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

0:00Hey, Tanner, congratulations. Thank you. Did you have any contact before the draft with the Jaguars? How much interest did they have in you if you know? Yeah, I met with them. I met with a tight end coach over Zoom. And it went great, Coach A. He was just awesome. And that was really it. No visits, anything. What did they tell you about in terms of how they would like to use you, how they envision you working in this offense? Yeah, obviously what I do in the red zone and what I do in the past game is very good. And for what I do, and I can only get better at it. And then I really respect that coach at Google. And senior, but I really wanted to put on film that I could move people that I want to be in the run game that I'm very willing. And I just need to be coached up some more. And I'm going to continue to work on that and that's something that he saw on me as well. He saw the potential that I have in the run game. And he trust that he's a coach that could coach me up to get not get it done and just continue to get better. Awesome. Congratulations again. Thank you.

1:00Tanner congrats. Can you kind of give us the 30,000 foot view coming out of high school, how you land at ball state, how you have a quick pit stop at Wisconsin, then you go to Houston. Yes, ma'am. So I was at ball state for three years. And really I only got to ball state because the one week that I played coach news son, the head coach at ball state. He had a by week while he was the head coach at ball state. And it was the one game that he was able to come see. And it was the game that I was playing against his son. And I was the game I got my off of ball state. And I was with coach knew my tight end coach and offense coordinator who's here today, coach Elliott. And they just, they saw a very big role for me within the offense in terms of just being a really right when I got there. They put so much belief in me and that helped me a ton just excel for my freshman year sophomore to junior year. And then after coach knew I've gotten fired after my junior year. I was really confused. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I wanted to stay with the, I want to stay with coach Elliott absolutely because he was calling plays and everything was going so well.

2:01And then I made a quick decision. I would landed at Wisconsin and just realized that it wasn't the best fit for my senior year. And I made the move to Houston and it ended up being everything I wanted and more. And I learned so much about the game there and just continued to elevate as a person and a player through the people I met there. And then last one for me, I'm just curious as a fellow tight end, what was your reaction? Did you watch the draft last night as eight tight ends came off the board last night on day two and then city gone Thursday night. Yeah, I mean, it's awesome to see tight ends just get the love. I mean, the position I think has been undervalued for a little bit. And I think it's the past five, six years, it's just been going up and up and trends that you're seeing in the offenses and how many tight ends, how much more they're getting on the field and more bigger sets in the run game. I just think it's really cool to see and I'm really excited for the position continues to go. Have you always played tight end Tanner or were you wide receiver converter? Yeah, I played quarterback and wide receiver in high school and really my junior senior year of high school, I knew that going into college, I was going to be put as a tight end.

3:02And I just always had planned on it going into college. Awesome congrats. Thank you. We'll go to Jamal, then to O'Halloran. And I'm going to come on to honor congratulations, man. Can you tell us a little bit about how you got into playing football? Yeah, really I had two cousins, two older cousins, our playing football like across the town. And it was just my parents were putting me in every single sport football, basketball, baseball, even swimming. I was doing it all. Just loved playing sports and football is the one that always I always waited for the fall as for the most excitement. I just never stopped. You're kind of favorite thing is I mean, you've been one of the more productive past catching tight ends in college football. Is it catching a big 50 50 ball? Is it catching a touchdown? Yeah, obviously going up and getting it, but anything I could do to help you a part of the reason the play works is always my goal. Congratulations, man. Thanks. Thank you. Hannah Ryan O'Halloran from the Times Union going from the Min American Conference of the big 12.

4:05Obviously had confidence you can make the transition, but was it was there a game or a moment where he said, hey, I really do belong at this level. I always had the that confidence, honestly, it grew in me as I got into college and my through my freshman, a junior year, my tight end coach really made sure that he instilled a ton of confidence in me. And really the confidence that I have from him and the confidence I had in my faith allows me to play real free. So when I really got to the big 12, I knew I've always been ready for it. And it was just really always the part of the plan. And when I got there, I would say just being with the coaches and doing the same process every day just really helped me know like this is where I belong. These coaches and their belief in me also says that and just went on from there. I think that's the best thing for me. If you had to pick one game from last year for Houston, the really showcase your skills on what would it be. Yeah, LSU that last bowl game. I think everyone should play in bowl games, playing in bowl games was that was the most fun game of my life. I love football. I never want to stop playing it and that I think that bowl game showcase a lot of that. Thanks buddy. Thank you.

5:11This will be our last one, Rachel. Hey, Tana, congratulations. I know you're sitting in the front porch outside your house. I'm assuming just what was it like inside a few moments ago when you got that call. Yeah, it was surreal. I'm just my whole family around me, all my friends that I grew up playing football, baseball, basketball with all around me. My coaches is just it's just a final final outcome of all the hard work that I put in with all these people and all the hard work that they've put into me to help me get to this point. It's really just awesome to feel with them. How hard has it been the last couple of days kind of waiting and hoping to hear a name called. It was honestly it was a little tough, but just knowing that I'm going to be at the right spot for the right reasons is the faith I have and I'm really excited to see that come through.