MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – You ask a defensive coach today what type of offense he would run if he ever became head coach and many of them would answer something involving tight ends and a fullback.
 
There was a time not too long ago when West Virginia had ZERO tight ends and just a fullback or two for goal-line situations.
 
But the success the New England Patriots had with tight end Rob Gronkowski a decade ago changed everyone's thinking, including the Air Raid disciples who thought they didn't need them. Earlier this week, I asked Treylan Davis, one of seven tight ends on this year's Mountaineer roster, to list what he believes are the attributes needed to be a good college tight end. 
 
I wasn't sure he was going to stop.
 
"Size and length definitely help," he began. "You've got to have quick footspeed and be able to get off the ball fast. Hands. Pad leverage and the ability to move laterally. You've also got to be able to change speed and direction and break down in open space when you are blocking corners and safeties – guys that are a lot more athletic than you."
 
Dontae Wright, West Virginia's fourth-year safeties coach, explained some of the issues tight ends cause for defenses, beginning in the run game.
 
"They create extra gaps, and those gaps aren't always where they start. What that means is, say a tight end is off the ball but is attached to that tackle. Well, just because he's lined up on the left side as we look at it (defensively), that doesn't mean that's where he's going to finish on that play," he explained. "He creates an extra gap here. Well, now you have him (in another area), and you put a motion guy in … now, what's my number? Who's two? Who's three? That creates confusion for a defense, and you have to know your rules.
 
"Do they spill, or do they box?" he continued. "That's from the D-line to the linebackers to the safeties. They've got to know on every single call, what player am I? Am I allowed to spill it, or do I have to box that and send it back to my help? You have to plan for that defensively."
 
In the passing game, where the rest of us really notice the tight ends, is when it can get really hairy. Put smaller defensive backs on him, and he's eating peanuts off the top of their helmets. Stick a linebacker on him, and he runs right past them.
 
"A guy like Kole Taylor becomes a matchup problem because he's going to be bigger than every safety that he faces," Wright admitted. "He's going to be bigger than every corner that he faces. Now he's not going to run by them, but he is going to run by those linebackers when you try and put a linebacker on him, so now that's a matchup problem."

When you put two tight ends on the field, today commonly referred to as 12-personnel, that means an extra blocker is introduced to help in the run game and can dictate more one-on-one coverage for outside receivers, especially when you get into spread formations.
 
Therefore, having competent tight ends on the field can introduce many possibilities for offenses, particularly against defenses that have spent years figuring out ways to defend spread formations and coming up with solutions for stopping playmakers in space.
 
That's one of the reasons why Blaine Stewart became interested in coaching the tight ends when he was with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
 
"(Tight ends) are truly involved in everything," he noted. "You've got to be involved in the run game and the protection aspect is a key component of the pass game. I just think these guys in any offense have so much on them, so it shows how much you have to devote to the game."
 
He added, "I really just think dynamic tight ends can add a lot of value to offenses. There are certain intricacies of run blocking, fronts, changing your protection responsibilities and route variance based on defensive coverage – you have the ability to impact the game, but you've got to really be on your stuff to do so."
 
When Davis was a youngster coming up through the pee-wee and middle school ranks, Gronkowski was the player many bigger kids wanted to emulate if they wanted to play with the football in their hands.
 
Before Gronk, most of those bigger kids were usually sent down with the offensive linemen to become tackles.
 
"It was Gronk and now it's (George) Kittle and you hear (Travis) Kelce and Zach Ertz's name all the time," Davis said. "There are a lot of these guys that are phenomenal. Gronkowski really changed the (tight end position) in a lot of ways. He's a big guy and nobody sees him as the craziest athlete, but he's a really good football player, and it definitely helped the way I grew.
 
"My dad was an offensive lineman in the MAC at (Ohio University) so I was raised to be a big guy," he continued. "From pee-wee, he taught me all of the rules inside the box because he thought I was going to be big, and I was a little leaner than him."
 
The way the Patriots used Gronkowski so effectively in the pros caused coaches at all levels to think outside the box, including the Air Raid crowd. Former WVU offensive coordinator Jake Spavital came from the Air Raid tree, and he began pursuing tight ends here during his second stint with the Mountaineers in 2017.
 
And today, ambitious, young guys like Stewart are eager to coach them. They see the value of having that on their resumes. 
 
"The more tight ends are involved in any type of offense, the more pressure you can put on the defense because they have to account for numerous things, whether that's more gaps in the run game and they bring in an extra linebacker. Well, then you spread them out and pass the ball and that should be an advantageous matchup for the offense."
 
The key, of course, is not tipping off your plays with your personnel groupings. The better pass-catching and the better-blocking tight ends have to be camouflaged.
 
Stewart explains.
 
"We want diverse personnel groupings, so when a certain guy is in it can't be all pass and when a certain guy is in it can't be all run. As we establish our game plans throughout the season, that's on the offensive staff to make sure we're not predictable in terms of who is on the field," he said.
 
"I'm excited about all of our tight ends that when they're in they feel good about it from an execution standpoint, both physically and mentally," he concluded.
 
Whether that's one, two, or maybe even three tight ends on the field at the same time these days.
 
The Mountaineers had a morning practice today and are scheduled to go inside Milan Puskar Stadium under the lights on Wednesday, according to coach Neal Brown. Thursday and Friday practices will precede the team's game dress rehearsal on Saturday.
 
The Mountaineers will open the season on Saturday, Sept. 2, at seventh-ranked Penn State.