It’s about time the Tight End position returns to Arizona Football

The tight end position has been a mystery for Arizona Football the past few years, but finally, the Wildcats will be using their Tight Ends, and it is about time!

Media members asking previous Arizona Football coaches if they will finally use the tight end position in more plays than just a few per year got very old. At Zona Zealots, we’ve been asking for six years now, and former Head Coach Rich Rodriguez made jokes about it, “Shereen, it’s not a press conference unless you ask about tight ends, ha ha!”

Well, he was right, I could never imagine an offense without proper use or even some use of the tight end position. It’s such a versatile position, but the athletes didn’t sign up just to block for other receivers or running backs, they want to score too!

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When Rhett Rod joined his team, Rhett brought along his best friend while growing up in Michigan, tight end Bryce Wolma. Rich Rod did incorporate him and the position into the playbook after our last Pac-12 Media Day request, and it was great to see.

However, Rhett has since graduated from the UofA and has moved on to play for the University of Louisiana Monroe where his dad will be the Associate Head Coach. Rhett technically has two years of eligibility left.

That left Wolma, a senior, to look for new roommates, and luckily he’s found a few, quarterbacks!

Along with Wolma, Arizona has the following eight athletes in line for the starting tight end position which new Tight End Coach Jordan Paopao (yes you read that right) will be able to develop and mentor:

1. No. 42   Connor Hutchings, Junior, 6-foot-4, 233 pounds
2. No. 44   Jack Koceman, Red-Shirt Sophomore, 6-foot-5, 245 pounds
3. No. 81  Bryce Wolma, Senior, 6-foot-4, 234 pounds
4. No. 82  Zach Williams, Red-Shirt Sophomore, 6-foot-3, 229 pounds
5. No. 84  Tristen D’Angelo, Junior, 6-foot-2, 197 pounds
6. No. 85   Roberto Miranda, Junior, 6-foot-2, 237 pounds
7. No. 87   Stacey Marshall, Junior, 6-foot-5, 245 pounds
8. No. 88   Alex Lines, Freshman, 6-foot-5, 245 pounds

Arizona’s eight Tight Ends average 233 pounds and stand roughly 6-foot-4-inches. Those are big dudes!

Arizona alumni and soon-to-be Spring Game coach Rob Gronkowski, made the position popular and visible, and it’s time his alma mater returns its focus on leveraging and using the Tight End position. With one tight end or even two tight end sets, they are on the field every day according to Wolma.

Coming in, Tight End position Coach Paopao knew Coach Fisch before coming to Arizona, and the two maintained constant communication. It was only fate that once Fisch was hired, he brought in coach Paopao, which even led to Coach Dougherty being hired as well.

Paopao explained how fans would know that the tight ends will have a role in the Arizona offense, “The commitment of actually having a  position coach — you get to influence, you get to mold — you get a model of consistency — there’s just not a consistent work at the nuances of truly being a part of the offensive line [without a position coach].”

Paopao coached at Washington and was successful at developing the Tight Ends, “Being able to work for a man like Chris Petersen I think was a life-changing experience — making sure my position group personally was a close-knit family and having a lot of hard conversations at all times — build this level of trust within your position room.”

Spring practice officially kicked off last week, and after one of the practices, Wolma was offered up to the media. Wolma was asked if he was in heaven right now, and his response was so heart-warming, “[Happy giggle] Yeah, you know, I am! It’s a pretty good feeling, you know, this new staff’s new culture, new offense, I couldn’t be happier,” he said. “This year has been completely different.”

Wolma loves Stacey Marshall, his current teammate, and another year with the both of them, they can help in the run and pass game. Stacey plays the Y role, and Bryce plays the H role and the two “Compliment each other pretty good.”

Bryce is feeling great because everything the coaches told him was going to happen is happening. It’s been a rollercoaster of emotions and the team has set new standards and has built a new culture. “That’s kind of in the past – he knows the players we all are, so yeah, it’s been up and down, but right now it’s definitely looking up!”

Everything with this team is competition-based and the players are serious about it and are competing. “We have a lot of Tight Ends that can make a difference too,” Wolma said.

Watch as Bryce took to the podium following his first Spring Practice under Fisch.

Quarterback Gunner Cruz was also interviewed, is close to Jake Plummer, and he is excited about the open QB competition. Jake currently lives with Wolma along with Gunner.

It’s going to be really interesting to see how Alex Lines performs and competes. Lines is a UNLV transfer, and an Arizona native coming home like Gunner Cruz. Looking forward to the 2021 season, the season possibly of the return of the Tight End to Arizona Football.