SEATTLE – Johnie Kirton figured he just had a sore foot. It happens to big guys, and the bigger you are, the longer it lingers. But this one just wasn’t improving. He tried to play through it, but by the end of the 2005 season, Kirton knew something had to be wrong.
There was. Doctors discovered a broken bone in Kirton’s left foot, and it caused the sophomore from Jackson High School to miss all of spring camp.
“I played through it all of last season, but it just got worse and worse,” Kirton said. “It was frustrating to have to sit out in the spring because I was getting comfortable at tight end. But I’m good now, I’m healthy.”
Kirton got clearance from doctors to resume practice without limitations earlier this week and coaches hope he can continue to become what they viewed when they moved Kirton from tailback to tight end a year ago.
“He’s improved because he has a new attitude,” tight ends coach Bob Simmons said. “He knows he’s going to be a tight end and he knows he can be a good one. He’s big, he’s athletic, he can run. Now he just has to learn some of the fundamentals like blocking, route running, things he didn’t have to worry about as much when he was a running back.”
It’s fair to say that Kirton wasn’t thrilled to be moved to tight end. After all, he’d had a ridiculously good senior season at Jackson, rushing for 2,675 yards, one yard short of the state record. He averaged almost nine yards a carry and scored 34 touchdowns and was the Gatorade state player of the year.
But coaches looked at Kirton’s combination of speed and size (6-foot-3, 280 pounds) and saw a guy who could help a then-thin tight end spot. But it wasn’t exactly what Kirton wanted.
“I had the mindset of a running back,” Kirton said. “I was used to getting the ball 30 times a game and I knew what I was doing. Then they asked me to learn something new and it was a hard thing to swallow. But now it’s fun, I enjoy it.”
“He just had to buy into it,” Simmons said. “He didn’t see himself as a tight end. Now he does and that has made him work to become a better player.”
Kirton says he’s a lot more comfortable now, as he’s improved his route running and footwork. He says he’s not as fast as he was when he was coming out of high school, as he’s had to get bigger to battle defensive linemen. Still, he moves well for someone his size.
It remains possible, though, that Kirton could be used a bit in the backfield in short-yardage situations this season. Head coach Tyrone Willingham said that it wasn’t likely, and Kirton has yet to take snaps in the backfield this fall, but he says offensive coordinator Tim Lappano has talked a little bit with Kirton about the possibility.
For now, though, Kirton is focused on fulfilling the promise he’s shown at tight end. Last year, he started two games and finished with 14 catches for 152 yards and a touchdown. This year he’s competing for playing time with sophomore Michael Gottlieb and junior Robert Lewis, and the Huskies are expected to employ several two-tight end sets, meaning there will be playing time for all three.
“I’m excited because I know I’m getting better,” Kirton said. “I’m still struggling with some things but with my natural ability, once I do learn those things, I can be freakish.”
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