“Bill Walsh once told me that a key part to building an offense is having a tight end who can block the defensive end so you can run on the perimeter.”
The speaker, Illini offensive coordinator Garrick McGee, might have added: “It doesn’t hurt if the tight end can catch passes.”
In the 5-7 season of 2015, the Illini didn’t run the perimeter effectively, and then-junior tight ends Tyler White and Andrew Davis caught just five passes apiece.
It was the UI’s lowest production by the position in decades, a far cry from the Mike White years.