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Tight End University has caught the football world this week and for good reason.
After all, no position group in sports is put together a three-day summit filled with fun activities such as enjoying a concert with some of the best actions in the country, including Taylor Swift, Luke Combs and Kane Brown.
However, not all games and no work for the 80 plus tight ends traveled to Nashville. The whole reason why TEU was composed by George Kittle, Travis Kelce and Greg Olsen had to raise the game for all those participating.
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San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (85) looks at under San Francisco 49ers MiniCamp on June 10, 2025 at SAP Performance Facility in Santa Clara, approx. (Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Yes, the activities improve connections and friendship from the field. But improvements in the field are what this group strives for each year.
A good example was located inside Vanderbilt University’s meeting room on Tuesday morning, where all the tight ends with coaches, all the tight ends, went through meetings with some of the game’s elite, past and present.
After Kelce and the latest Denver Bronco Evan Engram went through their part of the meeting, and before Olsen and Jeremy Shockey underwent a Q&A session, Pakinomist was digital privileged enough to sit in Kittle’s time in front of the room.
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The message? “Things should be a big tea.”
If Kittle wants something to be soaked by each tight end in the room before going off to their respective training camps, it is to know what the gold standard to play the tight end position is.
Jon Embree, Kittle’s Old San Francisco 49ers Tight Ends Coach, which he still gets advice from today, used to leave notecards in his player’s cabinets with small rights on how to “maintain the standard for your tight ends.”
Kittle asked Kinde to make some for the group in Nashville, and everyone stared directly at the projector screen as the highest paid tight end in the NFL today read the first line.
George Kittle, #85 and tight ends/assistant head coach Jon Embrie of San Francisco 49ers on the field before the game against Jacksonville Jaguars at Tiaa Bank Field on November 21, 2021 in Jacksonville, Florida. The 49s defeated Jaguars 30-10. (Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)
“Be physically in everything you do,” Kittle said as he went down on the list of Embria. “With the ball, make the first man miss … He would always tell me, ‘Don’t be tackled by the first guy. You aren’t allowed to be tackled by a guy. If you are tackled by a guy, you’re fine.'”
Two other main points were “Don’t Run Out Out of Bounds” and “Run Game, finished between your husband and the ball”, which is simply translated to make sure your husband you have to block not be the one who makes tackle on the ball.
Physically, of course, no matter what position you play in the NFL. Tight ends are used in an abundance of ways, so they have to impose on, while they are also extremely athletic to get catches, and as Embree says to make tacklers miss.
But Kittle went down the note card to one of the more important pieces of information: “We need to know more than anyone other than QB.” He previously gave a good anecdote to explain why it is so important as he entered the 49ers dressing room after his first half of his first ever -season game in the NFL.
Kittle thought he had done fine, but the office saw things differently.
“I’ve never got my a-torn more in my entire life,” Kittle said. “It was the only time trainer, Embree has ever torn my AI all my life. Just got a bright bulb in my head about how real this is — is, specifically for you rookies. How this is your job and this is a chance to influence you for the rest of your life. This is the best option you will ever have in your entire life.”
Kittle hit the Playbook hard and realized that the tight end must “know the whole concept” of acting, which allows them to communicate with teammates regardless of the situation.
After all, the Embree’s next noteecard explained why it is important to know what everyone is doing on every spectacle.
“Our job description is to block, catch passes, pass [protect]And playing special teams, “Kittle read to the room.
Tight ends really have to do it all, and the big ones in the NFL differ by being the guy coach can trust to get the job done, whether it blocks an elite defensive end in Pass Pro, or to run the perfect route to pick up a big win.
It’s one thing to read it in the classroom, but Kittle loved the last part of his speech: showing highlights for everyone in the room.
Of course, he had to drop his own great plays, but he started with a basic play for Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs superstar, against Atlanta Falcons.
Kansas City Chiefs Tight End Travis Kelce (AP Photo/Ed Zurga, File)
“Getting vertical” or getting a catch and moving quickly is what every pass-catcher has the task of the NFL. Kittle emphasized Kelce’s use of a quick first step that made a “four-yard pass for a 10-yard win.”
There was also the Super Bowl-Champion Dallas Goedert from Philadelphia Eagles who showed “not going out of borders” from Embria as he pushed a Green Bay Packer’s corner from him three separately times while driving for a touchdown.
From Sam Laporta’s 50-Plus-Yard Run blocking, to Mark Andrews, Isaiah Probably and Trey McBride were reliable goals for their quarterbacks in real time, Kittle went through a ghost of acting showing everything that is close is about: How to reach the Gold standard to play the position.
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“You go into the classroom and you hear George and Travis talk about things they look at everything a little different,” Gooedert said. “You can find what you correlate with them, so it’s just a great way to learn little things and hopefully improve your game a little every time you come here.”
Engram added: “There are 80-something guys out here, and that’s to help make everyone else better. We ultimately have to compete against each other, but it’s just not the nature of these guys. Everyone is here to make each other better, to share small information, save knowledge, and that’s the coolest part for me.”
Each player in the room shares the same passion and goals within the football match and they will all be the best they can be to help their team.
To do this, Kittle’s message to the group is really one to strive for, no matter how many years these players have in the league.
The tight end George Kittle, #85 of San Francisco 49ers, warms up before an NFL football match against Los Angeles Rams at Levi’s Stadium on December 12, 2024 in Santa Clara, California. (Brooke Sutton/Getty Images)
“I just think it should be played in a certain way,” Kittle told Pakinomist Digital. “I think guys should want to play a particular way, would want to do everything right. The tight end position you run block you pass [protect]You catch the ball, you run around, you score touchdowns. You do everything, so why not be good at everything? That’s what I want to show off.
“It also means a lot when we have a platform to stand up in front of all the league’s tight ends and hype the guys sitting there playing really well. A little positive reinforcement goes a long way and to say, ‘Hello, this is noticed by guys around the league. These are big plays and that’s what you need to do if you want to get to this level of play.’
