What Grant Newsome asked of Michigan tight ends AJ Barner, Colston Loveland in offseason, how work is paying off

Michigan Wolverines football tight ends coach Grant Newsome was candid with senior AJ Barner before he even committed to the Maize and Blue out of the NCAA transfer portal. The two got to work once he joined the Wolverines over the winter, and it’s coming together this season.

“He’s done a great job embracing being a complete tight end,” Newsome said Wednesday. “And that’s what, when we were recruiting him in the portal, I told him that’s where I saw his game needed to improve.”

Barner wasn’t known as a ‘run-blocking tight end’ at Indiana, but that’s how he was looked at during the early portion of this season at Michigan. Pro Football Focus ranks Barner the top run-blocking tight end in the nation with an 81.9 rating among those with 150 or more such snaps.

“He was obviously a massive individual, a massive human being, yet there was still improvement to be made, and there still is for anyone — coaches, players,” Newsome said. “But he’s embraced that and had the awareness of, hey, I can be this dominant blocking tight end. He’s done a great job embracing the coaching and working his tail off, and I think you guys are starting to see that come to fruition.”

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Michigan sophomore Colston Loveland was also viewed as a pass-catcher first coming off his breakout finish to his freshman campaign in 2022, in which he caught 2 touchdown passes, one against Ohio State and another in the Big Ten title game against Purdue. Working on his blocking was instrumental, and Newsome asked a lot out of him.

“One big thing I challenged him on, obviously, the run-blocking game, especially as a freshman tight end who played a lot, that’s something that was a challenge for him,” Newsome said. “Keep improving that, and make sure that’s not something that you’re not labeled when you come out, after next year or the year after and also for our own success, that you’re not just the pass-catching tight end, that you’re not just the big receiver that’s out there.

“You have to be able to do tight end things, and he loves that, he embraces it. Obviously, with all the guys, still room for improvement, but I don’t think anybody would watch our tape and say that he’s just a big receiver.

“In the pass game it was, hey, once you got the ball in your hand, go be that dynamic guy that teams have to fear. The Indiana game was a great example of that. He catches kind of a scramble drill and then all of the sudden looks like an NFL type guy running down the sideline.”

Loveland has improved his run blocking, grading out at 61.7, much higher than his 52.7 rating from a season ago.

The Loveland-Barner duo has come alive in recent weeks. During the Big Ten season, Loveland has caught 14 passes for 271 yards and 3 touchdowns. In that span, Barner has reeled in 16 catches for 180 yards and 1 touchdown.

The breakout game came against MSU, a 49-0 win, when Michigan’s tight ends combined for 186 receiving yards — more than the Spartans had total yards — and 3 scores. Newsome believes it was just a matter of time.

“We’re very, very lucky that we have a ton of really, really good players, not only on offense but also defense and special teams,” the Michigan assistant said. “I had a friend kind of ask me, ‘Oh, the tight ends are taking off,’ I said, ‘That’s who they’ve always been.’ You’ve got nine guys who are elite, high-level players on each side of the ball, and some weeks they’re going to be a little bit quieter, just because of the nature of the game.

“Part of that was the first how many weeks of the season, I don’t think Colston took a snap past two minutes into the fourth quarter. Also, too, you’re up by 30 and you’re probably not going to throw the ball that much. That’s why they were showing up more in the blocking game, and then the ball happened to find them a little bit and you see the result.”

It helps to have a great quarterback. Michigan junior J.J. McCarthy has been stellar and is the current Heisman Trophy frontrunner.

“J.J.’s unbelievable,” Newsome said. “I don’t have any doubt — I know I’m biased — but I think he’s the best quarterback in college football. Like [Michigan head] Coach [Jim Harbaugh] said the other day, he’s got the chance to be the best quarterback to ever come through here. I think he deserves all of that, because of how he prepares, and obviously he’s incredibly talented, as you guys all see.

“But he’s in the building as much as any player, and he’s truly dedicated and he’s just a selfless guy. I can’t say enough good things about who he is a person, even before who he is as a player.”