UMass Believes It Has Weapons In WR Room
UMass wide receivers coach Jordan Hogan has been around some of the most talented skill players in the NFL.
AMHERST, Mass. - No player has turned heads this spring practice as much as UMass wide receiver T.Y. Harding.
“We just had a conversation the other day about what our expectations are for him,” first-year Minuteman receivers coach Jordan Hogan said earlier this week. “I'll keep those conversations in house, but I do believe he's more than just a third-down receiver.”
Indeed, it’s obvious that if UMass’ offense is going to enjoy success this year, Harding will need to be a featured piece.
“One of the first things I talked about in the room and our meeting was that I'm not looking for wide receivers,” Hogan explained. “I'm looking for football players because if you just play wide receiver, that means you're only going to be on the field for third downs when we're throwing the ball. I want guys that could be on the field first down, second down, third down and fourth down.
“T.Y. has definitely proven that he's a physical guy. He wants to get his hands dirty in the run game. Same thing with (Jacquon Gibson), but T.Y. has definitely proven, and it's already in his DNA, that he's not just a gadget player. He's someone that we can lean on and score a lot of points.”
When you see the 5-foot-9, 180-pound Harding make a play, your first thought may be, “He’s a good little player.” See him make another and you may think, “They should find ways to get him the ball.”
But when you watch him make plays repeatedly all over the field, you realize that he is much more than a gadget player. He’s a true gamebreaking weapon.
“When you just look at him, he doesn't look like a football player and I can kind of relate to that,” Hogan said. “I played Division III at the College of Brockport. When people look at me, they probably don't see a football coach, they definitely didn't see a football player.
“But once the ball is snapped, once we come on the football field, once we start to see guys, take the line of scrimmage and move, then you see a completely different player. So his mindset is the reason why he's such a good football player. I'm really excited that he's back with us because he's been a great guy just to lean on in the room to get the guys going and he wants more.”
Like Harding, Gibson is entering his fourth season with the Minutemen after having won just six of 36 games over that period.
“Quon and TY have almost been taking out all the losing that has been going on in the program on the defense so far in spring ball,” Hogan said. “They've been making plays every single day, catching the ball short, running long, catching the football, deep scoring touchdowns, gaining first downs. They've been a pleasure to work with and obviously they're going to be some people we are going to definitely try to feature in the offense.”
Jake McConnachie is one of the new faces as a graduate transfer from Pittsburgh.
“Jake clearly brings what you see as soon as you get off the bus,” Hogan said of the 6-foot-5, 215-pounder.
“He brings size, length, catch radius. It's taken him a couple practices to get going, but I think the last two practices have been his best practices. He's definitely feeling more comfortable in the offense. He was a little bit hampered early on with some soft tissue stuff, but he's starting to look like the big alpha dog that we know that he's going to be for us, him along with TK too.”
TK, Tyree Kelly, brings another big target as a 6-foot-3, 205-pound transfer from USF.
“TK and Jake, they're both technically competing for potentially the X or the Z or the W, but they're not going at it face-to-face,” said Hogan. “It's a really great brotherhood in the room. We're bringing each one along together because that's the biggest part right now. We're not trying to leave anyone behind because everyone's going to need to step up. We're going to need everyone in order to have a successful season this year.
“TK, he's getting a lot of reps. J-Mac is getting a lot of reps and hopefully come next Saturday, we can roll the balls out and let the guys fly around and play fast.”
Hogan also pointed to guys in his room like Kenyon Massey, Savion Robinson, Kezion Dia-Johnson and Sterling Galban as potential contributors as well.
“It's a good mix of guys,” said Hogan. “They all bring something different to the table. That's what you want.”
Hogan came to Amherst from San Francisco, where he worked with 49ers receivers for two seasons.
“When I was with the 49ers, we had really talented guys,” Hogan said. “We had weapons like Deebo Samuel. We had a true number one receiver in Brandon Aiyuk, and then we had a do-it-all guy in Jauan Jennings, and then we had an All-Pro guy in the tight end George Kettle.
“Coach (Kyle Shanahan) talked about, 'You want to have a weapon. You want to have a true number one. And you want to have a third-down option. You want to have a utility guy, which is kind of like George Kettle and Christian McCaffery.'
“I believe we already have the pieces and the people already in the offense. Now I'm not saying our guys are those players in the NFL, but you want to have those kinds of prototypes, those body types already in the organization.”
And Hogan believes he does.
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