Tight ends preparing to shine in new offense
CORAL GABLES At this point, Brevin Jordan doesn’t know who will be throwing him passes this fall. Neither does Will Mallory.
What the two talented sophomore Hurricanes tight ends do know is this: if things go as expected in Dan Enos’ offense, they’re each going to have the opportunity to shine and, if they’re lucky, to add to Miami’s tradition at the position.
“He loves the tight ends. It’s simple. He loves the tight ends,” said Jordan of Enos, the offensive coordinator who was lured to Coral Gables from Alabama earlier this year by first-year Hurricanes coach Manny Diaz. “He loves to throw us the ball. He loves to use Will, me, [Michael Irvin II]. He loves the tight ends. Game time. Boom.”
Jordan, a preseason All-ACC selection, had a breakout season last fall, starting 11 of Miami’s 13 games. He caught 32 passes — the second-most on the roster — and totaled 287 yards and four touchdowns, including a 41-yard beauty that proved the difference in the Hurricanes’ 28-27 comeback win over rival Florida State last season.
Things were slightly different
for Mallory, who arrived at Miami with a similar high school pedigree as Jordan, his good friend and freshman year roommate. Mallory started just one game and caught a mere five passes for 37 yards, his productivity limited by both a knee injury and an eye infection.
During spring drills, things flipped, with Mallory getting a high number of reps while Jordan recovered from a knee injury. Now, both are healthy and lining up together in two-tight end sets that have each excited about the possibility to create mismatches for defenses across the ACC’s Coastal Division, especially given the way Enos showcased tight ends when he served as the offensive coordinator at Arkansas and during his time as head coach at Central Michigan.
“When Will makes a play, the dude has the longest arms. He has ‘Go-Go Gadget’ arms. It’s like, ‘Dang, I wish I was 6-5,’ ” Jordan said. “Me and Will, we both bring a little bit. We bring different dynamics to the game. I’m shorter, but I’m a little bit quicker. Will’s longer. He’s more of a vertical, deep-threat guy. So, we both bring different aspects to the game.”
Said Mallory, “We came in together and that’s how we imagined it was going to be, with him being next to me. We’re going in at the same time, we both look at each other when the play is called and we know exactly what we’re doing. It just instills confidence in both of us. We’re excited to be out there playing together again.”
Along with spending time this offseason with Tate Martell, N’Kosi Perry and Jarren Williams — the three quarterbacks vying to be the Hurricanes’ starter — Jordan and Mallory also spent time learning from some of the tight ends who came before them at Miami, which was highlighted as ‘Tight End U’ in a recent piece by ESPN.
Former Hurricanes star David Njoku was on campus recently when Miami hosted its annual Paradise Camp recruiting event where both high school prospects and current players have the opportunity to learn from some of the greats who have played at Miami.
Also attending Paradise Camp was former UM star Jeremy Shockey, who Jordan noted is “always up here.”
To be able to follow in the footsteps of players like Shockey, Njoku, Greg Olsen, Bubba Franks, Chris Herndon and so many others is part of the reason both Jordan and Mallory came to Miami. Actually learning from them has been more of what Jordan said either of them hoped.
“He’s a cool dude. He relates to us pretty well. He’s a 6-5 white dude with tattoos all over the place and he loves to have fun,” Jordan said of Shockey. “I won’t say he’s necessarily giving us advice, but on the field, the stuff he teaches us, coach Enos, [tight ends coach Stephen Field], all of them say it, so I’m like, ‘Okay, Jeremy Shockey knows what’s he talking about. He’s a Hall of Famer. He’s a beast.”
Now, the expectation is that Jordan and Mallory will take what they’ve learned after a full year of college football and channel it into an offense that will showcase their skills in a way that didn’t quite happen last year while the Hurricanes struggled during their 7-6 season.
“We have so much fun. We’re motioning, we’re moving around. … There’s plays where I run one route or I can run in or out,” Jordan said. “There’s so many different concepts to the game. It’s fun. We’re out here having fun and Aug. 24th, you guys are going to see how much fun we have.” 9 Sound Machine (E.Zayas)
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