BleedGopher
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per The Athletic:
When Clay Patterson arrived at Minnesota as tight ends coach in 2018, Ko Kieft’s imprint on the position room was immediately obvious.
Head coach P.J. Fleck had specific rules for attended classes, telling Gophers players they were representing the football program at all times. They were required to wear collared shirts in class, and they had to sit in the first two rows.
When Patterson first met his tight ends, Kieft had the entire group dressed in matching looks: plaid flannel shirts with the sleeves cut off, complying with Fleck’s rules but doing so in style.
“He never got in trouble, but he got in trouble,” Patterson said. “He’s following the rules.”
Kieft is a colorful, 6-foot-4 and 259-pound underdog who looks like something out of Middle-earth as much as Middle America. He spent six years at Minnesota and caught a dozen passes. If you call him a blocking tight end, he proudly accepts the compliment.
“Any kind of run blocking, pass pro, I’m your man,” Kieft said shortly after the Buccaneers traded up to draft him in the sixth round last month. “I’ll get down and dirty with the worst of them. That’s my role. That’s what I love to do.”
He also has an ability to rally people around him. At Minnesota, he was a player often seen in the middle of massive huddles, getting the team fired up at the end of pregame warmups.
“One game, I just kind of randomly did it,” Kieft said. “I’m pretty good and yelling and screaming stuff, getting in that type of mood, so I did that the last couple of years with the team. I like to think I’m a pretty calm, easygoing dude off the field, but when it’s time to turn it on, I turn it on.”
Fleck, who led the Gophers to an 11-win season in 2020 and nine wins last year, pointed to Kieft as an example of his program’s values and the commitment needed to find that success.
“He is really the attitude of this team,” Fleck said in September. “That’s what you want to be able to have: Line up, put the ball down and let’s go. Ko Kieft is someone who directly reflects that … He’s one of the toughest young people I’ve ever met, mentally, physically, emotionally.”
theathletic.com
Go Gophers!!
When Clay Patterson arrived at Minnesota as tight ends coach in 2018, Ko Kieft’s imprint on the position room was immediately obvious.
Head coach P.J. Fleck had specific rules for attended classes, telling Gophers players they were representing the football program at all times. They were required to wear collared shirts in class, and they had to sit in the first two rows.
When Patterson first met his tight ends, Kieft had the entire group dressed in matching looks: plaid flannel shirts with the sleeves cut off, complying with Fleck’s rules but doing so in style.
“He never got in trouble, but he got in trouble,” Patterson said. “He’s following the rules.”
Kieft is a colorful, 6-foot-4 and 259-pound underdog who looks like something out of Middle-earth as much as Middle America. He spent six years at Minnesota and caught a dozen passes. If you call him a blocking tight end, he proudly accepts the compliment.
“Any kind of run blocking, pass pro, I’m your man,” Kieft said shortly after the Buccaneers traded up to draft him in the sixth round last month. “I’ll get down and dirty with the worst of them. That’s my role. That’s what I love to do.”
He also has an ability to rally people around him. At Minnesota, he was a player often seen in the middle of massive huddles, getting the team fired up at the end of pregame warmups.
“One game, I just kind of randomly did it,” Kieft said. “I’m pretty good and yelling and screaming stuff, getting in that type of mood, so I did that the last couple of years with the team. I like to think I’m a pretty calm, easygoing dude off the field, but when it’s time to turn it on, I turn it on.”
Fleck, who led the Gophers to an 11-win season in 2020 and nine wins last year, pointed to Kieft as an example of his program’s values and the commitment needed to find that success.
“He is really the attitude of this team,” Fleck said in September. “That’s what you want to be able to have: Line up, put the ball down and let’s go. Ko Kieft is someone who directly reflects that … He’s one of the toughest young people I’ve ever met, mentally, physically, emotionally.”
Garage beers, rat tails and small-town NFL dreams: Ko Kieft's journey to Bucs
New Bucs tight end Ko Kieft is a bit larger than life, bringing a physical reputation and a passion for blocking as he enters the NFL.
theathletic.com
Go Gophers!!
