New football assistant Thompson ready to tap potential in tight end corp
Tight end coach Tavita Thompson poses for a portrait on April 12 in the Indoor Athletic Complex.
Central Michigan football assistant Tavita Thompson expects perfection.
"The bar is always really high for me," he said I told those guys, 'everything that you do...you do it with perfection,' so they should ask for the most out of themselves."
Thompson's demands in his first-year as CMU's tight ends coach has come a long way since joining the staff two months ago — taking over a position that's going through a transition.
Having already said farewell to Tyler Conklin, who totaled over 1,000 yards receiving and 11 touchdowns, the Chippewas are to find out what the young tight end group can do on the field.
Through five weeks of spring practice, leading up to the annual team scrimmage at Kelly/Shorts Stadium this Saturday, three are fighting for positioning on the depth chart.
The current situation consists of a redshirt freshman, greyshirt and senior who was diagnosed with a concussion back in September of last season. Only the latter has had playing experience in Logan Hessbrook.
This hasn't fazed Thompson in the slightest, who's motivation to come to Central Michigan centered around the spread offense. He previously served as a graduate assistant at Nebraska for three seasons before accepting the job.
"We have a long way to go but we've come a long way," Thompson said. "We've have a lot of ability in the room and we just have to capitalize on things we're good at and work on things we're bad at."
Excitement is brewing in regards to what the new crop of playmakers can transcend on the field, especially with everyone having far different backgrounds before coming to Mount Pleasant.
For Keegan Cossou, the former three-star prospect and No. 21 ranked player from the state of Michigan, according to the 247Sports Composite, he was widely considered to be the best overall player in CMU's 2017 class.
Cossou committed to the Chippewas over offers from multiple Big Ten schools, including Minnesota, Purdue and Nebraska.
"A talented kid, gifted athlete, heavily recruited out of high school," CMU head coach John Bonamego described of Cossou. "With that upside, every practice and every rep is important for him, much like the rest of the young guys on the team. He's definitely a talented kid."
Also returning from last year is Hessbrook, the transfer out of Saginaw Valley State, who gained local notoriety after playing a heavy role in the multiple MHSAA Division 6 State Championships won by Ithaca High School.
Hessbrook signed with SVSU instead of the Chippewas to get immediate playing time. But, after breaking his collarbone and feeling he could contribute at the Division I level, he left for Central Michigan.
"Logan has done a really good job in leading and getting those guys ready," Thompson said. "He's definitely a difference maker, especially for our position group."
Hessbrook became part of the narrative last season following his concussion as multiple passing targets succumbed to injuries towards the beginning of conference play. Before going through concussion protocol, Hessbrook was fifth on the team with 10 catches for 132 yards and one touchdown.
Hessbrook returned to practice last week but is being handled cautiously, much to the extent of other presumed starters Malik Fountain and Alex Briones, Bonamego said.
It's unclear as to whether Hessbrook will participate in the scrimmage.
"We're thing at some positions and we have to be smart as coaches in terms of what we ask our guys to do," Bonamego said. "With Logan, we just have to keep him healthy because he can be a very good player for us in the fall."
Bernhard Raimann was supposed to make his debut last season for the Chippewas had it not been for military service requirements at his home country of Austria.
Like many other European countries, once a person graduates from high school, it's their civic duty to serve one year before earning a reserve title under zero pay. Raimann moved to Michigan has a foreign exchange student, becoming a two-star recruit from Delton-Kellogg High and No. 122 ranked tight end in the country in 2017.
"One thing that's really nice to see out of (Raimann) is the work ethic and the effort," Thompson said. "He's giving constant effort, even if he messes up, he's still flying around and you can appreciate that. He's big and he's just learning how to do everything. For him to make this transition into college and be where he's at is really fun to see."
Once the incoming 2018 signing class moves in before fall camp in August, Central Michigan is set to welcome former quarterback turned tight end in Joel Wilson of Petoskey. The three-sport athlete didn't receive a full scholarship until five days prior to National Signing Day when he took a final visit.
Wilson earned a walk-on offer back in October after attending one of CMU's summer football camps, running routes in one-on-one drills that caught the attention of Bonamego and his staff.
With all the pieces set in stone as spring practice nears its end, Thompson is delighted to be in this environment, he said.
"I love the program and I love the guys that I'm working with," Thompson said. "I couldn't have been blessed with a better staff. These guys are awesome, they work their tail off, they're detail and I love it."
