New tight ends coach Mike Viti sees massive untapped potential and hunger in the Miami Hurricanes' young corps, ready to redefine the position's impact.
The Miami Hurricanes didn’t just add new players on the roster, but a couple of new members on the staff, including newly-hired tight ends coach Mike Viti. He spent the previous 10 seasons with the Army Black Knights as an assistant coach, most recently as an associate head coach / offensive line coach. After a decade with his alma mater, the 40-year-old takes on a new challenge.
Last season, the Hurricanes primarily split snaps at the tight end position between Elija Lofton and Alex Bauman. They caught 41 passes for 384 yards, scoring four touchdowns combined. As Bauman departs from the program, Lofton returns to an inexperienced tight end core. However, coach Viti believes the group has the most to grow compared to the other positions.
“I love the ceiling of the room,” he said. “I love the development side of it. To me, that’s where I feel I’m talented, but I look at guys, they’re just as hungry for that. I look at the room, we have maybe the most room to grow on the entire team. I’m excited about that. I look at some of the young guys and the youth there. We’re starting some of those young guys, we’re starting this journey together and then other guys where I can bring a new skillset into their toolbox. Maybe a different way to attack plays, maybe different things from a blocking scheme standpoint, perimeter standpoint, and mesh that really well with the coaching staff. The obvious names that you’ve known from the past, you look at Lofton and Luka [Gilbert], those guys are standing out and really charging them with leadership. I think that’s forcing competition on them to set the standard.”
The Hurricanes recruited a couple of talented tight ends in Gavin Mueller and Israel Briggs. Both were four-star recruits coming out of high school. Either one could deliver an immediate impact.
Also, redshirt sophomore Cole McConathy II officially switched from edge rusher to tight end.
Regardless of the program revamping the wide receiver core with transfer portal additions in All-ACC Cooper Barkate, Vandrevius Jacobs, and Cam Vaughn, tight ends get a fair share of touches in offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson’s schemes.
Lofton is the only player from the position with any legitimate experience being productive at the collegiate level.
As coach Viti navigates through the program, the Hurricanes will have extra depth at the tight end position, which wasn’t utilized last season. It can unlock more opportunities offensively from both a playmaking and blocking perspective.
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