Cameron Barmore came to Arizona as a project player, but his development as a receiver-converted-tight end in his lone season with the Wildcats turned out slower than expected.
In fairness to Barmore, he was out of his element.
Not only was Barmore transitioning from wide receiver to tight end, the New York native — who played the previous five seasons at Mercyhurst in Erie, Pennsylvania — moved to Tucson and went from playing FCS to Power 4 football. Barmore went from facing Duquesne and Robert Morris, to BYU and Houston.
"It's definitely been quite the journey," Barmore said.
"I think just getting settled in, coming across the country, learning a new position, it takes some time," he added.
Barmore has the framework of the prototypical Power 4 tight end. He's 6-6, 234 pounds and has a receiver skill set. In Arizona's most recent road loss to Houston, Barmore had a season-high four catches for 42 yards. He was Arizona’s highest-graded (87.1) offensive player against Houston, according to Pro Football Focus.
Arizona tight end Cameron Barmore (80) catches a pass during fall football practice at Dick Tomey practice field, Aug. 20, 2025.
As for blocking, that was a glaring concern when Barmore transferred in the spring. It's partially why the Wildcats sought tight ends in the transfer portal after spring practices.
Arizona signed Barmore "knowing he was going to be a project," said Arizona offensive coordinator Seth Doege.
"Well, that project hit a wall, to be honest with you, just because the physicality part wasn't there," Doege said. "The athletic part, you've seen it. When the ball is in Cam's hands, it's a little bit different. He's got really strong hands and a good catch radius. He has great awareness in space, too."
However, "the one thing he lacked was the physicality part," Doege said.
Once Arizona got to the third game of the season against Kansas State, Barmore showed improvement as a blocker.
Said Doege: "Now, you turn on the tape and you're like, 'Whoa, whoa, whoa, who's that?'"
More cows than people
Barmore grew up in Panama, New York, in the western part of the state near the Pennsylvania border. The small town has a population of just under 500 people.
Barmore grew up in Panama, New York, in the western part of the state near the Pennsylvania border.
Panama, New York, is closer to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Buffalo than New York City. The small town has a population of just under 500 people. His graduating class at Panama High School had 35 people.
"Panama has more cows than it does people," Barmore joked.
Barmore was a multi-sport athlete who specialized in football, basketball and track and field. Barmore "refused to run," so he did high jump in high school.
"I was lazy in high school, so I did high jump junior year and won a state championship," he said.
Barmore's dad, Chris, introduced the Arizona tight end to football in the third grade. Barmore said, "As I kept playing, I knew (football) was what was going to get me to college."
Barmore signed with Mercyhurst in 2020 and played in the pandemic-influenced season in spring of ‘21. Barmore only played in four games in ‘23 and redshirted that season before a breakout senior campaign this year. Barmore finished his Mercyhurst career with 166 catches for 2,378 yards and 29 touchdowns.
Mercyhurst played its first season as an FCS program last year after competing at the Division II level from 1993-2023. The Lakers went 4-7 in their inaugural season in the FCS. Barmore caught 73 passes for 978 yards and 13 touchdowns last season.
With one more season of eligibility left, Barmore had NFL aspirations, "and I don't think I was good enough of a receiver to do that, and tight end would be an ideal spot," he said.
"Moving forward, I figured I'd probably play tight end," Barmore added
'An unbelievable leap'
Barmore committed to Arizona two days before Christmas. Three weeks later, Arizona hired first-year tight ends coach Josh Miller, who coached with Doege at Marshall and Purdue.
In the spring, Barmore was in line to be Arizona's third option at tight end behind redshirt junior Tyler Powell and redshirt senior Sam Olson. Blocking, lining up in a three-point stance at the line of scrimmage next to offensive tackles and playing in the box was foreign territory for Barmore.
Arizona tight end Cameron Barmore (88) catches a pass during spring football practice at Dick Tomey Field, April 8, 2025.
"My old squad never asked me to do that," Barmore said. "Coming here and going up against (defensive end) Tre Smith every day, that's quite the task."
Backup tight ends and Tucson natives Tyler Mustain (former linebacker) and Kayden Luke (former fullback) helped Barmore settle in.
"I've had lots of talks with them," Barmore said. "You have to seek the contact rather than let it come to you."
Barmore called Olson "one of my best friends."
"He has helped tremendously every day with little things," Barmore said. "When I first got here, he helped a lot with small details of playing tight end. ... He's been a very good friend and teammate."
After the dust settled in the spring, Arizona wanted to bolster the tight end group and returned Keyan Burnett, who briefly transferred to Kansas after three seasons at the UA. Barmore was considered a fourth option at tight end, at best, entering the season.
Opportunity came knocking.
Powell suffered a season-ending leg injury on the first play from scrimmage in the season opener against Hawaii. Burnett, after suffering a hamstring injury in training camp, was never quite 100% and opted to redshirt this season and parted ways with the program.
Barmore shot up the depth chart and was called on to have a more vital role in Arizona's offense.
Did that change Barmore's mindset? "Not really," Barmore said. "Coming back from our little break into camp, everyone wants to start and everyone wants to play, so I've prepared every day like a starter. It's always been a next-man-up mentality in our room."
Barmore has six catches for 53 yards this season and is Arizona's third-best run-blocking player with a minimum of 100 snaps, according to PFF.
Barmore showed his physicality running with the football in Arizona's Big 12 home opener against Oklahoma State. Barmore caught a screen pass, "and instead of running out of bounds, he lowered his shoulder and tried to run through somebody," Doege said. In a "physical battle" against Houston, "that dude held his own and it looked like he belonged," Doege said of Barmore.
Cameron Barmore showed his physicality running with the football in Arizona’s Big 12 home opener against Oklahoma State.
"It's awesome what Cam has done," said Arizona head coach Brent Brennan. "Injuries are part of the game, and that's the hard part of it. The best thing that can happen, when somebody gets injured, is for somebody to step up, somebody to answer the call and go in there and play good football, and that's what Cam has done. From spring to now, you've seen this incredible arrow-up development of him in terms of his run-blocking, physicality and how he's finishing on the football."
Miller's coaching has also influenced Barmore's ascension, said Doege, who dubbed Miller "one of the best development type of coaches I've been around."
"That's why I brought him here," Doege said. "I knew he was good and I knew he was going to get our guys right."
Barmore is "one of the most improved players" on offense, and "that dude has made an unbelievable leap" from spring to now.
"I'm super, super proud of him," Doege said. "He trusted the process, he trusted his coaching, he practices every freaking day as hard as he can. He gets coached hard every single day and just takes it, owns it and fixes it. He's what you would want in a tight end and a teammate. We're excited that he's here. There might've been a time where I was like, 'Ah, I don't know if he'll ever play for us,' but I'm sure glad he's here now.
"I'm so proud of him on the strides he's made to become a (good) player. He's somebody you gotta account for. ... He's definitely been of value the last few games."
