The Virginia football program has produced quite a few memorable names at tight end this century. Heath Miller, Tom Santi, John Phillips, Jonathan Stupar, and Jake McGee all reached the NFL level under previous coaches, while Tony Poljan and soon Jelani Woods transferred into UVA the past two years and carved out a path to the pro ranks as well.

Grant Misch played beside those last two guys the past two seasons and he said the returning group spent the spring working hard to live up to that tradition.

“You kind of feel the pressure, we’ve had guys like that in the past several years that someone’s got to step up and kind of replace their absence,” Misch said. “I think it’s driven more competition between the tight ends and it’s been a better spring ball for us.”

The tight ends, like the rest of the Cavalier football team, have had to adjust to new coaches this spring. Tony Elliott took the program’s reins in December when Bronco Mendenhall stepped down, which also led to some shuffling among the assistant coach positions. That included the offensive coordinator spot where Des Kitchings returned to the college ranks from the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons. He’s also coaching the tight ends.

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