HELENA — Carroll’s football team boasts a strong tradition of standout play from the tight end position. Casey FitzSimmons, Bubba Bartlett, Marshall McEwen and Eric Dawson come to mind immediately, and fifth-year senior Tony Collins has carried that torch for the last three seasons.
Collins picked up his third consecutive All-Conference honor last fall with 27 receptions, 345 yards and four touchdowns (second-most on roster).
The 6-foot-4, 230-pound tight end from Fort Worth, Texas, caught the game-winning nine-yard touchdown to lift Carroll past Southern Oregon in overtime a year ago and finished the campaign as one of the Saints’ foremost play-makers yet again.
Over the last three seasons, Collins has hauled in a combined 60 passes for 931 yards and 10 touchdowns. He set a career-high in receptions last fall and was two yards shy of breaking a career mark for yardage.
“When Tony Collins is right, we go as an offense,” Saints offensive coordinator Alex Pfannenstiel said. “He knows that, and it’s just that day-to-day, down-to-down consistency that we’re continuing to watch him grow into. It’s exciting to see it continue to go that direction.”
This year, as one of the veterans, Collins is expected to help set the tone in practice and provide leadership. It’s a role he’s been in the last couple years, and according to Pfannenstiel, Collins possesses the natural leadership skills to thrive.
Logan Gilliard, a redshirt sophomore out of Bigfork High School and a Montana State transfer, as well as Carson Ochoa, a redshirt sophomore from Yorba Linda, California, are sharing first-team reps at this point in fall camp.
Gilliard and Collins have shared the field plenty over the last two seasons while Ochoa has continued to offer quality depth.
“I feel like the group is really good – from the young guys to the vets,” Collins said. “Everybody is showing promise and everyday the tight end group is continuously taking steps to get better.”
“Confidence is really high for us as a team, but we have still yet to prove it ourselves on how good that we can be. Until we prove it, then it really doesn’t mean anything. So far, so good through fall camp.”
Gilliard, who is listed at 6-foot-4, 230 pounds, was an offensive lineman and linebacker in high school. He spent the 2019 season at MSU and saw limited action at long snapper before transferring to Carroll.
He caught six passes during the five-game spring season in 2021 – the first in-game receptions of his career – and scored a touchdown against College of Idaho.
“Spring season we played Montana State Northern and [Gilliard] caught about a 20-yard seam ball and he comes back after the game and goes, ‘coach, that's the first ball I’ve ever caught in a football game in my life,’” Pfannenstiel said.
“Logan has always had very natural hands and he’s really grown as a receiver. He has great football instincts, and you can see it in his blocking where he understands angles and how to use his body and put his hands on people.”
Gilliard said those soft hands come from his experience on the basketball court and that the blocking differences from offensive line to tight end required just small tweaks to technique.
He described the route-running as ‘tough’ at first, but said the tight end position feels like where he should be at the collegiate level.
“Coming in and having Tony there – because Tony is an All-American tight end – he’s been a great mentor for me,” Gilliard said. “We’re both on the field a lot together and I’ve learned a lot from him about the receiving aspect. Him having and [Carson] Ochoa and all our tight ends – we all push each other to get better. It’s been a process, but it’s been fun.”
Gilliard is going into his third season with Carroll in 2022.
Ryan Rickman, a redshirt sophomore from Salem, Oregon, is listed as a tight end on Carroll’s roster, but that’s just a title.
At 6-foot-1, 230 pounds, the SOU transfer possesses the skills and athleticism to fill a variety of roles for the Saints. Jack England, a sophomore out of Rocky Mountain High School in Idaho, is in a similar position.
“Jack and Ryan can line up in a multitude of spots, whether that’s at tight end, a wing position, full back, and even a few others as we get into [the season],” Pfannenstiel said. “We ask a lot out of those guys and they’re really smart football players who have great instincts.”
From blocking to pass protection to pass catching to running the football, they’re expected to be ready to do it all.
England played as a true freshman while Rickman was forced to sit out the 2021 season due to Frontier Conference transfer rules. Both will see playing time this season as versatile Swiss Army Knives on the offensive side of the ball.
“As a coordinator, it’s a lot of fun because you don’t have to substitute to do a lot of different things,” Pfannenstiel said. “You can ask guys to be an extension of the offensive line on one play and then split out at wide receiver the next and have them lined up at tailback the next play after that.”
“A lot of credit goes to those guys and their hard work in the film room to be able to understand the different things we ask them to do.”
Mitch Muralt, a redshirt freshman out of Missoula Big Sky High School, and Zack Schlottmann, a true freshman from Hillsboro, Oregon, fill out the depth chart at tight end.
Carroll held practice No. 9 of fall camp on Wednesday morning with a two and a half hour session. The Saints kick off their 2022 schedule on Aug. 27, at home, against No. 17 Montana Western.