PROVO — If one phrase could describe the biggest difference between Robert Anae’s current high-tempo offense and the previous installment the answers would vary: Much faster. More crisp. Much more fun to watch.
Chances are, “tight end-less” wouldn’t be one of them.
But that’s exactly what BYU’s offense has become — a high-powered system on a tight end-free diet. Ever since Brandon Doman took the offensive reins four years ago, the position slowly became an afterthought, and Anae’s return continued the trend.
After last weekend’s NFL draft, Devin Mahina became the latest on the long list of undrafted, NFL-caliber tight ends out of BYU, which is seemingly related to being underutilized in college.
Interestingly enough, it was Anae that coached Dennis Pitta, arguably the greatest tight end out of BYU since Chad Lewis. But his new “go fast, go hard” scheme has done nothing to revamp the tight end history in Provo.
It’s a far cry from the “glory days” of BYU football. Jim McMahon, Steve Young and Ty Detmer had tight ends Clay Brown, Gordon Hudson and Chris Smith, respectively, as their go-to targets, all were All-Americans.
It can be argued that BYU has faced a dearth of tight ends in recent years — something Cougar fans aren’t accustomed to. But in reality, it hasn’t been a lack of talent holding the Cougars back; they just haven’t known how to use it.
Two years ago, BYU had an impressive pair of brothers playing together. They faced injuries, served missions and had a shot at becoming incredibly successful on the gridiron.
Marcus Mathews hasn’t necessarily become a household name in Provo. He is now a former football player, a father and the older brother of current Cougar star, Mitch Mathews. But Marcus, too, had his chance to shine.
After leading BYU’s tight ends in receptions and receiving yards during the 2011 season, highlighted by a game-winning touchdown against Utah State, Marcus was seemingly on the road to Cougar stardom. He was set to have an increased role in Doman’s offense, capitalize on his stellar sophomore season and get ready for the NFL.
But an injury led to him redshirting the following season, and when he returned to full strength, the coaching staff asked him to move to wide receiver.
“That’s what Coach asked me to do, and I wanted to do what was best for the team, so I listened to what he said,” Marcus said.
Marcus' position wasn’t the only thing different when he returned, though. Anae was back as the offensive coordinator and his new system utilized tight ends in a much different way — as blockers more often than pass-catchers.
“It could’ve been a personnel thing, but Anae came back with a different offensive philosophy than he had before. After he went to Arizona, he moved away from (utilizing tight ends) a little bit,” Marcus said. “With the style of play he wanted, tight ends didn’t fit in perfectly with that system.”
On paper, the move didn’t hurt. The offense put up seven 30-point games and set a new school record with 3,475 rushing yards.
But the utilization of tight ends — something that has been a strength in past seasons — wasn’t there. It could have helped the offense, but instead hurt the players.
“Obviously, getting more exposure and more playing time, more catches, is going to help your (professional) career," Marcus said. "I had a really successful Pro Day…(but) I was talking with my agent, and he said that teams liked me, but the biggest reason I didn’t get a tryout in the NFL was because I didn’t have enough game film on my resume.”
NFL-caliber players usually get the opportunity to shine at the college level, but it hasn’t necessarily been the case at BYU. Unfortunately, Marcus wasn’t the only Sunday-playing hopeful that may have seen his career end in Provo.
“I’m not saying anyone is to blame for that; it is what it is,” Marcus said. “But I know guys like Kane (Friel) and Devin (Mahina), who are really good players would’ve gotten more looks if they had more catches.
“But I think all of us are team-player guys; we want what is best for the team, and none of use are going to sit and whine about not getting more catches. We would’ve loved it, but we wanted what’s best for the team. But, of course, it would’ve helped our NFL prospects for sure.”
Mahina took a much different route than Marcus, but still wound up with a similar result: not hearing his name called in the NFL draft. Mahina inked a deal with Washington as an undrafted free agent, but still has a long climb before donning an NFL game uniform.
He will have a shot of making an NFL roster over the upcoming months, albeit sneaking into the latter round of the draft may have been possible with a larger role as a Cougar.
“Devin may not have had an outstanding receiving career in college, but that was due to BYU running an offensive scheme that underused the tight end position,” said Paul Frances of The Sports Bloggers. “He was never given the chance…like past BYU tight ends.”
Mahina and Marcus Mathews aren't the only ones, though. NFL hopefuls, including Friel, Richard Wilson, Brett Thompson and several others saw their football careers end at BYU.
Unfortunately, it has become a common theme in Provo: While linebackers have consistently been thrown into the NFL circuit by Bronco Mendenhall and his staff, tight ends are shrinking away as afterthoughts.
Anything can change, but the future doesn’t look too bright for BYU’s tight ends. Until Anae utilizes them like he did with Andrew George, Pitta and Johnny Harline, the tight end tradition at BYU could soon turn into the tight end extinction.
Samuel Benson is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. Contact him at bensonsamb@gmail.com