🏈 Tight ends coach has sharp up-and-comers

[Alabama17Tide]

By
Aaron Suttles
-
April 5, 2017

Joe Pannunzio wears an easy smile. It’s what he does. Those who’ve come to know the man swear by him. He’s the type of guy who makes you feel better about yourself after having an encounter with him.

The 57-year-old University of Alabama tight ends coach has a charm about him. He’ll apply that charisma to a talented group of blockers and pass catchers this season.

O.J. Howard is gone, as too are his 45 receptions from a season ago. But all is not lost. Not by a long shot.

Whether it be Miller Forristall, now a sophomore, Irv Smith, a redshirt freshman, Hale Hentges, the veteran, or Major Tennison, the rookie, there is talent to go around.

It’s true that the tight end/h-back group that returns caught just nine passes for 88 yards. It’s also true that you can’t solely judge the value of a tight end by receiving numbers.


At Alabama, a tight end has to embrace blocking before anything else.

Tight ends at Alabama are asked to play in-line or spread out. H-backs are asked to play in the backfield and offset at the end of the line. And they’re all asked to block.

This year, there are plenty of guys who may be called upon.

“There’s a good bit of depth,” junior Hale Hentges said. “We have guys like Irv Smith, who is extremely good. A lot of people haven’t heard much about him yet just because he didn’t play a whole lot last year, but this guy has a ton of talent. I’m sure you guys are going to be seeing him coming up in the coming season.

“Then we have another guy, Major Tennison, who has done a really good job for us. He’s just a freshman, he’s trying to figure it out, but he’s getting better and better every day. Often times, as freshmen do, they struggle at first then they get better and better. I’m seeing that happen right before my very eyes.”

Smith and Tennison are both young, both freshmen. UA head coach Nick Saban said he likes what he’s seen from Smith.

“Irv Smith played some last year, has really shown a lot of potential to either play on the line as a tight end, off the line as an H or be flexed out, so he’s got really good versatility,” Saban said.

Forristall, who really began to emerge last season, has, and at 6-foot-5, 238 pounds he’s a big target.

UA head coach Nick Saban said he brings a receiver element to the position.

“Miller Forristall played a lot last year for us, he’s gotten bigger and stronger so he’ll probably play a little more H,” Saban said. “He’s a little more OJ-like in terms of very good receiver. OJ became a very good blocker but at the early stages of his career that was one of the things he needed to improve on. I think Miller is making progress in that area.”

There’s also Ronnie Clark, who transitioned to h-back from running back.

All in all, there is depth at the position even in young and inexperienced. The group doesn’t lack confidence though.

“I don’t think we’ll drop off at all,” Hentges said.
Tight ends coach has sharp up-and-comers | TideSports.com

 

[By Alex Byington Sports]

TE could be pivotal under Daboll

TUSCALOOSA — Brian Daboll came to Tuscaloosa after spending the last three seasons as the New England Patriots’ tight ends coach, during which he helped Rob Gronkowski to back-to-back 1,000-yard, 10-plus touchdown seasons.


“I was majorly excited,” said Hale Hentges, a rising junior tight end for the Tide. “He’s a great guy who knows a lot about the game and coaching phenomenal players like Gronkowski. I know he has a wealth of knowledge at the tight end position.”

It’s that knowledge and affinity for the position that has many expecting a bit more from Alabama’s tight ends this season, with the potential to utilize a 12-personnel set — one tailback, two tight ends and two receivers — more than in the past few seasons.

When asked Monday, Alabama head coach Nick Saban was non-committal, but admired it was in the team’s repertoire.

“Maybe. Some people do it more effectively than others,” Saban said. “We’ve been able to do it to some degree around here when we needed to. I think that’s sort of a situational thing and we’ll probably still use it as that, whether it’s short yardage, four-minute that type of thing.”

Adding to the potential is the team’s depth at tight end, even after graduating O.J. Howard.

Hentges is among the veterans at the position, having contributed in each of his first two seasons on campus, while 6-foot-5 sophomore Miller Forristall is coming off an solid freshman campaign playing behind Howard.

“Miller Forristall played a lot last year for us, he's gotten bigger and stronger so he'll probably play a little more H (back),” Saban said. “He's a little more OJ-like in terms of very good receiver.”

Alabama is also working more with the H-back this spring, utilizing 234-pound redshirt freshman Irv Smith Jr. there and moving 6-2 redshirt junior Ronnie Clark from tailback to strengthen the position.

“Irv Smith played some last year, has really shown a lot of potential to either play on the line as a tight end, off the line as an H or be flexed out, so he's got really good versatility,” Saban said. “Ronnie, we've moved there just to be an H, so that's really what he's being, which is a little bit fullback-like in some regards.”

With five months until the first game, there’s plenty of time to flesh out the team’s offensive game plan.

But if the first few weeks of spring practice are any indication, don’t be surprised if Alabama takes advantage of its tight end depth.

Womack impressing

Finding replacements for several open spots along the offensive line is among the team’s most pressing concerns.

And as the Crimson Tide approach Saturday's first scrimmage, at least one of those spots appears to be filling fast.

Six-foot-7, 326-pound sophomore Matt Womack has worked almost exclusively with the first team at right tackle, taking over from fellow sophomore Jonah Williams, who moved to left tackle to replace NFL-bound Cam Robinson.

“Matt’s done a really, really good job. … I thought he had a really good offseason,” Saban said of Womack. “His body is starting to develop, starting to show a lot of maturity, balance and body control, better conditioning, better ability to sustain more mental toughness, better idea of what he’s supposed to do.

“(He’s got a) grasp of the offense, which allows him to play with more confidence.”

A three-star signee from Senatobia, Mississippi in 2015, Womack has already eclipsed many of Alabama’s more highly-rated linemen on the team’s rep chart, and has been able to hold down the first-team spot at right tackle despite the presence of five-star early enrollee Alex Leatherwood and top-rated junior college tackle Elliot Baker, both of whom have been seen working with the second- and third-team units so far this spring.

Tide hosting clinic

NFC champion head coach Dan Quinn of the Atlanta Falcons is among five coaches within the college and professional ranks who will be speaking at Alabama’s 2017 Clinic of Champions event this weekend.

The annual coaches clinic, conducted by Saban and his staff, will also include Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien, Duke head coach David Cutcliffe, United States Naval Academy head coach Ken Niumatalolo, and Minnesota Vikings offensive line coach Tony Sparano.

The event begins Thursday and runs through Saturday at a rate of $60 per coach, with all coaches required to provide their coaches’ verification card.

“It’s the one thing that we can do to sort of repay the high school coaches professionally for all that they do in helping develop players and promote our game,” Saban said Monday. “We’re excited about the opportunity that’s coming up to have a lot of guys here and looking forward to making it a positive experience for them.”


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