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Ken Hampel is known in Utah football practice for his soft hands. He developed them as a youngster when his 20-something cousin would throw rocket passes at him and pick on him for dropping the football.
Even before he made his first in-game catch this week, he was fretting over a play he had practiced over and over as if his cousin would appear on the sideline if he couldn't bring it in.
"I was still nervous," he said. "It was wet, so I had to try to get the water off my gloves. I just wanted to make the play."
He's a quiet guy who, by his own admission, isn't looking for any special attention. He just walked on to the Utes in 2012 to be a part of a team.
Naturally, coach Kyle Whittingham loves him.
"Love Ken Hampel — he's a blue-collar guy," Whittingham said. "He's been here a long time just working his way, inching his way into the mix. And now is his opportunity."
It's Hampel's opportunity. And Harrison Handley's opportunity. And Wallace Gonzalez's opportunity. And Caleb Repp's opportunity.
The group's diversity seems like it was cast for a movie: Until last year, Handley might've been best known as a Travis Wilson lookalike who has become a red zone threat. Gonzalez is a former minor league baseball player who decided to go back to football for an education. Repp is a freshman tweener receiver the Utes originally planned to make a defensive end. And there's Hampel, the walk-on with the golden hands.
This is Utah's tight end group following season-ending injuries to Siale Fakailoatonga and Evan Moeai, who started camp at the top of the depth chart. Moeai was lost in the first game on his first catch, and Fakailoatonga fell against Arizona State just as he was beginning to break out as a receiving threat.
Utah needs its tight ends to be productive: Tight ends have accounted for twice as many catches and 82 yards more than this time last year.
"The team needs a tight end in the game, it's a huge part of the offense for us," Handley said. "Siale was on my mind the entire time, but I knew I had to step up."
It's counterintuitive that the position group under 2014 offensive coordinator Dave Christiansen was less productive than this year. Handley said Christiansen was more involved with the entire offensive scheme, and less attentive to the details of the tight ends.
New position coach Lewis Powell never played tight end, but he gives them plenty of hands-on coaching. He can also teach them blocking techniques and little tricks about reading the defensive line, where he used to play.
"He knows how to beat the defensive ends, the linebackers — he knows that side of the ball," Handley said. "He's a great coach, I learn something every day from him."
Handley in particular stands out as a candidate to make a difference. While he caught 64 passes his senior year as a receiver at Alta, it took him until this season to catch his first pass for Utah. It took time to gain the weight (30 extra pounds), but even more to appreciate the details of playing tight end.
Now he has nine catches for 69 yards and two touchdowns. And while he won't have Fakailoatonga's bulk, he finally feels like he knows what he needs to do out on the field.
"I had to learn to play with my hand on the ground, learn to block from a three-point stance, learn to get on top of a route," he said. "Now that I've been working on it for a good three years now, I've gotten the hang of it a little bit."
The tone-setter in practice is Hampel, who Handley said has "never taken a play off." Teammates see him make grab after grab Monday through Friday, even though he never had any expectation to actually play.
Now that his time has arrived — along with the rest of his fellow tight ends — he's not planning to change his approach.
"I'd like to play," he said. "I just don't want the attention. I'll just go out and do my business."
Twitter: @kylegoon —
Not just extra blockers
Utah's tight end production has increased in the passing game from last year to this season through six games:
2014
Westlee Tonga • 9 catches, 107 yards, 1 TD
Siale Fakailoatonga • 3 catches, 59 yards
Total • 12 catches, 166 yards, 1 TD
2015
Siale Fakailoatonga • 12 catches, 120 yards
Harrison Handley • 9 catches, 69 yards, 2 TDs
Caleb Repp • 2 catches, 25 yards, 2 TDs
Evan Moeai • 1 catch, 5 yards
Ken Hampel •1 catch, 29 yards
Total • 25 catches, 248 yards, 4 TDs
More coverage
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