AMHERST — What do you get if you cross a quarterback, an Australian and a political operative?
A lot of tight end production… at least that’s what UMass is hoping.
The Minutemen have always looked to tight ends for a lot of contributions during coach Mark Whipple’s two stints in charge. That won’t change with a new and unique collection of players competing for time.
Adam Breneman has only been with the Minutemen since Sunday. In January, after a Penn State career that featured a promising start followed by a left knee injury that seemed to derail his potential, Breneman announced he was walking away from football.
Shortly after Mike Regan, a state senate candidate in Pennsylvania, hired Breneman, who had completed his management degree in three years, as his campaign manager. The Mechanicsburg, Penn. native helped guide Regan to a win in the Republican primary in the state’s 31st district. He’ll run in the general election in November. But Breneman won’t be there.
“It was good experience. I wanted something to do during that void. It was fun, and I learned a ton,” Breneman said. “I don’t know (if I’ll it again after football). That’s a brutal industry, that political scene. I’m hoping to play football for years to come, so we’ll see where that gets me and then re-evaluate from there.”
A reluctance to stay in politics was just one thing that drove him back to football, and there were lots of circumstances that made Amherst the most enticing landing spot.
For one, He was healthy enough to be effective again. UMass featured his friend Austin Whipple, who is now a Minuteman student assistant, but was his teammate for a season in State College. During the 2013 season, when Mark Whipple wasn’t coaching, he spent a lot of time around the Nittany Lion program. Not only did he get to know Breneman, but their families became close as well.
On top of that, Breneman’s high school quarterback is Andrew Ford, the junior college transfer, who also joined the Minutemen this season. He and Ford worked out together to help prepare Ford for Amherst without realizing they were preparing Breneman, too.
UMass gets a 6-foot-4, 245-pound target who caught 15 balls for 186 yards and three touchdowns as a freshman before seeing no time in 2014 (as a medical redshirt) and limited time last year before being injured.
Healthy again, Mark Whipple has had Breneman practicing with the first string and planned to line him up in different places.
“He’s a guy that’s played. He’s been really good. He’s a great kid from a great family. He’s a smart guy. He’s a great addition,” said Whipple, who compared him to his recent productive tight ends. “Adam can play anywhere. He’s a mixture of Jean (Sifrin) and Rod (Mills). He can line up in the backfield. He can go out wide. He can be a move guy. He’s a smart guy.”
Breneman felt comfortable already.
“It’s been good. It’s great to be here. It’s been fun. It’s a great offensive plan. I’m excited to be here,” said Breneman, who had interest from several schools when he decided to return to the field. “It’s a great fit. I’ve known the Whipples for a while from my time at Penn State. I had that itch and desire to get back out there if I was healthy enough, which I am.
“Coach Whipple is a great guy to play for. His scheme and his system has been very friendly to tight ends, obviously. That was part of what was really appealing about playing for him and playing in this offense. I just have to go out there every day and prove that I can do the things he needs the tight end to do,” he continued. “This was the fit I wanted, to play for Coach Whipple and to play in this system with a lot of my good friends here.”
Todd Stafford is the former quarterback, who converted to the position and saw action in 10 games last year. He’s yet to catch a pass. So he was surprised to see himself land on the Mackey Award watch list for the nation’s top tight end. But the 6-foot-7, 267-pound Riverside, Conncticut native was hoping to take a big step forward.
“That was a pretty big surprise, pretty funny,” said Stafford, who was more focused on finding his role at UMass. “It’s a huge opportunity for all of us to utilize our skill set and do what we can do best to help the team win.”
He doesn’t miss playing quarterback.
“I’m totally in tight end mode now. I’ve loved it since the first day to be honest,” he said. “It brings me back to my middle school football days, hitting and running.”
Travis Reynolds, a Brisbane, Australia, native, had to sit out last year after joining the Minutemen. The 6-foot-5, 242-pound tight end will be a sophomore. He spent the year off working on improving his blocking to compliment his receiving skills. He said it’s been valuable.
“It’s incredible how much better I am. I know the plays, where the ball is going. I understand all the concepts,” Reynolds said. “(Tight end) coach (Rich) Palermo has been amazing with that. We’ve all gotten so much better. Pass catching comes naturally, although understanding the routes and what goes on in the routes has come further as well. But blocking is definitely something I’ve been working on.”
Palermo said the improvement is on going.
“Travis is still learning a lot,” he said. “Things are happening faster. He’s gotten better, but he still has a ways to go. He’s a guy that wants to play.”
“Travis has made some catches. We were disappointed he couldn’t play last year. He’s learned the game a lot better. Spring was really good for him,” Whipple said. “He’s a really good kid. He wants to play. Wants to win, so he’ll play.”
Redshirt junior Shaquille Harris, who had six catches for 62 yards, last year will be in the mix as well. Freshmen Taylor Edwards and Kyle Horn will both miss the season with knee injuries, while fellow rookies Cody Banks and Cole Morrison could earn playing time eventually.
Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage