Arizona Wildcats tight ends 'value toughness and athleticism over everything'

Among the several coaching moves this offseason for Arizona, one was different than the others.

Arizona tight ends coach Josh Miller joined head coach Brent Brennan’s staff, but he wasn’t necessarily a Brennan hire.

When Arizona dismissed former tight ends coach and passing game coordinator Matt Adkins, the Wildcats replaced him with a branch from the Seth Doege coaching tree.

Arizona’s new offensive coordinator coached with Miller at Marshall, Purdue and Bowling Green, and said Miller was “one of the biggest hires for me.”

“You can hire your friends, you can hire people you trust, but sometimes it could go sideways because they’re not in it for the right reasons or they’re not in it to grow and develop,” Doege said.

Miller described his relationship with Doege as “very authentic, very real.”

“We are cut from the same cloth and that’s why we mesh so well,” Miller said. “We’re to the point in our careers, because we’ve been together so long, a lot of times I’ll know what he wants before it’s even said. We work hard, we do it for the right reasons, we do it for the kids and at the end of the day, we want to win games while doing it.

“We’re very passionate about selflessness. We don’t care who gets the credit, we just want to make sure we’re winning those games. Because our values are aligned, it’s easy to grow our friendship not only the field, but off the field, as well.”

Miller is “the only one in the world that I can stand on a table and look at a head coach in the eyes and say, ‘This guy, you can’t miss,’” Doege said of Miller.

“He’s going to develop the room, he’s going to recruit at a high level, he’s going to have great relationships with his players and he’s my right hand,” Doege added. “The reason why I’m here is because we had success at Marshall. Well, the reason we had success at Marshall is because Josh Miller played a big role in that.”

Marshall had a Top 40 scoring offense last season and averaged 31.8 points per game. Marshall’s balanced offensive attack with 2,354 passing yards and 2,622 rushing yards powered the Thundering Herd to a Sun Belt championship.

“We ran the football because Josh Miller helped me game-plan that,” Doege said. “Josh Miller sat next to me in the box and helped me call it. He has a huge role in why I’m here and I’m excited to have him here.”

Since Arizona hired Miller in January, “the most improved unit in the offense was the tight ends, and that was a concern going into the spring,” Doege said.

“Coming out of the spring, (the tight end position) was a strength,” Doege said.

The most noticeable differences in Arizona’s tight ends in the last seven months have been “the mentality and physicality part,” Doege said.

“It’s not anyone’s fault, but in years before, it wasn’t the violent nature that you wanted that position to have,” said Doege.

Job well done considering Arizona’s tight ends live by the “choose violence” mantra that Miller preaches.

“If you’re not a violent individual, especially at the tight end position, whether it’s blocking and/or coaching, you won’t experience any success,” Miller said.

Miller has two prerequisites for tight end: “You essentially can’t be soft, No. 1. If you’re soft, you can’t play. ... If you’re that, you can’t play here at the University of Arizona. And you have to be athletic. ... We value toughness and athleticism over everything.”

Added Miller: “They’ve done a great job in taking on that motto and (strength and conditioning coach Cullen Carroll) and his staff have done a great job in the summer getting us to this point and adding toughness to our room — and not only our room, but the whole team.”

Tyler Powell, a 6-7, 248-pound redshirt junior from Phoenix, “specifically comes to mind because of his physical stature,” added Arizona’s offensive coordinator.

Powell said “wanting to dominate and wanting to win on that play has helped me the most over the past six months.”

Miller vowed to hold Arizona’s tight ends to the highest standard on the team.

“Throughout camp and throughout the practices that we’ve had, that’s been absolutely true. ... In our offense, the thing that Miller and Doege always preach is that mentality wins over everything,” Powell said. “They’re going to do what they can to coach us the proper technique to execute our blocks, but at the end of the day, it’s all about a mentality. If we can get that on point, then we can be really dangerous in the run game.”

Arizona tight ends are taking on Miller’s “psycho” personality.

“Coach Miller is a psycho, but now the tight ends are taking on that personality,” Doege said. “TP has a little bit of that to him. He’s always angry, which I love. Now I don’t question his mental makeup when he’s cutting across to block a defensive end.”

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Some Arizona tight ends “are slightly banged up” and have missed practices due to injuries, but the most significant injury to the group is Miller, who “tore his calf in two places” when he planted his foot to spot the football during a team period. For Miller to maneuver around practice and trek from Arizona Stadium to Dick Tomey Practice Fields, Arizona director of football operations Lauren Vossler — also known as “Miller Mover” and “Uber” — drives Miller in a golf cart. “Uber me around practice,” Miller said.

Miller isn’t “physically present and hands-on as I can with those guys, so it’s been great in my development as far as me understanding the words that I’m using and how they’re being interpreted,” he said.

“It’s forcing me to make sure that since I can’t do or demonstrate the drills, that they’re understanding adequately exactly what I want out of them and how I want it done.”

Miller said Arizona has three tight ends “that can play at a high enough level for us to win games in this conference, and I think there’s four that can play.”

The top trio — in some order — is Powell, Keyan Burnett and Sam Olson, who is one of several players to transfer from San Jose State in the last 18 months. The fourth is Mercyhurst transfer Cameron Barmore. Arizona also has 6-5, 234-pound freshman tight end Kellan Ford, but the aforementioned tight ends are all playing their last season, so he’ll likely be a redshirt candidate.

Burnett signed with Arizona in 2022 as a four-star prospect and the highest-rated tight end to sign with the Wildcats since Rob Gronkowski. Burnett was a part of Arizona’s culture-shifting recruiting class that also had his Servite High School (California) teammates in quarterback Noah Fifita, wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan and linebacker Jacob Manu. Powell was also a member of Arizona’s stacked ‘22 recruiting class.

Between playing behind Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tanner McLachlan for two seasons and dealing with nagging injuries, Burnett never lived up to his expectations at Arizona. His one shining moment was a game-sealing touchdown catch against 10th-ranked Utah last season — his only touchdown as a Wildcat.

Burnett transferred to Kansas in December, but returned to Arizona in the spring transfer portal window.

“After last year, there was a lot going on and there was a lot of uncertainty,” Burnett said. “It was a tough season for all of us. I had some injuries that I was going through. We obviously had an offensive coordinator change and for me, I had one year left and I wanted to explore other possibilities. Turns out, the reasons I left — and I’m not going to get into details — don’t really exist anymore. I feel like I needed to be in Tucson. I couldn’t be more excited.”

Returning the 6-6, 249-pound Burnett for his senior season “was a program decision,” Miller said.

The UA coaches approached the team captains and Arizona tight ends about re-adding Burnett, who was named to the Mackey Award preseason watch list.

“In unison, everyone wanted him back and it was a great fit,” Miller said. “Systematically, he fits what we do and we’re excited about him being here.”

Unlike most transfers, Burnett was at Arizona the previous three seasons, “so there was never an awkward phase of getting to know a transfer,” Powell said.

“We knew what we were getting with Key. I think he’s a great tight end and he’s going to help our room and bring some diversity to our room,” Powell said. “He can make plays down the field and block well. I think it’ll be a benefit for our room, for sure.”

Doege recruited Burnett to USC, when the Arizona play-caller was the Trojans’ tight ends coach. Burnett checked all the boxes for an ideal tight end in Doege’s offense.

“We don’t want to recruit a 6-6, 260-pound extra (offensive lineman) that can run just a little bit better,” Doege said. “If I’m going to put a tight end on the field, he better have a value to throw him the football. Other than a goal-line situation, I want that guy to be circled on a depth chart or game-plan situation. ‘Hey, we gotta know where this guy is at all times.’ I thought Keyan had that skillset. ... I was a little bit disappointed when he decommitted and ended up coming here, but obviously full circle, it works out.”

Burnett and Barmore “are the most natural route-runners of the room,” Miller said. Barmore was one of Arizona’s many FCS transfers who struggled in the spring. Not only was Barmore moving from FCS to Power 4, he was transitioning from wide receiver to tight end “and had a lot of moving parts and that created some issues in his process,” but “as the game has slowed down, you’ve seen some physicality in his game,” Miller said.

Olson “is probably the most meticulous of the group,” Miller said.

“He’s very intentional with what he’s doing,” said Miller. “He understands his limitations as far as his size and his weight and that he’s not going to be the tallest or biggest in the room. But with his intentionality, he’s understanding the leverage that he can get and how to play longer in his frame. You’re seeing that in run situations.

“As a receiver, he probably has the best feel of the room. ... I’m really appreciative of Sam’s hard work and effort, and I think he has grown immensely in the run game to give himself a chance.”

Throughout his six-year college journey, with stops at San Jose State and Arizona, “I’ve learned that being meticulous and being very intentional about your work is really important, especially in practice,” Olson said.

“In the game, things are going a lot quicker, your brain is going a lot quicker,” said Olson. “If you can overemphasize little things in practice, in the game, it’ll show up there, too.”

In addition to run blocking and pass protection, Arizona’s tight ends look to improve Arizona’s passing game. The trio of Burnett, Olson and Powell made up 15% (453 combined yards) of Arizona’s passing offense. Meanwhile, McMillan by himself was responsible for 44% (1,319 yards) of Arizona’s passing offense.

Between the improving tight ends and the variety of shifty wide receivers, Arizona’s distribution numbers will likely look substantially different.