Gophers football: Tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford has gone from skinny to ‘capable of dominance’

8-10 minutes 8/4/2023
Brevyn Spann-Ford was on the verge of becoming a Missouri Tiger on the morning of June 2, 2017.
His mother Jacky Ford knew that wasn’t what he really wanted. His coaches at St. Cloud Tech knew it, too. So they sat him down that day and told him to be patient for at least one more night.
That evening, Spann-Ford was scheduled to attend yet another Gophers football camp. He had lost count how many total times he had worked out in front of U coaches. “Three or four,” he figured.
During one of those visits to Dinkytown, Jacky Ford felt emotions percolate inside her. She thought about how it was Brevyn’s dream to play for Minnesota; she took it upon herself to relay that message to head coach P.J. Fleck.
Fleck shared his version of the recruiting story at Big Ten Media Days last week, using phrases “she bangs the table” and “put her foot down” for emphasis.
“I was very embarrassed,” Spann-Ford recalled.
Everyone involved back then can now smile and laugh about that scene. Going into the 2023 college football season, the Gophers’ Spann-Ford has built himself into the best tight end in the Big Ten Conference. On Friday, he was named to the watch list for the John Mackey Award, given to the nation’s top tight end.
Coming out of an often-untapped recruiting area in St. Cloud, a teenage Spann-Ford stood an intriguing 6-foot-7 but weighed only 210 pounds. His size, more fitting of a basketball player, had the Gophers football staff questioning what position he would be able to play in college — receiver, tight end or offensive tackle?
Jacky Ford wasn’t focusing on that. During one meeting, she recalled hearing a scholarship offer wasn’t coming that day.
“It made me super emotional,” she told the Pioneer Press this week. She recalled emphasizing: “You’re not going to find somebody that’s going to work harder for you. He wants to win. He’s driven, and he’s all about his team.”
Eventually, the Gophers saw what they needed, offered Spann-Ford a scholarship and he committed on the spot. Goodbye, Missouri.
“Looking back on it, I was incredibly grateful for my mother,” he said. “She doesn’t pay attention to a lot of football stuff, but she knows her son. That is what I appreciate about her. She will do anything for me. She made a lot of sacrifices for me to be in this position. I’ve never seen her that fired up, really. It’s not like it’s an on-brand thing for her. It was crazy to see.”
‘No smiling’
Jacky recalled many instances when Brevyn showed his determination in youth football, baseball and basketball.
After one baseball game, Brevyn asked Jacky if she had seen from the stands that one kid audacious enough to be smiling in the batter’s box.
“I said, ‘Yeah, that’s OK,’ ” Jacky recalled. “And he was, ‘No! There’s no smiling in baseball.’ ”
Brevyn was a standout basketball player, taking after his father, LaTroy, who played hoops at St. Cloud State. Even so, Brevyn loved hockey and would often tell Jacky that next winter he was going to lace up skates. Throughout his adolescent years, Jacky’s husband Tim Schultze also was supportive of Brenvy’s athletic pursuits.
When tackle football started in elementary school, Brevyn couldn’t contain himself.
“He was so excited to get his equipment,” Jacky said. “”He brought it home and he would put it on every day and wear it outside.”
Even when he didn’t have practice that afternoon?
“Yeah, he just would wear it all the time,” she said. “He was just always so excited. He just loves football with his older brother (Tristyn Spann-Ford). They were always ready for football season.”
Brevyn is an uncle to Tristyn’s three boys, ages 10, 4 and 3. Fleck has seen Brevyn be a fun uncle when the kids come to open practices; Jacky has seen another side.
“When you’re together with them, he’s more strict than I thought he ever would be as far as safety,” Jacky said. “Sometimes I look at him, like, where did that come from? Because he’s not normally like that. But he is with them.
“He has a big heart and is such a kind person,” Jacky said. “I think I am proud of him for that and for being humble.”
‘Dominant’
It’s not uncommon for a high school prospect to need to show himself at a few camps before earning a collegiate scholarship offer. Fleck mentioned Hutchinson, Minn., true freshman linebacker Alex Elliott as one such player. For others, an offer doesn’t come, regardless of how many times they work out.
“You can see the potential in young people and you can say, “Oh man, if he was a little longer, a little bigger, if he ran a little bit better,” Fleck said. “There are always things you can say, ‘OK, this guy can get better’. You got to get to a certain level where your threshold is there and you can say, we’re going to pull the trigger and offer.
“We felt like, at the end, watching (Spann-Ford) move, that it was worth it.”
Once Spann-Ford committed, he needed time to develop on campus. He redshirted in 2018, then caught four passes in 12 games in 2019. Diring the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he caught one ball, a four-yard touchdown pass.
“There were some times where he would call,” Jacky said. “He’s just talking about the moment, not ever saying, like, ‘this is hard, I’m gonna quit’ or anything, but there were times where he had a hard time with it.”
Spann-Ford now credits Gophers strength and conditioning coach Dan Nichol for helping him grow from 210 pounds to his current 270. Ko Kieft, now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was instrumental in helping Spann-Ford become a more-physical run blocker.
In 2021, he had 23 receptions for 296 yards and one TD. Those numbers grew to 42 receptions, 497 yards and two scores a year ago.
Former Gophers tight end Maxx Williams has been following Spann-Ford since his freshman season.
“He stole my number, first off,” Williams told the Pioneer Press about their shared jersey No. 88. “I keep telling him all the time, I said, “Hey, I know how it worked for me. You better not screw up, you better get drafted.”
During his eight-year NFL career with the Ravens and Cardinals, Williams assumed a bit of a mentorship role for Spann-Ford. That continued this summer when Spann-Ford was at Quinn Carroll’s cabin on Lake Waconia, which is on the same bay as Williams’ place.
Williams had a similar relationship with Matt Spaeth, who would come around the Gophers tight ends when Spaeth was with the Steelers and Bears from 2007-15.
Spann-Ford spoke to Williams last season when Spann-Ford considered entering the NFL draft. Williams had left the U after his redshirt sophomore season.
“I gave him a little bit of crap about it,” Williams said. “But really, I told him, ‘You’ve got to make a decision for you.’ ”
Williams, who was listed at 6-foot-4 and 252 pounds, knows the uniqueness Spann Ford presents.
“I love his game,” Williams said. “There are not too many guys that are his size and have his athletic ability. I think the guys you see that have that, make that next step into the NFL. It’s special to have that kind of raw talent in such a big body. Somebody who can run and catch and do whatever you ask him to do. He’s out there just trying to win games and help his team.”
Spann-Ford is not trying to get wrapped up in his increasing hype. From his parents, he has tried to take compliments in the same way he would digest take criticism, with humbleness and a level head.
And from assistant coach Greg Harbaugh, he is using the mindset of “always approaching, never arriving.”
But expectations have grown for Spain-Ford’s sixth year at the U. Big Ten Network color commentator Jake Butt, a former tight end with the Michigan Wolverines and briefly with the Denver Broncos, is a big admirer.
“If I’m in Minnesota, I’m making sure Brev gets 50 catches this season and I’m giving him way more targets down in the red zone,” Butt told the Pioneer Press. “If I’m (quarterback Athan) Kaliakmanis, I would have spent the whole offseason working on red-zone routes for him. To have that size and only two touchdowns (in 2022) just feels like there’s more meat on the bone.”
The term “50-50 ball” used for a contested jump-ball catch shouldn’t break down that way for Spann-Ford.
“He’s capable of dominance,” Butt said. “In reality, there’s no reason he should ever be covered. … The great ones make it 70-30, 65-35” on those 50-50 balls.
With Spann-Ford’s athleticism to hurdle defensive backs after the catch, Butt said he reminded him of an NBA player when he called a Gophers spring game.
“There’s no reason he can’t win the Big Ten tight end of the year,” Butt declared. “If I had to pick right now, I would say that’s his for the taking.”