Four NFL starters, 1 tight ends factory: Why Iowa excels at producing stars at the position

IOWA CITY, Iowa — As a 200-pound, short-haired wide receiver recruited to play tight end, George Kittle arrived at Iowa in 2012 discovering the first step of that transition does not include catching the football.

“I’ll never forget that a coach at my very first skills and drills, they’re like, ‘Hey, if you don’t learn how to run block, you can never play here,’” Kittle said. “‘And you’ll never be able to run block unless you put some weight on.’ I was like, ‘Well, I want to play, so let’s get it done.’”

After gaining 50 pounds of muscle, Kittle became a fifth-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in 2017. Seven years and four Pro Bowls later and 10 pounds leaner, Kittle is one of the NFL’s premier tight ends and top personalities.

In 2016, Kittle’s final season at Iowa, Noah Fant and T.J. Hockenson joined him as freshmen in perhaps college football’s greatest single-season tight ends unit. A year after Fant and Hockenson became the only tight ends duo drafted in the first round, Sam LaPorta hit the Iowa practice fields. As a rookie for Detroit this fall, LaPorta already has become an impact NFL performer, much like Fant at Seattle and Hockenson at Minnesota.

Four NFL starters, one NFL tight ends factory. In coach Kirk Ferentz’s 25 seasons, Iowa has built and maintained a reputation of graduating NFL tight ends. Dallas Clark, Scott Chandler, Tony Moeaki, Brandon Myers and C.J. Fiedorowicz all became multiyear starters, and for the better part of two decades, the Hawkeyes challenged Miami and Notre Dame for the “Tight End U” moniker. But spanning the past five seasons, there’s no doubt the crown resides in Iowa City.

“Iowa is head and shoulders above everybody right now around the country,” said Dan Shonka, general manager and national scout for Ourlads Scouting Services. “The emphasis on it, what they’re asked to do because there’s no surprises. What you see is what you get. They’ve got really good hands. Kittle, all the tight ends that come out of Iowa.”

There are plenty of reasons Iowa develops tight ends. The scheme is built around the position group. The Hawkeyes employ a run-first offense that emphasizes both zone and man blocking. They place a priority on the tight end’s defeating a defensive end or linebacker in a one-on-one situation.

Along with blocking, Iowa tight ends are primary targets in the pass game. The team’s top two receptions leaders this year are tight ends — and both are out with season-ending injuries. In five of the past six years, Iowa’s leading receiver was a tight end. In all but two seasons from 2013 onward, a tight end led the Hawkeyes in touchdown catches.

“It’s really cool to have that standard set for you before you even walk in the building,” LaPorta said. “That we’re going to compete at the highest level and this is what we demand from our tight ends.”

Unique skills

All four of Iowa’s NFL starters boast freakish athletic skills, which almost is a surprise considering how unheralded they were as recruits.

Ferentz called Kittle on signing day to offer him a scholarship. Kittle’s father, Bruce, played offensive line for Ferentz in 1981. According to the 247Sports Composite, Kittle ranked as the nation’s No. 1,519 prospect in 2012. His offers included Weber State and Air Force.

Hockenson’s stature wasn’t much higher. He was ranked as the No. 66 tight end and No. 1,464 player nationally in 2016. A wide receiver from a small-town high school, Hockenson chose Iowa over Iowa State.

Fant was rated as a defensive end, which is where Nebraska and Minnesota projected him, also in 2016. Fant wanted to play tight end, and Iowa gave him that opportunity. He was the highest-rated prospect among the quartet but still No. 532 overall.

Before the 2019 signing period, LaPorta posted incredible numbers from his central Illinois high school but had no Power 5 scholarship offers. LaPorta was ranked No. 1,170 overall and the nation’s No. 55 tight end. Iowa offered him late to make LaPorta the third tight end in the class.

None of them had the profile to suggest they’d be anything more than potential starters at Iowa. Yet, they all top at least one NFL statistical category this year.

“The common denominator is what they do when they get there,” Ferentz said. “All we do is provide the opportunity and hopefully good resources for them. They’re still the guys doing the work, and that’s true of each and every one of those guys. And they’ve all been coachable, too. They want to get better, and they’re eager to get better.”

Each of them has different skills that have led them to collegiate and NFL success. Kittle is the best blocker and has electrifying speed. Fant is the best athlete, as shown by his record-setting NFL combine numbers. Hockenson has the best hands and finds ways to get open. LaPorta blends all of his predecessors’ talents and has a rare tenacity.

“I think I have a little bit of all of them,” LaPorta said. “I love my run after the catch. I try not to get tackled by the first guy. Kittle seems to be really good at that. Kittle seems to be really good at a lot of things. I guess that’s one aspect I try to compare myself to is run after the catch.”

Their combined pass-catching statistics the past five years are astounding. Since 2019, Iowa tight ends have caught 837 passes for 9,503 yards and 65 touchdowns in the NFL. The next two tight ends factories — Notre Dame and Miami — have 912 catches for 9,375 yards and 76 touchdowns combined. That number should continue to widen this year.

Hockenson, whom Minnesota gave the richest tight end deal in NFL history, is tied for the NFL lead for tight end receptions with 36. LaPorta ranks second in receiving yards among tight ends with 325. LaPorta and Kittle are tied for the most touchdowns among tight ends with three. Fant’s 15.4 yards per reception are by far the most of any tight end with at least 10 catches or 150 receiving yards.

“Coach Ferentz, you just know what kind of player that you’re getting,” Detroit general manager Brad Holmes said after selecting LaPorta in the second round. “They just happen to produce some really good football players.”

Won’t block, won’t play

If there’s one mandate to Iowa’s developmental prowess, it’s blocking.

“The only way that a guy is truly a tight end in my mind is that he plays inline,” said Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, who coached tight ends with New England in 2011. “If he doesn’t play inline, then I don’t think he’s a tight end.”

Iowa junior Luke Lachey was an elite 6-foot-6 receiver whose high-flying high school dunks became social media gold. But when he opted for Iowa over a grayshirt opportunity from hometown Ohio State, Lachey’s father, Jim, immediately alerted him of what was in store.

“I said, ‘You’re going to find out how to block,” the former Ohio State All-America offensive lineman and three-time NFL All-Pro told his son. “That’s easily the hardest thing to learn for a tight end. And he took it to heart.”

Lachey followed LaPorta’s lead during their three years together and honed his blocking skills to go along with his naturally gifted pass-catching ability. Before breaking his leg barely into his third game this year, Lachey had 10 receptions and had become a high-level blocker.

“I love Luke,” LaPorta said. “I keep mentioning him and referring to him as little bro, even though he’s bigger than me. And also Erick All. I think those two together are going to be a really good combination. They’re going to be the next great Iowa tight ends.”

They barely had to the chance to compete together, with All’s suffering a torn ACL in last week’s win against Wisconsin. But both acquired enough skills to help them when they reach the next level. Lachey defined and eventually embodied the key traits for an Iowa tight end as “hard-nosed … ready to block, unselfish.”

Iowa’s Luke Lachey hopes to continue the program’s line of NFL tight ends. (David K Purdy / Getty Images)

“It’s really an honor to be at the same school that these guys were,” Lachey said. “I really enjoy the opportunity to go out there and wear the same helmet that they put on and the same jersey. I’m just going to go out there and try to do my best every day and just do what I can to get to where they were.”

All transferred to Iowa from Michigan in the spring. At first blush, one would think two programs built on the same physical tenets would have similar blocking techniques. However, to All, they’re nothing alike and the conditioning is more intense at Iowa.

“Blocking here, it’s more aggressive. We’re trying to bury guys every play,” All said. “We’re just trying to run through a guy, instead of keeping a base and having our feet in the ground and pulling them close. We pull them close here, too, but we’re having our feet running and driving through people, instead of keeping a base.

“Coach believes if you’re driving a guy, you don’t have to worry about being pushed-pulled, because the guy is on his heels, trying to brace our pressure on them, which is great. And I love it. I love every bit of it.”

Current Iowa starting tight end Steven Stilianos, a 2022 graduate transfer from Lafayette, also discovered the challenges of learning how to block the Iowa way. It includes three principles: staying square, keeping your knees under you for balance and staying on the defender’s chest without separation. A blocker’s eyes are focused on an aiming point with the first step for positioning and the second for power. There’s vertical leverage in keeping pads low and horizontal leverage with elbows in and hips down. Finally, the blocker’s backside knee is aimed at the opponent’s crotch for control.

“At Lafayette, they taught more like short, choppy steps,” said Stilianos, a first-team All-Patriot League tight end. “Here, they want you just to run your knees through guys.

“It’s just important to be physical and impose your will on someone else and not just take it from the defender. That’s something I’ve always prided myself in, and coming here has helped me hone that skill even better.”

That blocking scheme has worked beyond Iowa. NFL all-decade tight end Rob Gronkowski credits Brian Ferentz for teaching him how to block when they worked together in New England.

“He taught me a lot of things that I never really knew in my career,” Gronkowski said. “He just taught me these little niches on how to block, how to keep the block going, on what to do, where to place your hands, keep running your feet, and I just loved him as a coach.

“He did a great job at explaining things and replicating it with the saying like, ‘Hey, when you’re going to push your car, how do you push a car? If you just push it with your upper body and you don’t run your feet, how far are you going to be able to push that car?’ Or if you’re pushing the car and you’re running your feet, that means you can keep on pushing the car and keep it moving.”

Positional spotlight

Iowa tight ends will command the spotlight in multiple ways this weekend. Monday night, Kittle and his 49ers will travel to Minnesota to face Hockenson. Early Sunday, LaPorta’s Lions play at Baltimore in a national viewing window. Fant and the Seahawks host Arizona on Sunday afternoon.

But it’s more than just a spotlight for Iowa tight ends — it’s their weekend to shine. This Sunday marks the sixth anniversary of National Tight End Day, which Kittle started in 2018. Through Kittle’s personality, the day has grown from a quaint mention to a true phenomenon.

“The holiday is still one of the funniest things,” Kittle said. “It kind of started off as a joke between me, Garrett Celek and Jimmy (Garoppolo) and then the next year the NFL was like, ‘Hey, do you want to make this an actual holiday?’ I was like, ‘Sounds great, works for me,’ and it just kept gaining steam, and now it’s a pretty big production.”

Kittle has parlayed the holiday into an annual camp dubbed “Tight End U” at his Nashville-area residence. More than 60 tight ends signed up for it in June, with several quarterbacks and position coaches taking part. It also has attracted multiple sponsors, and in 2022, Tight End U donated around $800,000 to the Nashville Boys & Girls Clubs.

“It’s good to have the tight ends back in the same room and just talk some ball and hang out and get to know each other,” Kittle said.

When Lachey and All are healthy, they are expected to join their predecessors in the NFL. Even former Iowa defensive end Parker Hesse has made the switch to tight end and has appeared in 18 games with nine receptions since 2019. Iowa’s NFL tight ends have become a brotherhood amid a fraternity. Their success makes them unparalleled.

“If you make it through three to five years in Iowa, your mentality is going to be in the right place,” Kittle said. “You’re going to be able to handle things, you’re going to be able to handle stress, you’re going to be able to handle ups and downs. They do a good job of teaching you that, which I wouldn’t say is the same for every college out there.”

 (Top photo of Iowa’s George Kittle in November 2016: Matthew Holst / Getty Images)