Latest / Press Pass / Press Pass | Tanner Koziol Media Zoom Call | 2026 NFL Draft

Transcript

Press Pass | Tanner Koziol Media Zoom Call | 2026 NFL Draft · Press Pass

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hey Tanner, Congratulations.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: Thanks you.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: First, did you have any contact before the draft with
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: the Jaguars. How much interest did they have in you?
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: If you know? Yeah, I met with them.
• 0:12
  Speaker 3: I met with a tight end coach over Zoom and
• 0:15
  Speaker 3: it went great.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Coach A.
• 0:16
  Speaker 3: He's was just awesome. And Uh, that was really it.
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: No visits or anything.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: What did they tell you about in terms of how
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: they would like to use you, how they envisioned you
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: working in this offense?
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah, obviously what I do in the red zone and
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: what I do in the past game is very good
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: and for what I do and I can only get
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: better at it. And then I really expected that coach
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: at Google and Senior Bowl. I really wanted to put
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: on film that I could move people that I want
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: to be in the run game that I'm very willing
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: and i just need to be coached up some more
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: and I'm going to continue to work on that.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: And that's something that he saw in me as well.
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: He saw the potential that I have in the run game,
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: and he trusts that he's a coach that could coach
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: me up to get done, get it done and just
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: continue to get better.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Awesome.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: Congratulations again, thank you Hi.
• 1:01
  Speaker 4: Dan Our, congrats. Could you kind of give us the
• 1:04
  Speaker 4: thirty thousand foot view coming out of high school? How
• 1:06
  Speaker 4: you land at ball State, how you have a quick
• 1:08
  Speaker 4: pit stop at Wisconsin, then you go to Houston.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: Just ma'am.
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: So, I was at ball State for three years, and
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: really I only got to Ball State because the one
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: week that I played Coach new Son, the head coach
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: at Ball State, he had a bye week while he
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: was hit the head coach at Ball State, and it
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: was the one game that he was able to come
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: see and it was the game that I was playing
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: against his son, and that was the game I got
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: my offer to the Ball State and I was with
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: Coach new my tight end coach, and an offensive coordinator
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: who's here today, Coach Elliott, and they just they saw
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: a very big role for me within the offense in
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: terms of just being a really right when I got there,
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: they put so much belief in me and that helped
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: me a ton just excel for my freshman year, sophomore,
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: in the junior year, and then after coach knew had
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: gotten fired after my junior year, I was really confused.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: I wasn't sure what I wanted to do.
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: I wanted to stay with the I want to stay
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: with coach Elliott absolutely because he was calling plays and
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: everything was going so well. And then I made a
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: quick decision I would landed at Wisconsin and just realized
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: that it wasn't the best fit for my senior year
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: and I made the move to Houston and it ended
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: up being.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: Everything I wanted and more.
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: And I learned so much about the game there and
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: just continue to elevate as a person and a player
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: through the people I met there.
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: And then last one, for me, I'm just curious as
• 2:19
  Speaker 4: a fellow tight end, what was your reaction did you
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: watch the draft last night as eight tight ends came
• 2:24
  Speaker 4: off the board last night on Day two and then
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: Sadika on Thursday night.
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, it's awesome to see tight ends just
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: get the love. I mean, the position I think has
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: been undervalued for a little bit, and I think it's
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: the past five six years it's just been going up
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: and up, and trends that you're seeing in the offenses
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: and how many tight ends, how much more they're getting
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: on the field and more bigger sets in the run game.
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: I just think it's really cool to see and I'm
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: really excited for the position, continues to go.
• 2:49
  Speaker 4: Have you always played tight end Tanner or were you
• 2:51
  Speaker 4: wide receiver convert or Yeah?
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: I played quarterback and wide receiver in high school and
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: really my junior senior year of high school, I knew
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: that going into college I was going to be put
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: as a tight end, and I just always had planned
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: on it going into college.
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: Awesome, congrats, Thank you. We'll go to Jamal, then to O'Halleran.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: It's man On Tanylor.
• 3:13
  Speaker 5: Congratulations. Man. Can you tell us a little bit about
• 3:15
  Speaker 5: how you got into playing football?
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah?
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: Really I had two cousins, two older cousins that were
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: playing football, like across the town, and it was just
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: my parents were putting me in every single sport football, basketball, baseball,
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: even swimming.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: I was doing it all.
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: Just loved playing sports, and football was the one that
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: always I always waited for the fall as for the
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: most excitement, and I just never stopped.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: What's your kind of favorite thing?
• 3:40
  Speaker 5: I mean, you've been one of the more productive pass
• 3:42
  Speaker 5: catching Titans and college football. Is it catching a big
• 3:45
  Speaker 5: fifty to fifty ball? Is it catching a touchdown?
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: Yeah, obviously going up and getting it, but anything I
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: could do to help you.
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: A part of the reason that play works is always
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: my goal.
• 3:55
  Speaker 5: Congratulations, man, thanks, thank you. I had a Ryan o'helen
• 4:00
  Speaker 5: from the Times Union.
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: Going from the Men American Conference in the Big Twelve,
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: you obviously had confidence you can make the transition, But
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: was was there a game or a moment.
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: Where you said, Hey, I really do belong at this level.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: I always had that confidence.
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: Honestly, it grew in me as I got into college
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: and through my freshman and junior year, my tight end
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: coach really made sure that he instilled a ton of
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: confidence in me. And really the confidence that I have
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: from him and the confidence I had in my.
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: Faith allows me to play real free.
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: So when I really got to the Big twelve, I
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: knew I've always been ready for it and it was just.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: Really always the part of the plan.
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: And when I got there, I would say just being
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: with the coaches and doing the same process every day
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: just really helped me know like this is where I belong.
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: These coaches and their belief in me also says that
• 4:45
  Speaker 3: and just went on from there. Last thing for me,
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: if you had to pick one game from last year
• 4:50
  Speaker 3: for Houston to really showcase your skills.
• 4:52
  Speaker 6: On what would it be?
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: Yeah, LSU, that last Bowl game. I think everyone should
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: play in bowl games, playing bowl games. That was the
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: most fun game of my life. I love football. I
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: never want to stop playing it, and that I think
• 5:06
  Speaker 3: that Bowl game showcased a lot of that.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: Thanks buddy, thank you. This will be our last one.
• 5:12
  Speaker 6: Rachel Patanic, congratulations. I know if you're sitting in the
• 5:17
  Speaker 6: front porch outside your house, I'm assuming just what was
• 5:19
  Speaker 6: it like inside a few moments ago when you got
• 5:21
  Speaker 6: that call.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was surreal. Just my whole family around me,
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: all my friends.
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: That I grew up playing football, baseball, basketball with all
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: around me, my coaches.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: It's just it's just.
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: A final final outcome of all the hard work that
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: I put in with all these people, and all the
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: hard work that they've put into me helped me get
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: to this point.
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: It's really just awesome to feel with them.
• 5:43
  Speaker 6: How hard has it been the last couple of days,
• 5:45
  Speaker 6: kind of waiting and hoping to hear a name called.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: It was Honestly, it was a little tough.
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: But just knowing that I'm going to be at the
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: right spot for the right reasons is the
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: Faith I have and I'm really excited to see that
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: come through,