For the final few weeks of Kyle Pitts’ record-breaking 2020 season at Florida, calling him a tight end simply wasn’t accurate anymore — he was a unicorn.
The gallivanting giant breezed past linebackers and outmuscled defensive backs, breaking past the normal responsibilities of a tight end and becoming the focal point of UF’s dynamic offense.
But with Pitts graduating after last season, questions have emerged about the role tight ends will play in Dan Mullen’s offense without the 6-foot-6 phenom.
Tim Brewster, Florida’s assistant coach, and tight ends coach emphasized that the Florida offense isn’t circumstantial and that every tight end on the roster can develop into the same top-five draft pick that Kyle Pitts is.
“I coach true three-down players. I'm not interested in coaching a situational player, Brewster said. “We're looking to build complete tight ends. So whoever plays for us is going to be really good. I've got tremendous confidence in my guys.”
Brewster boasts an illustrious resume in developing tight ends, as the New Jersey native nurtured Pro-Bowl tight end, Antonio Gates, while working with the Chargers, and Jace Sternberger earned All-American honors while Brewster worked at Texas A&M
His philosophy on creating a complete tight end shone through with the development of Kyle Pitts. While the Atlanta Falcons rookie always excelled as a pass-catcher, his development as a blocker catalyzed Pitts’ phenomenal season
“I think that the improvement that Kyle Pitts made last year in the run game, the time we spent focusing on making him a more complete run-blocker allowed him to go be the highest-drafted tight end in the history of the National Football League,” Brewster said.
Florida’s expected starter at tight end, Kemore Gamble, was tabbed as the best tight end in the conference by Brewster, and Gamble believes he has the opportunity to become the best tight end in college football.
Still, Brewster acknowledges certain aspects of Pitts’ game are irreplicable, and that Florida’s tight ends will remain effective by adjusting their game to their skillsets. He credited Dan Mullen for working to maximize a player’s ability in his schemes.
“It's quite well-known that he's (Mullen) about player development. Dan does a great job of fitting a player's abilities to his scheme. He does that better than anybody. We're not going to be able to do the exact same things with Kemore Gamble and Keon Zipperer. But we're going to fit what they can do really well to what we're going to do in a game."
Kyle Pitts and Kyle Trask rode their well-documented “Kyle-squared” to great success last season, and fans should expect a similar dynamic between Emory Jones and Florida’s tight ends corps, although likely with a less catchy name.
All of Florida’s tight ends have years of reps with Jones on Florida’s second-team, and both parties highlighted the strong connection between the position groups.
"Well, we've been playing with Emory all the time in practice,” Gamble said. “I feel like, I think we’ve already connected. I feel like we showed, I mean there’s little things we should work on but I feel like we’re already there with Emory.”
Florida’s tight ends look poised for another strong season in 2021, but in the eyes of Brewster, the transition from a good tight end corps to a great one will take place off the field. Brewster encourages his players to become students of the game, and he believes Pitts’ acclaimed football IQ and diligence in studying the game of football served as his greatest attribute.
“When you walk into my meeting room, you better have a spiral-bound notebook and a writing implement,'' Brewster said. “If you want to learn it, write it down, write it down if you want to learn something, and I think that that really has served our guys well."
