Florida offensive coordinator Russ Callaway met with the media to provide some insight on the Gators’ tight end room entering spring camp. The unit consists of six scholarship players including two true freshmen.
Here’s everything Callaway had to say on Florida’s tight ends:
On Hayden Hansen working with the wide receivers and WR coaches:
“Absolutely. That’s one thing we’ve kind of challenged not just Hayden but really all the tight ends, it’s one thing about this tight end group is we’ve gotta block like offensive linemen, we’ve gotta run routes like skill guys. It’s really good but the time isn’t always there. We challenge those guys in the offseason, hey you need to go get extra work, do these drills when you’ve got 30 minutes. You need to go watch this cutup. Go perfect your craft on the dig, on the corner, whatever it may be — the route specifics. They all really have done a phenomenal job of that. We cater our Indy based on what we’re doing that day and then what we need to continue to work. It’s on those guys, again, when you’ve got a. free Sunday or time between classes, this facility, it’s what it’s here for. Come up and use it. Get extra work on the JUGS, continue to run your route tree, and continue to improve that process.”
On Tony Livingston:
On Amir Jackson:
“Obviously phenomenal young man, young guy. He is awesome. He has taken a million strides since we first took him. First off, as a person and as a leader, to be so young is pretty remarkable, his story. I kind of get choked up thinking about it, be honest with you. He’s unbelievable. But on the field, he’s been very much improved in the run game. He’s always been a really good receiver, but I would say he has taken the most strides in the run game and physicality, putting on weight, route details. So he has taken a million strides forward from what he’s got here, and he still has room to grow. And I think as long as he keeps his head on straight, which I know he will, and he keeps working like he’s working, the best is yet to come.”
On Caleb Rillos:
“Well, he’s an Air Force grad. That outta tell you a lot. He can fly a plane. He can build a house. There’s pretty much nothing he can’t do. He’s the world’s most interesting man in that sense. From a football standpoint, he’s really the same way. The way he is off the field is very similar to how he is on the field. You would think coming from Air Force, running the type of offense that they run he would be somewhat, you know, knowledge wouldn’t be as healthy in the pass game but he actually is really athletic and knows the pass game really well. Same with the run game. Their run schemes were a lot different than what ours were. He actually has translated that really well. He’s an extremely smart human being. A phenomenal person. He just got engaged this past, I guess, a couple months ago. He took his fiancé Paige on a scavenger hunt, ended up in St. Augustine and they were digging up the ring out of the sand. I got the pictures. My kids come up here and the first person they run to is Caleb, not me. That outta tell you everything you need to know about Caleb. He’s a phenomenal person. Looking forward to him having a great year.”
On the addition of freshman Cameron Kossmann:
“Cam was a late addition to the signing class. A really good addition. He kind of came on his senior year and that’s one of the things we do here. I think one thing that’s great about the university of Florida is we’re able to recruit guys really early and stay on them but you’re also sometimes missing on guys that have great senior years. That’s one thing that Coach Napier’s done a tremendous job on. Challenging us, we’ve got a class but go back and watch senior tape because every year there’s a crop of kids — Cam being one of them — that they improve so much from their junior year to their senior year and they grow that much and you turn the tape on and it’s like, this guy is as good as anybody that we’ve signed in the last four years. We jumped right on. Props to our recruiting staff. They did a really good job of staying with it, making the tape, and we watched it, and he passed our eval test. He’s been phenomenal. Great human being. Extremely smart. Him and Micah Jones from Mississippi have both stepped up and done a good job this spring so far.”