West Virginia wanted to find a pass catching tight end in the transfer portal and the coaching staff did that by securing the pledge of former LSU tight end Kole Taylor.

Those skills were on display in the opener, as Taylor was able to get open down the seam a few times resulting in 2 catches for 31 yards but was open a few other instances although the ball wasn’t triggered.

"He really should have had five catches for 50-60 yards and that’s what he can be. He has a really good catch radius, he runs well," head coach Neal Brown said.

Still, he wants to be known for more than just one aspect of his game.

“As a tight end you have to do everything. You’ve got to be able to do everything, especially if you want to play at the next level and be a productive tight end where you’re at. If I want to be a pass catcher, I should be a receiver, if I want to be a blocker just be a lineman. So that’s where I’m at,” he said.

Taylor, 6-foot-7, 250-pounds, spent three seasons with the Tigers where he appeared in 32 games and made a total of 7 starts during that time.

The Colorado native caught 17 passes for 159 yards and a touchdown over those three seasons as he developed his body for the college level and competed with a deep room. That led him to look for both options and opportunities with ultimately the Mountaineers having what he wanted to find.

The West Virginia coaches staff made it clear that they wanted to get Taylor the football through the air and in the season opener they kept that promise.

“As a tight end you can’t be just a pass catcher you still have to do the nitty-gritty and block and everything, but I had a lot of opportunities to get the ball and there were a couple plays that were called specifically for me and that’s been a good thing and a lot moving forward,” he said.

The experienced tight end understands that ultimately how much he sees the football will rest at his feet. That’s because it’s his job to get open and if he does his job the ball will find him.

Taylor enrolled at West Virginia at the mid-term and while it’s his receiving chops that will garner the most attention, has worked hard on crafting his abilities as a blocker. In fact, he takes pride in what he has been able to do there over the past couple months in improving both his strength with an individual workout from the staff and with his technique.

“Coach (Neal) Brown has been on me about my pad level a lot. I’ve never had a coach be on me more than he is, some days I get a little frustrated about it, but I need it. It’s good,” he said. “He’s always on me about that and that’s been a really good thing about me in the run game.”

The coaching staff also took notice in the opener.

“Kole has improved big time. One of the runs CJ Donaldson had going down into the end zone he did a phenomenal job of digging the defensive lineman out. That’s a continued improvement, he’s doing a good job. He wants to be good at blocking. He doesn’t like being called just a pass catching tight end. He wants to be perceived as a guy that can do it all,” coordinator Chad Scott said.

Although as it often happens in college football with players looking to improve, the redshirt junior isn’t afraid to look at what he did wrong in that department either.

“I had a couple little things on the edge missed a couple blocks, had a couple routes I should have broken here or there. It’s just effort. I had good effort that was one of the biggest things,” he said.

Taylor plans to continue to make strides in this department and with the usage of 12-personnel there is certainly room for both as he develops in the offense.

And that would be right in line with where Taylor wants to take his game.

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