We caught up with ASU’s tight ends coach to review the performance of this position last year, Yantis’ expectations for the 2019 season, and whether this role will indeed become a more integral part of the Sun Devils’ passing game.

DevilsDigest: Incoming freshman Nolan Matthews is a player I know many of the staff, including yourself, are really, really excited about. What do you expect him to bring to the table?

Donnie Yantis: “Well, I love that he loves the game of football. He’s a high-character kid, does well in the classroom, works hard, he’s always bright-eyed and smiling. I think that’s a huge thing for me in developing a relationship with him, I just felt that he’s the type of kid that wants to improve, and never takes time off. He plays basketball, literally went from a 14- or 15-week football season right into basketball. So, it tells me how committed he is.

“In terms of his playing ability, what I like about him that differs from the guys that we have, he’s played more receiver than he has tight end, and they used him in line, but they also flexed him out, and he’s got great ball skills. He catches the ball in traffic, uses his body well, can run, long, can run away from people, too, which is a little deceptive because of how big he is, 6-5, 245 pounds.

“And then they played him in line and did some things with him that we do too. When we get to camp, it’s about teaching the technique, so he understands leverage, body position, stance, all those things, all the fundamental stuff, and then get the meanness out of him, so he’ll strike somebody. He didn’t have to do that a lot where he was at because he was more of the guy.

“So, yeah, I’m extremely excited about him, he’ll come in ready to compete, and that’s what we’re doing in every position. Coach Herm brought that philosophy that we’re recruiting these guys who can come in and play right away, and If they can’t play right away, they’re going to be challenging right away and competing. So, he’s not a developmental guy, he’s a guy that we think can come in and help us.”

DevilsDigest: And one thing Herm Edwards told us that just really struck me in his signing day press conference, ‘This is a guy you don’t have to take off the field, whether it’s 3rd-and-1 or 3rd-and-10…’

Yantis: “Yeah, and that’s kind of where we’re moving towards. Coach Likens, myself and coach Herm, but I’m a full believer in staying in 11 personnel and 10 personnel sets because it creates a mismatch either running the ball or throwing depending on what the defense does. If they’re going to bring in another linebacker, outside linebacker or they’re going to bring another safety in. Then you have the length. He’s 6-foot-5 and you put him inside against an outside linebacker. When I went and watched him play, he made plays over people, in traffic and used his hands well, which I liked, and then he protected the ball well. That’s exactly what we’re looking for, a guy that can play in the slot and also play down as a sniffer, as a wing and then also put his hand out and be a mover inside. He can kind of do all of those things. So, from here on out at that position, that’s what we’re recruiting for.”

DevilsDigest: Let’s talk about the 2018 tight end group as a whole. How would you assess the production you saw from that group?

Yantis: “Tommy (Hudson) had a great year. He graded out right at about 80 percent for all of the games we played, every single game he competed. The bowl game I was disappointed in how he played, and I wouldn’t say how he played, I would say how the tight end group played. We just didn’t play to our potential, and that puts it on me.

“So, it’s one of those things that, when we get into spring, it’s not a get to know each other type of thing. We’ve learned the technique, we understand stance and I’ve taught them leverage and correct shoulder placement and hand placement…all those things. We’re going to play a lot faster. They know exactly what to expect from me. But as a season, I was very pleased with Tommy. I think he’s a selfless player that wants to win, and he’s got a tough man attitude, he wants to kick people’s tail. He did some really good things this year, blocking, and then when we asked him to catch the ball, he was very efficient.

“I’ve asked him ‘Let’s cut a few pounds,’ and when (former offensive coordinator) coach Napier was here he wanted him to put on weight and be more of a blocker, I told him ‘Let’s cut five or ten pounds and let’s be more lean,’ because I think with the technique that he’s learned, I think he’s going to be even more efficient even if he’s five or ten pounds lighter. He understands the technique. And so he’s able to do things down the field a little more like we were talking about, he can play 10 personnel sets with 11 personnel.”

DevilsDigest: I know the other tight ends didn’t play that much, but I still wanted to get your evaluation on them, starting with Jared Bubak…

Yantis: “Jared is a hard-working guy, who doesn’t have a lot of experience. He was a quality backup for us this year and actually got some reps in a few of the games. Graded out well, he’s a young man that’s got to work on his flexibility. He has good ball skills, not great ball skills, but he’s a hard worker and a total team player. He comes with a smile every day, gives me everything he has, and wants to be good. I’m looking forward to spring, him improving even more and getting himself where we can get him on the field a little more on special teams, or playing tight end.”

DevilsDigest: How about Mark Walton?

Yantis: “Mark’s a kid that has to prove some stuff in the spring. He’s a big-bodied kid, and I’m pretty candid with him. I think honesty is important. He’s got to be a little tougher. He can’t be soft playing this position. That’s not my mentality, and that’s certainly not our head coach’s and our coordinator’s mentality to play soft. We want to smack people in the mouth. We don’t want to be the nail, we want to be the hammer. Those things are very important to me and I’ve relayed those to Mark. These 15 (spring) practices and all the weight workouts leading up to those 15 practices are important for him and seeing if he’s going to be a guy that we can count on in the future or not.”

DevilsDigest: Curtis Hodges, made the move from wide receiver late last season, what do you project for him?

Yantis: “Curtis has got a lot of potential. The good thing is he’s tough. He has that a chip-on-the-shoulder attitude, which is good. He’s got to put on some weight, and that’s what he’s working on doing right now. He’s long, he’s made some plays in the bowl game, so he’s got potential to be good. I’m going to work with him significantly in the spring, and he’s going to get a lot of reps in the spring and find out if he’s a guy that can do the things we want to do in the box.

“Because he’s tall, it’s about leverage for him, teaching leverage and him understanding it and being coachable. I think that’s very important, that if he’s coachable, he’s got a chance to be pretty good. But he’s got to embrace the toughness and the hard coaching I’m going to give him. I love all the guys, but I want guys who are going to perform when we cross the line, they’ve got to perform.”

DevilsDigest: As far as the involvement of the tight end in the passing game, I know sometimes it’s easier said than done. Yet, how do you feel that aspect performed in 2018 and what’s your vision for 2019?

Yantis: “Well, if you look at the last two years prior, which, I was here off the field, but we didn’t get much production at all from our tight ends. Tommy had 13 catches, which, he had two or three the year before. So, we improved in that. Our goal is for that number to go extremely high if we can keep him in 10 personnel (i.e. split wide). If you add N’Keal’s catches, because N’Keal played ‘Y’ in our 10 personnel set in the last four or five games, that’s production N’Keal had. You would assume someone not quite as talented as N’Keal is right now, will pick that up as a ‘Y,’ in terms of the number of catches and production. So, we expect that position to shoulder some load of some catches. I think it’s important so people have to respect him. When we move him outside the box, they’re going to have to respect that. That’s my goal with Tommy. We move Curtis there, and I think he’s done some things inside as a slot player that will help us, and I know that Nolan will be able to do that as well.”

DevilsDigest: As the old cliché goes, a tight end can sometimes be a quarterback’s best friend, how do you see everything coming together wanting to have the tight ends more involved in the passing game, along with having an inexperienced quarterback?

Yantis: “Well, I think that tight end is a security blanket for those guys because they’re big-bodied, long-armed, you throw the ball anywhere near their body, they’re going to catch it. Every single day, we did ball drills, and people would probably laugh saying, ‘Those guys don’t ever catch a ball, why are you doing ball drills,’ because they are going to catch the ball eventually, and when they get the opportunity to catch the ball, it’ll be second-nature for them. I expect Tommy to have a really good season next year, and with those other guys assisting. It’s hard to play a whole game at tight end. Tommy did a really good job after Ceejhay (French-Love) redshirted, because those guys were splitting time. I asked those guys to go 100 percent, so Tommy was playing 50, 60 plays a game after Ceejhay left, and he was spent. It’ll be nice to have, obviously Curtis, and you’ve still got Jared and obviously Nolan coming in to be able to help shoulder the load at that position throughout a game.”

DevilsDigest: We talk so much about the receiving component of the tight ends, but I’m sure from a tight end perspective, you felt good about the blocking aspect, as you saw the rushing attacks numbers go up and the sacks go down from where they were in 2017…

Yantis: “Yeah, Tommy had a great year. He really did. He did some really good things, and there are things we’re going to improve on. We had a goal every week, every single week, I want him to hit 90 percent. I told him you’re an ‘A’ player, you’ve got a chance to be great. I graded him about blocking the right guy, at the right leverage, finishing the block…and then we got towards the middle of the season, then we started working towards finishing, so, for example, finishing and making the defender we’re blocking go back side so he can’t make the play down the field on a front side play. So, little things like that that Tommy improved a lot on. I think one game he had nine of those finishing blocks, which was really good.

“Tommy prided himself on helping our run game and helping Eno (Benjamin) and our team win, and we won by running the football a lot. I’ll tell you what he did a really good job and that was in our pass pro. Unbelievable job. When we got in the spring, I thought that might have been a liability there, so he improved a lot, embraced it, focused on technique, and he has good posture, Tommy was that sixth offensive lineman helping us be successful.”

DevilsDigest: As I interview the assistant coaches, I ask every one of the New Leadership Model. There were so many doubts on how Arizona State would work with the NFL model? I’d like to get your perspective one year into this model and how do you feel this structure has helped you personally?

Yantis: “What it’s allowed me to do is to coach, to be honest. And then, from the recruiting side, we have a direction on exactly how we’re going to recruit, how we’re going to evaluate, and I’ve embraced that and going full bore and taking charge of my area, my guys, my position, and coaching.

“A couple of years prior, when I wasn’t on the field and I was just in the recruiting department, it was a totally different world. But with the way that I’m all in, in terms of what we’re doing, and believe in it, I think it’s successful. You’re seeing guys come in and play right away, and my goal is to help bring the best Arizona kids we can bring and bring the best tight ends in the country to come in and help us win.”

DevilsDigest: What are your spring practices goals for the tight end group as a whole?

Yantis: “We want to be able to do things downfield in the passing game. Maybe not vertical shots, but 10-, 12-yard curls, digs and out routes, stuff for our guys to get down the field a little quicker. And then, what I want to work on is Tommy being a great leader for those quarterbacks. You’re going to have a starter that’s going to be new regardless, and I want Tommy to be like a security blanket, a protection guy for those quarterbacks, let them know that he has their back, whether it’s blocking for them, blocking for running the football or down the field throwing the football, that they have trust in our guys that they’re going to do the right things. I think that’s one of the big improvements from last year that I saw, that they were doing the right things all of the time, most of the time, and then where Manny (Wilkins) had confidence in Tommy, Tommy’s in the right spot, which I didn’t see that in years past from when Tommy was in there.”