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Darryl Long felt the one thing he can do best is “run (pass) routes real good” and he felt he did that when he got to Kentucky.
But he also knew it would take more than that to get him on the field this year at tight end.
“I have just been trying to improve my blocking skills and getting faster and stronger overall. I have to do that,” said Long, a three-star recruit who was ranked as the 19th-best tight end in the nation by ESPN.com.
He had 88 catches in high school and chose UK over Louisville, Missouri, Minnesota, Indiana, North Carolina, Purdue, Illinois and Boston College. However, despite UK’s lack of depth at tight end, coach Mark Stoops announced this week that Long would be redshirted this season and said the freshman accepted the news well.
“A lot of the freshmen were good with it. They see it. They get out here, they’re very talented football players. It’s difficult. We’re getting better. As we get better, it gets harder to beat out some guys for playing time,” Stoops said. “That’s what you want in our program. Some positions we don’t have that luxury. At wide receiver, we need players. It’s just where we’re at. It’s difficult. That’s two years in a row we’ve had to do that on the offensive side of the ball.”
Long knew redshirting was a possibility.
“I always want to play and get on the field as fast as I can, but I know coach (Neal) Brown and coach (Vince) Marrow have the best intentions for me. If they feel best for me, that is what I will do and just get bigger, stronger and faster and then have four more years. If that means redshirting, then that is fine,” Long said at UK’s Media Day.
“I do feel I am ready but I know this is a big-time football league when you have defnsive ends like Bud (Dupree) and Z (Za’Darius Smith). They are men. It could be in my best interest to put on weight and bang with them and pick up the offense, too, and be redshirted.”
Long said he trained every day during the summer to try and put on weight.
“It was a college workout. No joking. Just getting bigger and working harder,” Long said. “The weight room has been real precise. They talk about the small things and getting fast as you can. They monitor all you do and they take your heart rate and all that stuff to make sure all is good. It is real fast paced and good for me.”
He learned quickly that blocking was about technique at this level.
“I am smaller than lot of guys I am blocking. My form has to kick in, and that might take time,” Long said.
One place he did not struggle was in the classroom during the summer semester.
“It has been good here. I finished with a B and C+ the first semester. It is different being away from home and having the responsibility to wake up and do what you are supposed to do, but I have adjusted well,” he said.
He comes from an athletic family.
“I have good family genes. My dad played basketball and my mom’s family had two go to the NFL. I am trying to turn out to be like them,” Long said.
His grandfather, Bob Kelly, played in the NFL with Houston, Kansas City and Cincinnati. A cousin, Joe Kelly played in the NFL with Cincinnati, New York Jets, Los Angeles Raiders, Los Angeles Rams, Green Bay and Philadelphia and an uncle, Bobby Kelly, played football at Georgetown College.
“My grandfather always talked about staying in sports. He played tight end, too. He said to have fun and get as good as you can,” Long said. “I always wanted to make the NFL because I love playing football and doing the best I can. I was a basketball player first in high school but I got good in football and loved how physical it was and the fast pace.”
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