Michigan TEs coach Freddie Whittingham on 'where tight ends really eat' in new offense

The Michigan Wolverines spent the offseason installing a new offensive system under head coach Kyle Whittingham and offensive coordinator Jason Beck. Tight ends coach Freddie Whittingham Jr. came in with his brother and has helped with the adjustment.

It was a brisk both with the weather and hitting the ground running at Schembechler Hall, but the tight ends’ new leader has taken to what Ann Arbor has to offer.

“It was cold when we came in here — a record cold spell for a little bit,” Freddie Whittingham said on the In The Trenches podcast with Jon Jansen on Wednesday. “But as things progressed and I got to explore the city, get downtown, eat at some of the nice restaurants, I love it. It’s the ultimate college town. It just has this great vibe, great feel. I was out over the weekend of the spring game. I think there must have been graduation going on because there was a lot of parents, students, a lot going on. I love the vibe.”

The tight end group was the only position on the roster without any reinforcements via the transfer portal, and Whittingham had some familiarity with the guys he would be coaching at Michigan.

“Zack Marshall is a kid I recruited out of Carlsbad High School,” Whittingham said of the senior. “At Utah, I thought we might be his selection. Then Michigan came in kind of late and offered him, and he couldn’t say no to the business school and the program. He said, ‘Coach, you’re in my top two,’ and I knew at that point he was probably going to Michigan.

“First thing I did, first day here, was watch film. Pulled up all the snaps each of the guys in the tight end room had from last season and watched them, and talked to the coaches who were here — Tony Alford, Lou Esposito, Coach [Kerry] Coombs, and Freddie Jackson. He probably had the most information on the guys, so I got their description of what type of players they were.

“I saw two fullback types and three traditional tight end types and liked some of what I saw on film. I knew they were graduating — two guys moved on to the draft in Max Bredeson and Marlin Klein — and watched their film as well. I wished both of them may have had another year to stick around, but I’m excited about the room.”

Marshall, junior Hogan Hansen and senior Deakon Tonielli will be the most prominent contributors as pass catchers, while senior Jalen Hoffman and sophomore Eli Owens will contribute in more of a fullback role. Whittingham likes the depth within his room with the different body types.

“The depth is strong,” he said. “The two fullback types, Jalen Hoffman and Eli Owens, both had great springs, a lot of production, and I’m feeling good about where they are. Zack was not able to practice, recovering from a shoulder surgery in January. But Hogan Hansen came on really strong. He showed himself to be a threat in the passing game — big target, good hands, goes up high and gets the ball. Deakon Tonielli also has some real physical traits. He can run, he’s athletic, and he put some good tape out there too. I felt really good about the depth of the position.”

What Michigan expects from its tight ends will change in the new offense, but their blocking prowess and how they support the run game will be a familiar trait.

“Coming out of spring, I saw some things we improved at,” Whittingham said. “With a lot of our offense, we’re going to be blocking perimeter runs, trying to circle the defense in one direction or the other using a QB read and power or counter. They need to be good at fitting up in space, and I saw a lot of progress with that. In the passing game, a tight end really has to get open in tight spaces and be physical at the top of the route. I thought we made a lot of progress in that area too — catching those quick six, seven-yard routes that can turn into eight, nine, ten yards with a good run after catch. And in pass protection, we have a unique scheme where we get six-man pass pro using an additional tight end. We worked a lot on that so the tight ends would be in a position to execute it.

“Play-action pass is where tight ends really eat in the passing game — that’s going to be the core of what we do.”

Whittingham and several other staffers followed his brother from Utah. The joint evaluation was that they were happy with bullish on the tight ends Michigan already had in the building.

“There wasn’t really a spot for a tight end transfer, and I didn’t feel the need to go get one late in the process,” he said. “It’s kind of a two-way thing — if you know a player can do something really well, say running a seam bender route, you design the offense to utilize that in a concept that uses what they do well. You look at what they do well and build a scheme around that. The six guys are always going to be the five offensive linemen and the quarterback, and then you’ve got five skill players — you can mix and match two backs, two tight ends, four receivers, however you want, and utilize what the guys in that personnel group do best. It’s a back and forth between identifying what they do really well and leveraging that with the concepts you design around them.”