Tony Poljan Finding His Way Quickly At Virginia

By: Kris Wright |
Virginia won 9 games last season.
Tight end Tony Poljan joined Virginia as a graduate transfer and he could make an immediate impact. ~ Photo courtesy Virginia Athletics Media Relations/Jim Daves

When transfer tight end Tony Poljan first arrived at Virginia, he entered quarantine as required by the COVID-19 protocols put in place during the pandemic. While being secluded in a new place could have been a daunting task, Poljan found an easy – and important – way to pass the time. Study the playbook.

That process helped the Central Michigan transfer find his footing quickly with UVA’s program.

“I reported and had to quarantine. During that time, I really learned the playbook,” Poljan said via a video conference call. “Coming out of that, I could start practicing and whatnot because I had knowledge of the playbook.”

For a player with only one year of eligibility and NFL hopes, getting up to speed quickly was important. The upcoming season is already limited to fewer regular season games than usual and there’s going to be some level of uncertainty in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. NC State, for example, had to pause football practice due to some positive tests and the Wolfpack’s season-opening game with Virginia Tech has been moved back as a result. UVA and VT are now scheduled to open against each other on Saturday, Sept. 19.

Of course, Poljan had a pair of proverbial aces up his sleeve when it came to studying the new playbook. One, he played quarterback first at CMU and that position requires understanding the schemes and reads in a different way than other spots on the field. Two, he already had been through a transition before because he flipped from his QB spot to tight end mid career.

Cavalier tight end coach Ricky Brumfield said Poljan’s understanding of offensive and defensive concepts from his time as a quarterback is a strong part of his game.

“Tony has a skillset that can do it all as far as blocking, running routes, and I think his best attribute is football knowledge,” Brumfield said. “Playing quarterback at Central Michigan, he understands defense and what a defense will do, different blitzes and stunts, coverages, and different things like that. So he does a pretty good job picking it up and that’s why he does a great job knowing the offense right now. It’s because of his understanding of offensive schemes and defensive schemes. His greatest attribute is knowing the game. He does a great job blocking and catching the ball as well.”

Poljan’s ability to quickly pick up the Hoos’ system is not only important for his own aspirations, it fills a substantial need for UVA too. Evan Butts, now a recruiting scout with the Cavaliers,, wrapped up his career in 2018. Senior Tanner Cowley kept the position lineage intact, but finished his career last season A young depth chart remained behind him.

Sophomore Grant Misch remained after seeing significant time in 2019, but he had flipped from defensive end earlier in his career. Misch would have been the oldest scholarship player in the room ahead of true freshman Joshua Rawlings, who enrolled in January but missed spring practice like everyone else when it was cancelled. Redshirt freshman walkon Mike Kosar had received a few mentions by coaches as well.

Poljan’s arrival and ability to pick things up quickly immediately added experience and helped slow down the needed developmental speed for the younger players.

“As a player, he’s a great player,” Misch said. “And it’s helpful to me to have a great player in front of me and someone older than me who’s been doing it longer. I can continue to learn each and every single day from him. Big, long, athletic – good player.”

Poljan sees that relationship as mutually beneficial. Misch has more familiarity with the Cavaliers’ culture and schemes, while Poljan has more time at tight end after seeing action in two consecutive seasons at the position with Central Michigan.

“Grant is a great player, a great guy,” Poljan said. “Overall, I think where I’m weak, he’s strong and vice versa. It’s just come to work every single practice and it really allows me to lean on Misch and Misch to lean on me since I’ve been in the program now for five weeks. I’m learning from Misch and he’s learning from me.”

As potential mentors go, Poljan is a good one. He first made the move to tight end in 2018 when he posted 7 catches for 125 yards and 2 touchdowns despite splitting time and playing some quarterback as well. He had a touchdown catch against Michigan State. In 2019, he made the full-time move to tight end and started 12 games. The results: 33 receptions for 496 yards and 4 touchdowns. He averaged 15.0 yards per reception. He was named second-team All-MAC.

That production plus excellent size – he’s listed at 6’7” and 265 pounds on the Virginia roster – landed him on the NFL Draft radar. The website draftscout.com projects him as a third or fourth round pick, for example.

The potential for a long-term career in football is part of what motivated Poljan’s switch from quarterback. For a player recruited as a linebacker, offensive lineman, quarterback, and tight end from varying schools, he seems to have settled into a spot that could provide a promising opportunity at the pro level.

“That transition was in 2019,” Poljan said. “I was like I can ride out college at quarterback or I can switch to tight end and try to play football longer so I switched. I gained about 45 pounds in about eight months. Looking back, it was a very good choice.”

Poljan’s early work at tight end caught Brumfield’s eye too. In looking at his highlight film during the recruiting process, he noted games against Wisconsin and Miami in 2019. Those were just the second and fourth games for Poljan as a full-time tight end. He had 2 catches for 2 yards against the Badgers and 1 catch for 13 yards against the Hurricanes, but that’s not what got Brumfield’s attention. Poljan guessed maybe something like a block on a screen is what would have stood out.

“What impressed me were the physicality of his blocks,” Brumfield said. “He was open field blocking and Wisconsin was some of his highlight film as well as Miami and it was actually at Miami where we played. He played against some of the guys we played against and dominated doing it. That’s what impressed me. Blocking in the open field and blocking the defensive ends and different things like that. That was very impressive to me seeing him do that against the likes of Wisconsin and the likes of Miami. So he did it on our level and he did it very well too.”

That the no fanfare part of a tight end’s job attracted UVA’s coaches to Poljan isn’t surprising. Cavalier coach Bronco Mendenhall, after all, mentions ‘less drama, more work’ as one of the team’s key guidelines. It also seems to fit Poljan’s personality.

Poljan played three sports in high school at Lansing Catholic in Michigan. He was named Michigan Gatorade Player of the Year in 2015 for football, scored more than 1,000 points in basketball, and earned four letters in track and field. Those courts and fields provided an escape of sorts for Poljan, who has worked through stuttering speech since he was young. He told reporters that he found a way to channel any frustrations created around that speech disorder into fuel in competition.

Along the way, he created his own mantra through sports that would seem to match perfectly with the ‘less drama, more work’ slogan of Mendenhall’s program.

“Honestly, it started younger so used to get made fun of and whatnot,” Poljan said. “There really wasn’t an avenue I could express that besides sports. I would go out on the football field or court and it wouldn’t matter what people said because I was always going to try harder, I was always going to win, and just at the end of the day, the actions speak louder than words.”