Coach’s view: South Carolina’s new tight end can fit wherever he goes

Traevon Kenion had been a tight end, and he’ll be a tight end going forward as a South Carolina football player.

But when he joined one of the best high school football programs in North Carolina, Wake Forest, the Cougars didn’t really have an opening.

“We didn’t need another tight end,” Wake Forest coach Reggie Lucas said. “So when he came in, fitting in at wide receiver was the perfect fit for us.”

The Cougars had been a three-back, one-wide receiver team that took them to a pair of undefeated seasons. They already had an established veteran tight end.

Some future college players might take umbrage. Kenion did not.

“We really didn’t have a discussion about it,” Lucas said. “That’s just kind of where he went to. He didn’t say, ‘Coach, I want to play tight end.” Or he didn’t want to play wide receiver. We had a need for the wide receiver position.”

He ended up making the most of being the primary target in a power-run offense. He accounted for 834 of his team’s 1,500 passing yards, scoring 15 times and gaining 19 yards per catch.

And the 6-foot-4, 220 pounder impressed his new coaching staff.

“He runs well, catches the ball well, blocks well,” Lucas said. “I can say just a great addition to our football team.

“I think he’s one of those guys that fits in well wherever he goes. The thing is, South Carolina is getting a young man with a lot of football upside, and I think coach (Will) Muschamp is going to develop him into a heck of a college athlete.”

Lucas, who coached the likes of Clemson’s Dexter Lawrence and Stanford’s Bryce Love, said he expects big things from Kenion once he gets into a college weight program.

South Carolina’s tight end position will be in a bit of flux next season.

Veterans K.C. Crosby and Jacob August have graduated. Senior Keil Pollard seems poised to be a major option, and Kyle Markway got more work as the season went on.

But beyond those two, the team has only Evan Hinson, a high-ceiling athlete who splits time with basketball, and Will Register, a third-year local product who played in four games last season.

So with two seniors and mostly unproven players behind them, perhaps there could be a spot for Kenion to deliver early, or at least get bigger and set him up for more down the line.

“I think he has a lot of intangibles that obviously a coach doesn’t have to teach,” Lucas said. “He’s going to turn into a heck of a dadgum D-I player.”

This story was originally published January 31, 2019 at 7:50 AM.