University of Toledo tight end Reggie Gilliam has had quite the junior year.
After coming to Toledo as a walk-on running back, Gilliam earned a scholarship this season. He was voted as a team captain by his peers. He’s blocked four kicks this season on special teams, and earned second-team All-Mid-American Conference honors as a tight end.
“That’s huge for me coming from a small school in Columbus and being a walk-on to being second-team All-MAC and being a captain and earning a scholarship,” Gilliam said. “It’s been really great.”
WATCH: UT’s Reggie Gilliam discusses his success this season
Gilliam played running back at Westland High School and earned first-team All-Ohio Capital Conference honors as a senior after rushing for 565 yards and eight scores.
He played in one game as a freshman at Toledo in 2016 before playing in all 14 as a reserve tight end last season. In a sign of things to come, Gilliam blocked two punts as a sophomore.
When Jordan Fisher moved to linebacker this past offseason, that opened up a bigger role at tight end for Gilliam, while he remained a key cog on special teams.
“I feel like I had a bigger role than I did last year,” Gilliam said.
“I did more pass-catching and more blocking. I was always the blocker, but now it was like I was in every play, not just certain plays. I feel like I just helped the offense overall.”
Toledo special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Robby Discher has had an opportunity to coach Gilliam in two different phases of the game, and has seen a lot of growth from him in his time with the Rockets.
“He’s one of the hardest workers on the team,” Discher said. “Credit to him, he worked his tail off. He came in as a walk-on running back. We moved him to tight end, and he was like sixth or seventh on the depth chart. He kept moving up and, sooner or later, he is playing on every special team and playing at tight end and then he becomes the starter at tight end. He’s just run away with it and has done a great job.”
Of Gilliam’s four blocked kicks this season, Discher said only one was the result of a scheme to get him to the kicker. Discher said three of the four blocks were on designed returns where Gilliam just would not be denied.
“It’s just want-to and physical toughness,” Discher said. “Most of his blocks have been against the shield team. He gets penetration through the A-gap and just blows up the shield and gets a hand up. It’s just Reggie playing harder than everyone else. That’s all it is. It’s nice to have a guy like that.”
Gilliam said he just tries to disrupt kicks as much as he can.
“I’m just trying to get to the ball by any means,” Gilliam said. “I have a plan when I blow past somebody and get through the shield and I just get my hands down.”
This season, Gilliam has four catches for 58 yards and three touchdowns. Discher said Gilliam’s physicality and toughness is what sets him apart from other tight ends.
“Reggie is, in my opinion, the most physical kid in our conference at any position,” Discher said. “That’s my opinion. At the point of attack blocking and as what we call an ‘F’, but most teams call an H-back, he is just so dominating. He gets movement in the run game and just drives people off the ball and creates some big seams for our backs. The crazy thing about him is he enjoys that part as much as he enjoys catching passes. Those guys don’t come around every day.”
Toledo coach Jason Candle said young players can learn from the career path of Gilliam and the fact nothing was given to him initially as a walk-on.
“I just think, in a sense, that is the way it should be done,” Candle said. “You get what you earn and you get rewarded for your efforts. There is a lot of football left out there for him still and there is a lot more for him to accomplish here in a Rocket uniform. He is a leader for us, but he is not a cheerleader and he’s not a guy that is going to yell and pound his chest. But he’s a guy that a young player when having a tough moment can look at and get a very good picture of what perseverance and resiliency looks like.”
First Published December 7, 2018, 11:45 a.m.
