Nice Flip-Flop
August 18, 2008 02:03 PM | General
August 18, 2008
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Tyler Urban changing his mind from Maryland to West Virginia is a pretty nice flip-flop if you happen to be a Mountaineer football fan. The North Huntingdon, Pa., resident made an early decision to commit to Maryland last summer before reconsidering his choice as more facts became available to him.
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| Freshman Tyler Urban is expected to play this year at tight end.
Brian Persinger photo |
“I decided to go to Maryland in early August – it was between Maryland and West Virginia. As the recruiting process went on, the coaching staff on both sides changed. West Virginia was still keeping in contact with me. I was talking to Coach Stew because he was going to be my position coach,” Urban explained. “My recruiting coach at Maryland got fired and I was still talking a little bit to West Virginia, too. I decided to come on an official visit and I decided that this is the place that I wanted to be.
“I’m from Pittsburgh so this an hour and fifteen minutes away from me,” he continued. “It’s close to home and just the atmosphere down here is one of the best in college football.”
A quick meeting with offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen during Urban’s visit sealed the deal.
“I talked to Coach Mullen prior to deciding to come here and he was saying that he was going to open the offense up a little bit more and get the tight end more involved,” Urban said. “I thought that was an exciting role to be in.”
Urban was being recruited by West Virginia’s old coaching staff as a defensive end. Maryland also had Urban slotted at defensive end/linebacker – positions he considered playing.
“They were talking like I could be a defensive end if I put on weight because they play that three-man front,” Urban said of the previous coaching staff. “I still would have considered coming here.”
Yet when the coaching change came West Virginia grew more appealing to Urban because of the offensive system Jeff Mullen uses. Tight ends are a part of Mullen’s game plan.
“They’ve put the tight end in a lot of different sets and different formations - in the backfield, on the line, out in the slot, so it’s a pretty open offense,” Urban said.
It’s also easier to open up the offense and throw to the tight end when you’ve got quality players like Urban and Will Johnson on the other end catching the passes. Urban, a 6-foot-4-inch, 240-pounder, earned second-team all-state honors at Norwin High School where he played fullback on offense and middle linebacker on defense. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Terrific 25 pick was also a National Honor Society member, showing what a well-rounded student-athlete he is.
“Tyler Urban is going to be a good one,” predicted WVU coach Bill Stewart. “He is going to be special.”
While Johnson is more of a pass-catching, ball-carrying hybrid-type player, Urban is your more traditional tight end even though he has never played the position before. The fact that he is already near the top of the depth chart after three weeks of camp speaks well for his intelligence, his athletic ability and his determination.
“I’m more of the blocking, traditional tight end. Will is obviously faster and quicker,” Urban said. “He’ll line up in the backfield more often. I don’t usually line up in the backfield at all. I guess we’re two different types of tight ends with two different styles.
Urban says he’s beginning to really understand the offense, especially during the last few days. In the beginning of camp it was all a blur to him.
“I knew that it was going to be a lot faster in college but as soon as you step out there and get a couple of reps you realize how fast all of the plays go,” Urban said. “You’ve got to know your role and what you’re supposed to do in a split second, especially with this tempo offense. You’ve got to be on the ball quick, get lined up and the play goes.”
According to Urban, having an experienced coach like Doc Holliday in the meeting room explaining things has also been a big help.
“In the past couple of days I’ve become more comfortable with my role in certain plays and just learning the footsteps for playing tight end because I really haven’t played tight end. There is a lot of footwork involved.
“We’ll watch film for an hour and a half to two hours a day,” Urban said. “He’ll critique what your footsteps are and the patterns you run everyday.
“I never played tight end. I went on flat routes and some post routes,” Urban said. “I didn’t consistently run routes and that’s the biggest thing I have to learn – the footsteps for the blocking plays and getting better and running routes.”
Once he gets a handle on his responsibilities at the line of scrimmage, Urban said that eventually there may be times when he lines up in the backfield just like he used to do in high school.
“I think they might try to work me into the backfield at some point,” he said. “I’m still learning the offense but they’re putting me in the two tight end formations and the one tight end formation.”
One-tight or two-tight, look for freshman Tyler Urban to be in the games this fall. Bill Stewart has already declared that Urban will play and not redshirt this season. Don’t count on Stewart changing his mind on that.
