process. Everything is higher stakes and it takes a good mental preparation to go through the ebbs and flows. With all that Sauls has been through, he’s an important veteran for the group.
“I’m a guy who likes to meditate,” Sauls said. “I think meditation is crucial in the kicking position, being calm and collective throughout the day, knowing that your job is not finished until the clock hits zero, being zoned in the entire time. Because situationally, you never know when you’ll get thrown in.”
Sauls is coming off a season in which he converted all of his 28 extra points and 11 of 16 field goals. As the Panthers’ kickoff specialist, he averaged 63.6 yards on 52 kickoffs with 37 touchbacks (71%).