Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 30, 1993 TAG: 9312300279
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
Pete Mitchell doesn't stand any taller or look any more impressive on a computer printout than he did four years ago, when his college choices included Central Michigan and Grand Valley State.
Check out his numbers, though, and it's no mystery why he is considered one of the top tight ends in college football.
In an era in which the tight-end position virtually has been eliminated from many offenses, Mitchell led the Big East Conference with 66 receptions, including 13 in Boston College's 41-39 upset of then-No. 1 Notre Dame.
"Mitchell was a little shorter, a youngster with real good hands who had a great gift for football," Eagles coach Tom Coughlin said. "He's a guy who had great sense, a guy who could get his body in the right place at the right time."
Great, great, great. Could this be the same guy who played at Brother Rice outside Detroit but didn't get a call from the Big Ten programs in that area?
"I wasn't really highly recruited out of high school," Mitchell said. "A lot of people said I was too small [and] too slow to play tight end, and that I couldn't play defense."
It took some prodding by the father of a former Boston College player, Brian Brennan, to persuade the staff of then-BC coach Jack Bicknell to take a look at Mitchell.
"They gave me the OK," he said, "but I couldn't tell whether they had offered me a scholarship when I came in for a visit Dec. 1.
"When I didn't hear from them for a month, I called them back to see if they were still interested. They said there was some mix-up in the mail, so I didn't get any information."
Mitchell might have written off the Eagles, "except that they were one of the best [teams] that had an interest in me," he said.
His two older brothers had played at Central Michigan and Grand Valley State, the latter a Division II program in Allendale, Mich., but Mitchell felt he could play at the I-A level.
Although he is listed at 6 feet 2 by the Eagles, Mitchell appears to be no taller than 6-1, if that. He has bulked up from the 195-200 pounds he carried in high school, but in no way does he resemble the prototypical tight end.
Virginia tight end Aaron Mundy, frequently mentioned as a pro prospect, is listed at 6-6 and 249 pounds. Even Mitchell's backup, Gordon Laro, is 6-3 and 251 pounds.
"Two kids went to Michigan my senior year," Mitchell said, "so I wasn't even the big recruit out of my high school. I think the old recruiting coordinator, Barry Gallup, just saw something in me."
Gallup, now the head coach at Northeastern, was fired after the 1990 season along with the rest of the Bicknell staff. As a result, Mitchell had to prove himself to a new head coach accustomed to pro-sized tight ends.
"Coach Coughlin came in and put his fist down and changed a lot of things," Mitchell said. "It was tough. There were a lot of doubts in my mind. Coach Coughlin doesn't forget many things."
He wasn't about to excuse Mitchell's tardiness for the last day of winter workouts in 1992.
"We had penalty runs," said Mitchell, referring to all rules violators. "At that point, I didn't know him and he didn't know me, but I gained a lot of respect for him and he gained some of respect for me.
"I was out there running every day. I did everything he asked."
Coughlin couldn't remember the incident Wednesday, probably because it was not an isolated case.
"It happened a lot in our first winter program," Coughlin said. "With a lot of people . . . we had to get their attention."
Mitchell did not start as a redshirt freshman in 1991, but he received enough playing time as the backup to Mark Chmura, now with the Green Bay Packers, to catch 29 passes.
Although he led the team in receptions last year with 40, Mitchell blossomed against Tennessee in the Hall of Fame Bowl, when he had nine receptions and scored two touchdowns.
The Eagles sometimes use three tight ends at a time, and five are listed on the depth chart. Mitchell frequently lines up at H-back, a position frequently filled by Virginia's leading receiver, Patrick Jeffers.
"Jeffers is a wide receiver first," UVa coach George Welsh said. "Mitchell is a tight end first. He's not as fast as Jeffers, or at least I hope he isn't."
Mitchell wasn't surprised that Coughlin emphasized the tight end because of the success Mark Bavaro had with the Giants, but that didn't mean he had to emphasize Mitchell.
"The thing about Coach Coughlin is, he doesn't compliment you a whole lot," Mitchell said. "When he says something, it means he's counting on you. When he was getting on me, it had to be for a purpose."
by CNB