Kevin Wright details tight end battle for Indiana football: ‘I always stress that we’re going to develop the whole room’

The Indiana football program entered the offseason with a big hole in its offense. The tight end room took a big hit with the transfer of AJ Barner to Michigan. Now, it’s not only a thin group, it’s also a very inexperienced one.

There are just two players at the position that are returning who caught a pass last season, and that duo of Aaron Steinfeldt and James Bomba totaled just 11 receptions.

Indiana football tight ends coach Kevin Wright met with the media on Monday to discuss the current state of his tight end room.

One of the biggest questions he addressed was the depth of the group and his philosophy of working around getting an entire group up to speed.

“I always stress that we’re going to develop the whole room. Maybe that’s my high school background where you’ve got what you’ve got, and you have to develop everybody. I always try and make a point of emphasis that no matter if you’re No. 1 on the depth chart, or No. 8 on the depth chart, that we’re going to try and develop everybody,” Wright told reporters. “I think the buy-in has been really good. Going back to my first couple years, we played a lot of two tight end sets and so you’ve got every Saturday, counting special teams, five guys that are probably going to play. I think that type of mindset in developing the whole room and trying to get as much as you can out of the guys has helped us. There’s always been a guy that has emerged by the time you get to the season as the guy that sets the standard in practice. I think that when those younger guys see the older guys that helps create a tradition and sets a standard that you want.”

Below Kevin Wright talks about the two key members of the tight end room with Aaron Steinfeldt and James Bomba, as well as freshman Anthony Miller who has a ‘high ceiling’. 

On Aaron Steinfeldt: “With Aaron, he had a really good spring. We challenged him little bit to get in the best shape of his life, and it’s really amazing to see at the end of the summer how he transformed his body. He’s leaner, he runs better, he’s moving better. He’s always had really good ball skills. He’s still – he weighted in at 251, so whenever anyone can make that type pf transition, it’s going to make him a better football player. I just like the way that he’s gone about his business and tried to take another step.”

On James Bomba: “He didn’t get to go through spring practice, he had some things cleaned up with his shoulder. He’s all good now. The challenge to him is to be in the best shape that you can be. Just totally reset his body, similar to Aaron. He’s a physical guy, I think the thing that he has to do is be a great technician right now. He played a lot last year as the second tight end, as an end-line guy. He just needs to continue to be a great technician and catch the ball when he’s thrown to. I think that’s what he’s done. James is one of those guys, he’s a natural leader, he’s one of those guys that leads the room not just by how he carries himself, but also by his words and I think that means a lot. We really need him to continue to grow and be that guy in the room.”

On Anthony Miller: “He is a large human. Anthony is a little over 6-5 and a half and had like an 84 inch wingspan and right now weights 263. He’s a twitchy young freshman kid and right now everything is going pretty fast for him cause he got here — he wasn’t a mid year guy, he got here in the summer … the fact he does have sized strength and is a smart kid, that bodes well for him down the future … he definitely has a high ceiling.”