Photo by Rick Kimball/ISD
Notre Dame Football
Smythe Hoping For More TEs on the Field
August 1, 2017
2,122
When Durham Smythe signed with Notre Dame back in 2013, the tight end position was flourishing in South Bend.
Tyler Eifert was about to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. He was preceded by Kyle Rudolph before him, a second round pick. There were also two talented individuals that were still there during Smythe's freshman season. Troy Niklas and Ben Koyack, both future NFL Draft picks, were another good one-two punch at the position for the Irish.
But after Niklas left, Notre Dame hasn't been much of a two tight end offense. 12 personnel (one back, two tight ends) was no longer a base formation. It was a rarity for Brian Kelly's offense to not have three wide receivers in the game at the same time and 12 got 86'd for the most part.
It's been four years, but 12 looks to be on its way back as a regular occurrence for Notre Dame with the number of talented players they have there. Smythe, now a 5th year senior, is happy to see it trending in that direction.
"Yes, that is definitely the goal for our room. As many as we can get on the field at one time," Smythe said when asked about multiple tight ends playing.
Some would say that's him being unselfish, but it's probably more of him being realistic about the kind of tight ends they have on the roster from Smythe all the way down to the two highly touted true freshman.
“I think just from top to bottom, this group has a lot of depth and a lot of talent.”
One of the reasons Smythe sees more tight ends playing this season is that they all aren't the same player. There are players with different strengths and those strengths can allow them to be used in multiple different ways on the field.
“I think we’ve got a lot of guys...who can do a little bit of everything," Smythe said. "Guys who really excel in the slot. Guys who excel in-line. I think with this offense we’re really going to be able to focus on those for individual guys. Some guys will work in the slot. Some guys will do a little bit of both. Some guys will work in-line.
“Throughout the five, six of us, there are a lot of combinations that highlight each other.”
Another reason for optimism in regards to a greater role in the offense for the tight ends this season? The fact that their position coach, Chip Long, is also the play-caller.
“You know, it goes without saying that you always have to instill the confidence in the coach to call the plays for you whether he is coaching you or not and that never changes. It is nice having the play-caller in our room, telling us exactly what he’s looking for. I think that is something that we’re all, in our room, very excited about.”
It's more than just the fact that Long is the offensive coordinator/tight ends coach, though. His roots run deep at tight end. Smythe said Long's background playing and coaching the position gives him a unique perspective on how to make their group better as individuals and use them better as pieces in the offense.
“He’s a guy who played tight end in college. He’s coached tight ends throughout his career. And he knows how to elevate guy’s games and we’ve seen that since the spring in really most, maybe all of us. I think there are instances where he really knows how to utilize the tight end within the offense. Which means utilizing the tight end a little bit more in his case. I think there is some benefits, at least in our room, for having a guy like him.”
Notre Dame has some pretty talented wide receivers as well, so it's not a foregone conclusion two tight ends will be on the field most of the time. But if there are multiple tight ends that deserve to play , then you can be sure that Long will make it happen.
He's calling the shots on the offense this year and Smythe and his fellow tight ends sound pretty happy about it.
Tyler Eifert was about to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. He was preceded by Kyle Rudolph before him, a second round pick. There were also two talented individuals that were still there during Smythe's freshman season. Troy Niklas and Ben Koyack, both future NFL Draft picks, were another good one-two punch at the position for the Irish.
But after Niklas left, Notre Dame hasn't been much of a two tight end offense. 12 personnel (one back, two tight ends) was no longer a base formation. It was a rarity for Brian Kelly's offense to not have three wide receivers in the game at the same time and 12 got 86'd for the most part.
It's been four years, but 12 looks to be on its way back as a regular occurrence for Notre Dame with the number of talented players they have there. Smythe, now a 5th year senior, is happy to see it trending in that direction.
"Yes, that is definitely the goal for our room. As many as we can get on the field at one time," Smythe said when asked about multiple tight ends playing.
Some would say that's him being unselfish, but it's probably more of him being realistic about the kind of tight ends they have on the roster from Smythe all the way down to the two highly touted true freshman.
“I think just from top to bottom, this group has a lot of depth and a lot of talent.”
One of the reasons Smythe sees more tight ends playing this season is that they all aren't the same player. There are players with different strengths and those strengths can allow them to be used in multiple different ways on the field.
“I think we’ve got a lot of guys...who can do a little bit of everything," Smythe said. "Guys who really excel in the slot. Guys who excel in-line. I think with this offense we’re really going to be able to focus on those for individual guys. Some guys will work in the slot. Some guys will do a little bit of both. Some guys will work in-line.
“Throughout the five, six of us, there are a lot of combinations that highlight each other.”
Another reason for optimism in regards to a greater role in the offense for the tight ends this season? The fact that their position coach, Chip Long, is also the play-caller.
“You know, it goes without saying that you always have to instill the confidence in the coach to call the plays for you whether he is coaching you or not and that never changes. It is nice having the play-caller in our room, telling us exactly what he’s looking for. I think that is something that we’re all, in our room, very excited about.”
It's more than just the fact that Long is the offensive coordinator/tight ends coach, though. His roots run deep at tight end. Smythe said Long's background playing and coaching the position gives him a unique perspective on how to make their group better as individuals and use them better as pieces in the offense.
“He’s a guy who played tight end in college. He’s coached tight ends throughout his career. And he knows how to elevate guy’s games and we’ve seen that since the spring in really most, maybe all of us. I think there are instances where he really knows how to utilize the tight end within the offense. Which means utilizing the tight end a little bit more in his case. I think there is some benefits, at least in our room, for having a guy like him.”
Notre Dame has some pretty talented wide receivers as well, so it's not a foregone conclusion two tight ends will be on the field most of the time. But if there are multiple tight ends that deserve to play , then you can be sure that Long will make it happen.
He's calling the shots on the offense this year and Smythe and his fellow tight ends sound pretty happy about it.
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