Tight Ends Looking to Continue the Standard

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By: Nick Reith
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana's tight end group has one goal on their minds after concluding their second day of preseason camp. Tight ends and fullbacks coach James Patton is urging his group to "continue the standard" of those that have made the position so effective in the Hoosiers offense.

"The focus has been that we lost a group of great seniors last year," Patton said. "So now, the question is: who is going to step up and continue a standard and culture of how the tight end position plays in our offense? With that, it's mastering the fundamentals, playing with a great effort, knowing your assignment, and making the plays."

To get an understanding of where the Hoosiers set the standard at tight end, look no further than last year's group of seniors: Anthony Corsaro, Michael Cooper, and Sean Damaska. Corsaro and Cooper combined for 347 yards and two touchdowns on 27 receptions in the aerial attack. On the ground, the trio aided an offense that yielded two 1,000-yard rushers in Jordan Howard and Devine Redding.

That leadership shifts to fourth-year junior Danny Friend, who hopes that he can impart wisdom and a sense of how the position is played at Indiana, much like that class did for him.

"There's more responsibility," Friend said when asked about his appointment as one of the team leaders heading into the 2016 season. "It's a lot of teaching the younger guys how the older guys in the past have taught me, how to lead and hold everybody to the standard."

Only two days into the Hoosiers' camp, Patton has a good feeling about the blend of veterans and newcomers set to line up at tight end this fall. The energy—or "juice", as Patton puts it—is where he wants it to be, as is the effort. The next step is elevating the group to the level expected from playing in Indiana's offense.

"It's good that, at this point in the summer, these guys are kind of tired of lifting and running and they're ready to play some football," Patton said. "I saw good energy, especially from Danny Friend who's played a bunch of football now. He's a veteran player who knows his assignments and is doing what he needs to do. I saw young guys like Austin Dorris and Ian Thomas learning their plays and playing with good effort and energy."

Friend mentioned an additional goal he's set for his unit as they work through these all-important training camp practices. He wants the group to have such a consistency across the board that everyone is game ready by Indiana's season opener on Thursday, Sept. 1, at Florida International.

"We want to get everybody to play," said Friend. "We're going to need people who can rotate into [the offense] and give us some quality minutes."

Patton and the Indiana coaching staff are looking to see who can step into the roles played by Corsaro and Cooper, which highlights the emphasis of setting a standard. As fall camp rolls onward, they're anxious to see who rises to the challenge, and who meets the standard of those who came before them.

"The bottom line is that every year is a new year. It doesn't matter who you have returning or who you lost, so offensively we've had success and the standard has been set," Patton said. "But every year is a new year, so new guys have to step in and make plays and the veterans have to continue playing at a higher level to take our offense to the next step. Guys have to be better than they were last year, and we continue to enforce that as a coaching staff by coaching to the standard we expect."

Indiana University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Michael Cooper

Anthony Corsaro

Sean Damaska

Austin Dorris

Danny Friend

Jordan Howard

Ian Thomas

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