Tim Euhus’ tutorial on the tight end position. Class is in session

Updated 12/14/2023 6:20 PM

Attention, class. Tight end 101 is in session today. It’s professor Tim Euhus at the lectern, discussing all things tight end in college football and the NFL.

Professor Euhus has cred. Star at Churchill High, a three-year starter at Oregon State, four seasons in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals.

Euhus, 43, is now in his ninth year as a financial advisor for Edward Jones in Corvallis. (Euhus is the latest sponsor for kerryeggers.com — thank you, sir!) Tim and his wife of 20 years, Michelle, have four children, all of whom attend Santiam Christian. Joy is a junior, Timmy a freshman, David a seventh-grader and Gracie a fifth-grader.

Michelle teaches and is a reading specialist and works with dyslexic kids at the school. Tim has been head football coach of its seventh and eighth grade football team, coaching his son.

“Now Timmy is asking me to do a little extra work with him,” Tim says with a smile. “It has ended up strengthening our relationship.”

For this hour, however, family man Euhus becomes football man Euhus, talking about the evolution of the tight end position, what goes into being good at the position, and his rankings of the greatest at the position both at Oregon State and in the pros in the current era. Also, we’ll hear from Euhus’ two coaches with the Beavers — Dennis Erickson and Mike Riley — along with the tight ends who preceded Euhus (Marty Maurer) and succeeded him (Joe Newton) at the position at OSU. Oh yes, and from Tim’s first coach — his father, Paul.

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Tim, older brother Dan and younger brother Jeff all played the position in high school — Dan at Marshfield, Tim and Jeff at Churchill.

Their first coach was Paul Euhus, who coached all three boys in football, basketball and baseball during their middle school years. Jeff is 6-6, Tim 6-5 and Dan 6-4. Paul is 6 foot; wife Marilee is 5-6.

“My brothers are 6-1 and 6-2,” Paul says with a laugh. “Not sure where the boys’ height came from.”

Dan, 46, lives in Baton Rouge, La. Jeff 39, resides in Midland, Texas.

“I started coaching T-ball with the three of them when they were real little,” says Euhus, retired and settled in Philomath. “After about seventh grade I turned them over to somebody else to learn the Churchill system.”

All three boys played tight end and defensive end and punted for the Lancers. Dan and Tim also handled kickoff duties.

“Dan was a member of Churchill’s team that beat Jefferson for the state 4A basketball championship in 1995,” Paul says. “He started two years in all three sports. Tim started three years in basketball, two in football and two in baseball.”

Tim grew up watching Oregon football in an era when the Ducks had a number of tight ends who would advance to the NFL — Jeff Thomason, Justin Peele, Josh Wilcox, Blake Spence and Jed Weaver. All of them could block, but also run and catch the football.

“I especially remember watching Wilcox,” Euhus says. “He was a heck of a player for them. I got to go in the locker room after a game when I was in middle school. I saw Josh and went up to him and told him, ‘I’m a tight end, too.’ In those years, (the Ducks) did a lot of play action and ran corner routes with their tight ends, the same as we did at Oregon State with Erickson. Watching those guys was fun.

“I was never fast enough to be a receiver, even going back to when Dad was coaching me in youth football,” says Tim, who was 6-5 and 185 pounds as a senior. “But I was tall and could run a little bit.”

Says his father: “All of the boys worked hard, but Tim worked really hard — especially after he got into high school. He wasn’t the best athlete in the world — a good athlete for sure — but he did what he had to excel. When he was a kid, I’d have put my money on him winding up playing college and maybe pro basketball. He was a tremendous basketball player. Nobody could stop him in high school. In one game in third or fourth grade, he scored 41 points in a half.”

Euhus was first-team 4A All-State and first-team All-State Tournament as a senior at Churchill in basketball. He was only third-team All-State in football, but that sport is where his future lay. Riley had offered a scholarship during Euhus’ junior year, but he left for the San Diego Chargers after the 1998 season. Successor Erickson kept the offer on the table, and told Euhus he felt he had NFL potential.

Euhus redshirted in 1999, then played mostly special teams as a redshirt freshman on the 2000 team that went 11-1 and clobbered Notre Dame 41-9 in the 2001 Fiesta Bowl. Maurer was the starting tight end, a rugged senior who caught 33 passes for 383 yards and a touchdown that season. Senior Bennie Johnson was his backup. Jonathan Smith was the quarterback. The tight ends coach? Jim Michalczik, Smith’s offensive line coach the past six seasons at OSU. Maurer served as a great mentor for Euhus.

Euhus with fellow former Oregon State Beaver Chad Johnson

“Marty was a really good football IQ guy,” Euhus says. “I was a basketball player. I had a lot of football to learn. I was doing algebra when I came in; Marty and Jim were doing calculus. It was hard for me to catch up.

“I learned route-running from Marty. He understood how to activate a defender. What I mean by that, when he was running a route, he understood how to get the defender’s hips shifted. As a receiver, you want him thinking you’re going another way, and then you make a move the other way where you have his hips turned. Marty was really good at that. Such an efficient route-runner.”

The body types of Maurer and Euhus were different.

“Marty was compact,” Euhus says. “His arms were shorter; he had a big torso. I was longer and had a smaller torso. He was a much better in-line counter blocker — one of the best at that I’ve ever seen.”

Euhus acquired from Maurer “the craft of studying video.”

“Marty and Jon (Smith) would spend time and watch (video) every night together during the season,” Euhus says. “They had a tight relationship. There were little things he’d pick up like, ‘when the defensive end is going inside, this hand is down.’ How much easier is it when you know which way the D-end will go if his hand is down? I remember learning a lot of that kind of stuff from Marty.”

As a sophomore in 2001, Euhus was the starting tight end. Smith was the senior QB.

“I didn’t spend enough time (in the video room) with Jon,” Euhus says. “We didn’t have the chemistry we needed.”

On the OSU team that was picked by Sports Illustrated to be national champion (but went 5-6), Euhus caught 27 passes for 316 yards and a TD.

With Derek Anderson at QB in 2002, Erickson’s last season at the OSU helm before leaving for the San Francisco 49ers, Euhus had 22 receptions for 385 yards and a score.

Euhus at Oregon State with quarterback Derek Anderson

“Tim had a fine career for us,” says Erickson, now retired and living in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. “He was an unbelievable competitor and great athlete. He was a tight end like they are now — he could catch it, block, do it all. He was one of those wide receiver-type players at tight end. He could run and make a lot of plays. He was an outstanding person, a great leader. He was special.”

Not as special as he was as a senior in his only season under Riley. On a team featuring the likes of Anderson, Steven Jackson, Mike Hass and James Newson at the skill positions, Euhus had 49 receptions for 645 yards and seven TDs. He was named to the first All-Pac-10 team.

Euhus stretching for a catch vs. Stanford

Maurer — owner of Medford Heating and Air Conditioning — followed Euhus’ final three seasons at OSU and offers these observations:

“Tim’s strengths were route-running, getting open and catching touchdowns. Tim was a mismatch. His best thing, he could run routes on both safeties and linebackers. He caught the ball in traffic, ran well and had great hands.

“Everybody puts their own little flavor on (the tight end position). The culture of the room is, you’re expected to make plays when the opportunity comes. You’re not going to get 10 to 15 targets a game. If you make a good enough play, you’ll get another. You need to maximize those opportunities.

“Tim caught a lot of Red Zone touchdowns. He had a knack for getting open down there. That was something different than anyone else was doing. Joe Newton continued that after Tim left. That was a staple of Riley’s offense — target the Red Zone. (Jack) Velling did that a lot this season, too. They cause mismatch nightmares down there. The Red Zone threat of the tight end is what opens up the whole offense, especially if you can’t run the ball.

“Tim’s an Oregon kid. We have a lot in common. We thought we were going to be Ducks, and they slighted us. Our mission was to beat the Ducks. We made a home and name for ourselves at Oregon State.”

During Euhus’ final season at Oregon State, he held a regular Monday night video session with Anderson at Valley Football Center.

“(Offensive coordinator) Paul Chryst would have a set of cut-ups ready for us to watch,” Euhus says. “We studied opposing defenses to death. We did a lot of ‘hot’ routes those two years.”

In Riley’s offensive system, there were more opportunities for the tight end to catch passes.

“In Coach Erickson’s offense, the tight end was there for play-action bootlegs, maybe a 10-yard option route if there was a good mismatch on a linebacker,” Euhus says. “We weren’t as big a part (of the receiving corps) in his system. With Dennis, tight ends wouldn’t be hot. Backside guys would. In Mike’s offense, the tight end would be hot. He used us as a downfield threat. The tight end numbers went up.”

In the Las Vegas Bowl, the Beavers trashed New Mexico 55-14 in Euhus’ final college game. Euhus caught seven passes for 121 yards.

“The hot piece was really significant as a safety valve,” Euhus says. “They played a lot of 3-4, and if they were blitzing, I’d cross the line, go five yards, look and catch the ball. There would be nobody there. I had a big game. Any time I had a high-production game, except maybe against Stanford, I had a lot of hot routes.”

Jackson’s presence, along with that of Newson and Hass, opened things for Euhus.

“Steve was always taking defenders away from me so I could get open,” he says. “We had good talent. Who you going to take away? Mike and Paul put together really good game plans knowing that.”

Riley recalls the penultimate game of Euhus’ OSU career, a 52-28 loss to No. 2 Southern Cal at the Coliseum. Euhus hauled in seven passes for 97 yards and a TD.

“We had a route called ‘Giant,’ a corner and up,” Riley says. “Derek would throw it over the back shoulder. I remember Tim making some circus catches. He was a very good outlet for Derek on stuff like that. He and Derek had good chemistry. Tim was a good route-runner. That’s when we started to use the tight end screen. He had some big plays on that.

“Tim was really a smart player, a tough player. He had a little bit of a nasty streak. He’d get after it. He was a wonderful guy to have on the team. He practiced so hard. A great example for everybody as an older player. A good teammate. He competed in practice. None of his success was surprising.

“We became a tight end team. They were always big weapons for us during my time at Oregon State. Tim was the start of it.”

Euhus gained about 10 pounds a year in each of his five years at Oregon State. His playing weight was 247 as a senior.

“For Pro Day before the draft, I was at 260, which was a little heavy,” he says.

In Buffalo, where he played his first two NFL campaigns, “our trainer put us in the ‘bod pod’ to find our actual body fat percentage. Then they put you on a meal plan. I went from 257 with 12 to 13 percent body fat to 257 with 7 percent. It’s incredible what you can do if you follow their plan.”

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Tim Euhus going airborne after a reception against Southern Cal his senior season

During Euhus’ senior season, a newcomer came onto the tight end scene at OSU — Newton, a hulking Roseburg native and physical specimen who could run, block and catch the ball. Joe redshirted in 2002, then was Euhus’ backup in 2003 as a redshirt freshman, with 13 receptions for 155 yards and a TD. “Joe was probably the most talented tight end to come through Oregon State,” Euhus says.

Newton, who would grow to 255 pounds on a 6-7 frame, had a huge sophomore season in 2004, snagging 56 passes for 687 yards and seven touchdowns. A foot injury caused him to miss the entire 2005 season.

“A tendon ruptured in two places,” he said. “It was a severe injury with a long rehab. I don’t think I was ever 100 percent after that. I didn’t regain whatever level of explosiveness I had before the injury.”

Newton came back as a senior in 2006 with 36 receptions for 466 yards and seven scores. He spent two years on the Seattle Seahawks’ practice squad before calling it a career.

“Tim was my mentor,” says Newton, who lives in Roseburg and is president of Lone Rock Timber. “He was super important to me for teaching me how to play the game and also being a true friend.

“Tim was one of the feistier guys I played with. He was definitely not afraid to get a little scrappy. He was a real battler. Tight ends have to block big, scary people — defensive ends and linebackers. It’s a very physical position. Sometimes we’re overmatched physically. I never saw Tim let that slow him down. You have to get fearless to do the job right. He never backed down.

“Tim really cared about me and my success at Oregon State. He took me under his wing. That meant a lot to me. We grew close. He’s honest and hard-working and he cares about his community and other people. I like so much about him.”

Euhus was chosen in the fourth round of the 2004 draft by Buffalo and had a fine rookie season, starting five of 12 games he participated in, catching 11 passes for 98 yards and two TDs. He would have only three more receptions in a career that took him from the Bills to the Steelers to the Cardinals to retirement. Today, he gets around pretty well for a guy who has had a dozen knee surgeries — eight to his right knee, four to his left.

Euhus with the ball as a Pittsburgh Steeler

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OK, Professor Euhus. What are the requirements of a good tight end at the college level?

“When I started playing, teams were looking for size, and they were looking for an in-line blocker first and foremost,” Euhus says. “The game was just starting to expand, but at that point, tight end was very much a blocker. He was mostly an afterthought as a receiver.

“Today, it’s a combination of size and speed. Blocking skills remain very important at the position. A really good tight end can do it all. I was in the end of that era of being a blocker first, but in my heart I was a pass-catcher first. I had always wanted to be a wideout, but I didn’t have the skills to do it. I’d grown up being able to catch the ball. So I played in the era where, ‘You need to block; we’ll throw you the ball every once in a while.’

“When Marty was at Oregon State, they’d get the ball in his hands two or three times a game. The last year with me, it was four or five. With Joe, it became seven or eight.”

Euhus coached tight ends at OSU in 2008 and ’09 (and later did stints as an assistant coach at Crescent Valley and Corvallis High).

“It was a great opportunity,” Euhus says. “All the lessons I learned about myself as a coach and a teacher of football, those things helped me be a better husband and dad, and a better leader, later on.”

The first year, Brady Camp, John Reese and Howard Croom shared the position.

“I had self-reflection learning moments,” Euhus says with a smile. “I wanted my guys to catch the ball, but our tight ends those years were blockers and weren’t high on the threat list (as receivers). We had guys we needed to get the ball to through the air, like Jacquizz and James Rodgers, Sammie Stroughter and Shane Morales. Our tight ends had their most success inside the 5-yard line. Brady ran the ‘flatter’ route with play action and either (Sean) Canfield or Lyle (Moevao) would toss the ball to him.”

Also coming up that year was a freshman, Joe Halahuni, who would start the next three seasons as a 6-2, 250-pound tight end.

“I loved being a part of Joe’s football career and development,” Euhus says. “I was really hard on him. I knew there was a great amount of potential there, but he had to learn the game. Before he got to Oregon State, he got by on being an amazing athlete and having his center of gravity in his ankles. He was a bowling ball, so hard to tackle.

“I would make him come into the football center at 9 p.m. after his study table to watch (video) or review with me on the white board til 10, 10:30. We needed him to be reliable. Joe became a great player for us. He got to training camp with the Browns, but he was a little too short for the NFL.”

Euhus loved coaching college football, but realized a career wasn’t in the cards for him.

“Too many hours,” he says. “It wasn’t the best thing for my marriage, or for being a dad.”

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The tight end position was initiated at Oregon State by Gary Houser, who caught 10 passes for 103 yards for the 1967 Giant Killers. The first receiver of any note at the position was 6-8, 220-pound Clark Hoss, who caught 24 passes for 284 yards and four touchdowns in 1971.

In 1985, linebacker Ron Heller was moved to tight end for his senior season. He snagged 14 balls for 176 yards and would go on to become the Beavers’ first tight end in the NFL. Heller started 45 games, with 84 receptions for 871 yards and five TDs. (Euhus, incidentally, had never heard of Heller.)

In that same year came the debut of Phil Ross, a 6-4, 220-pound athletic player who would play the tight end position for Oregon State through 1989. Ross holds the record for most career catches (153) and yards receiving (1,827), achieved in Dave Kragthorpe’s “Air Express” offense. Ross would go on to play two seasons with Birmingham in the World Football League in 1991 and ’92.

Says Euhus: “Marty and I would look at his records and we’d be like, ‘He wasn’t even a true tight end.’ He wasn’t in-line blocking, which is what we were expected to do.”

To eliminate the necessity of Euhus voting for himself, I offer these players as the six tight ends who had the best careers in Oregon State history:

1) Joe Newton (2003-06), 6-7, 255, 105 receptions for 1,308 yards and 15 TDs.

2) Tim Euhus (2000-03), 6-5, 245, 98 receptions for 1,346 yards and nine TDs.

3) Marty Maurer (1997-2000), 6-4, 245, 69 receptions for 887 yards and four TDs.

4) Connor Hamlett (2012-14), 6-7, 265, 104 receptions for 1,109 yards and 10 TDs.

5) Noah Togiai (2015-19), 6-4, 245, 102 receptions for 948 yards and 10 TDs.

6) Joe Halahuni (2008-11), 6-2, 250, 97 receptions for 1,147 yards and 13 TDs.

Luke Musgrave could have been the greatest of them all. The Bend native was on his way to a spectacular junior season, with 11 catches already, when he suffered a knee injury in the second game of 2022. He never played another game for the Beavers.

“Luke would have been their top target last season,” Euhus says. “He was their No. 1 guy to get the ball to in training camp. He was their Gronkowski. Joe Newton was that way, but the Beavers weren’t designing the offense around him. With Musgrave, they were. When you lose that, it’s a killer.”   

Musgrave declared for the draft after the season and finished his OSU career with 47 receptions for 633 yards and two TDs. He was off to a terrific rookie campaign with Green Bay before a lacerated kidney ended his season on Nov. 22. Musgrave had 33 catches for 341 yards for the Packers.

“Luke is unreal,” Euhus says. “He runs the 40 in a legit 4.4. We saw it at the NFL Combine. He’s a great route-runner. He’s not scared to get in there and block. He has the most athleticism of any tight end Oregon State has ever had.”

Then there is Jack Velling, the 6-4, 240-pound sophomore who opened eyes as a true freshman, catching 16 passes for 283 yards and three touchdowns in 2022. He has 29 receptions for 438 yards and eight TDs this season.

“Jack is right behind Musgrave and right there with Newton as being a phenomenal athlete,” Euhus says. “To get to the next level, he has to get better in the run game and much better in the pass-blocking game. But as a junior, I was still a very average pass blocker. He’s just a youngster. He’s a very efficient route runner. Great player, fun to watch.”

Currently, the Beavers have three tight ends in the NFL — Musgrave; 6-6, 260-pound Teagan Quitoriano, a block-first tight end at OSU from 2019-21 who is in his second year with the Texans, and Togiai, in his fourth NFL season and third with the Eagles.

What are the requirements for an NFL tight end?

“Similar to college,” Euhus says, “with even a higher premium on the receiving aspect. Many of them are split out more than ever in passing situations.”

The first NFL tight ends Euhus recalls noticing were Dallas’ Jay Novacek and Buffalo’s Jay Riemersma.

“Then there were Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates, tremendous receivers both — and Rob Gronkowski became the next incarnation of that,” Euhus says. “Right now, there are five or six great tight ends who are 12-targets-a-game type of receivers. You have to game-plan for those guys. Gronk and Aaron Hernandez were unbelievably good blockers, and Travis Kelce is, too. They still have to have that skill.”

When I ask Euhus for the top NFL tight ends of the recent era — and we’re talking mid-1990s to the present — he stresses that longevity matters.

“The reason that Tony is the GOAT is he did it for so long,” he says. “The No. 2 criteria for me, what defines them as being the best, is if they were their team’s No. 1 option in the pass game. Today, Kelce is the Chiefs’ No. 1 option downfield. George Kittle is close to that (with the 49ers). Gronk was there. Are you the go-to guy, or an afterthought?”

The Euhus Top Ten

1. Tony Gonzalez (1997-2013) 6-5, 245, 1,325 receptions for 15,127 yards and 111 TDs. “An amazing run-blocker as well as route-runner and pass-catcher. He took extremely good care of his body, which added to his longevity.”

Tim Euhus with one of his idols, Hall of Fame Tony Gonzalez (all photos courtesy of Tim Euhus)

2. Rob Gronkowski (2010-21) 6-6, 265, 621 receptions for 9,286 yards and 92 TDs. “Maybe the best athlete ever to play the position. His size and speed created such bad matchups. He also played with one of the best QBs (Tom Brady) and for one of the best coaches of all-time (Bill Belichick), who wasn’t afraid to use him differently than the other tight ends were being used at the time.”

3. Jason Witten, (2003-20) 6-6, 265, 1,228 receptions for 13,046 yards and 74 TDs. “Great run-blocker, pass-blocker and pass-catcher. He also took amazing care of his body.”

4. Shannon Sharpe (1990-2003) 6-2, 230, 815 receptions for 10,060 yards and 62 TDs. “Anyone who builds his own blocking shed takes that part of the game seriously. He embraced the physicality the position takes.”

5. Antonio Gates (2003-18) 6-4, 255, 955 receptions for 11,841 yards and 116 TDs. “Great route-runner with soft hands. Also, deceptively fast. He was efficient blocking in the run game.”

6. Travis Kelce (2014-present) 6-5, 250, 888 receptions for 11,157 yards and 74 TDs. “The Chiefs look to get the ball to him in multiple ways by creating holes in zones for him, or with one-on-one matchups that are greatly in his favor. His speed is unreal for a tight end.”

7. Jeremy Shockey (2002-11) 6-5, 250, 547 receptions for 6,143 yards and 37 TDs. “He could run, he could pass-block, he could truck over people when he caught the ball.”

8. Heath Miller (2005-15) 6-5, 255, 592 receptions for 6,569 yards and 45 TDs. “Maybe the greatest all-around tight end, a player underappreciated outside of Pittsburgh. Had the size, speed and athleticism to be one of the greatest ever statistically, but in the Steelers’ offense he wasn’t called up to be a No. 1 receiver because they had other Pro Bowlers.”

9. Jay Riemersma (1997-2004) 6-5, 255, 221 receptions for 2,524 yards and 23 TDs. “Great run-blocker who could take advantage of the middle of the field and create mismatches that were a quarterback’s best friend.”

10. Dallas Clark (2003-13) 6-3, 250, 505 receptions for 5,665 yards and 53 TDs. “Dallas could do it all. Just a great athlete. In 2009 and he had 100 catches for 10 TDs.”

Also:

Greg Olsen (2007-20) 6-5, 255, 742 receptions for 8,683 yards and 60 TDs

Ben Watson (2004-19) 6-3, 255, 547 receptions for 6,058 yards and 44 TDs

George Kittle (2017-23) 6-4, 250, 445 receptions for 5,989 yards and 36 TDs

Vernon Davis (2006-19), 6-3, 250, 583 receptions for 7,562 yards and 63 TDs

Ben Coates (1991-2000), 6-5, 245, 499 receptions for 5,555 yards and 50 TDs

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