Stephen Field putting together a monster Miami Hurricanes TE room: “I just want to carry on the tradition"

Stephen Field’s title is Miami Hurricanes tight ends coach. But perhaps a better way to phrase it would be to call him the mastermind behind the next wave at Tight End U. Or the survivor.

It is Field that is the lone holdover from the prior staff, with Mario Cristobal recognizing his unique ability as not just a coach, but also a tremendous recruiter who has major area ties partially from his time as the coach at nearby Miami Northwestern High School. It also helped that Field worked under Cristobal in 2018 at Oregon as Director of Recruiting.

It’s Field that gets much of the credit for stealing current Miami freshman TE Jaleel Skinner away from Alabama when he signed in 2021. It also was Field that has somehow convinced three of the nation’s top tight end prospects in the Class of 2023 to join him at Miami in the future – 4-star commitment Riley Williams (Portland, Ore./IMG Academy) and 3-stars Jackson Carver (Culver, Ind.) and Reid Mikeska (Cypress, Tex.).

Yes, Tight End U is thriving.

“That’s been established from way before I got here,” Field said. humbly. “I just want to carry on the tradition and work hard. We have a really good group of guys in the room. We talk about all the time be where your feet are, don’t worry about tomorrow, next week, the first game. Worry about today, getting better at your craft.

“The tradition is here, and we want to work hard and carry on the tradition. Work hard and be the best we can be.”

Field has that combination of a personality that draws people to him, and the knowledge base/push to get the most out of student-athletes once they are on campus.

This year’s group includes the aforementioned Skinner as well as a top returner in Will Mallory (30 catches, 347 yards, 4 TDs) and a second-year player who had some flashes as a freshman, Elijah Arroyo (5-86-1).

Others that hope to work up on the depth chart are Dom Mammarelli and Kahlil Brantley.

“I don’t want to just focus on (the main three guys),” Field said. “You have Will, Jaleel. Elijah brings a lot to the table, is a very special player.

“Dom is working his butt off, Brantley had a really good spring. (Walkon) Robbie Prosek is in the room, will help carry on the group. We don’t like to single out (any one player). Will is an older guy in the room. I told the guys as a group we owe it to Will to give it our all every single day to help put him in the position to be the best he can be.”

Mallory won’t simply be handed the starting job considering the talent level of Skinner and Arroyo. But Field says that it’s Mallory setting the example for the younger guys as “one of the hardest workers I’ve ever been around.”

“Unbelievable young man,” Field said. “Never complains, puts his hat backwards and just wants to work. Will do anything for any one of his teammates. Even if he has to step back a little to help another young man, that’s what he’ll do.

“I want to see him successful. And he’s super talented, that’s the part people forget. He can run, he can be physical, he’s a mismatch in space. He’s tall, got long arms, great hands. So I’m excited about him.”

Asked about Arroyo, Field said, “Hard worker, great attitude, just wants to get better,” and he added of Skinner that “With him, he has the mindset he wants to be better in all the details. He’s a freshman, needs time to develop. But I’ll tell you, he’s on the way to being something special.”

It will be a different style of offense under new coordinator Josh Gattis, who showed at Michigan he may favor a closer to 50-50 run-pass ratio compared to the pass-happy Rhett Lashlee. Gattis also showed he will use two and even three tight ends in games, sometimes at the same time.

“Coach Gattis’ system is tight ends friendly, which is great,” Field said. “It gives (the tight ends) the ability to come in and compete. … Coach Gattis runs his system to where we’ll have multiple tight ends. Certain tight ends might be better at running routes compared to blocking (so Gattis can decide on personnel groupings).”

The bottom line message from Field?

“We’re excited about what we’re building here, excited about the future,” he said. “But really all we’re concentrating on right now is on practice, how we can become better.”