SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 Sports) – After playing basketball at Wasatch Academy, BYU and Baylor, Caleb Lohner realized he’d probably gone as far as he was going to go in the sport. But at 6-foot-8, and with the ability to jump out of the gym, he always had a curiosity about football.
“Football maybe was a long time coming,” said Lohner, who is playing tight end in fall camp at the University of Utah. “I think I’ve been given certain gifts in my body, and just the way I move, it kind of made sense. Utah came to me and presented an opportunity, and I just kind of fell like I’d be a fool not to take it.”
Utes tight ends coach Freddie Whittingham knew Lohner’s dad, and always wanted him to play football for him at Utah, but didn’t think it would happen.
“When I saw Caleb on his visit to Utah as a basketball player coming out of high school, he came and visited one of our practices,” Whittingham said. “We kind of joked with him that if you go and you show up here, you should play football, too.”
But that joke became reality after Lohner decided to transfer from Baylor last spring. While he hasn’t played football since he was in eighth grade, Lohner is slowly learning not just a new position, but a new sport.
“It is new, and it is a challenge,” Lohner said. “There was a little bit of anxiety up front just because it is completely different at the end of my collegiate career. But I’m having such a great time. They’ve welcomed me with open arms, and the tight ends have been wonderful.”
The Utes current tight ends who have been playing for years are patient with Lohner.
“There’s times where I’m asking them the questions,” Lohner said. And they look at me like, ‘you know, we learned that in fifth grade.’ But they’ve been awesome.”
“He’s just big a prototype guy,” said preseason All-Big 12 tight end Brant Kuithe. “I’m just excited to see what he does over fall camp. He’s just long and can go up and get the ball. I’m just excited to see how he can help us win games.”
Lohner definitely has the size and athletic ability to be an effective tight end, especially in the red zone, but while the terminology is completely different, there are some similarities.
“Football has a lot more technique, and football is very fundamental,” Lohner said. “It’s very much, this is where you’re going. These are the moves you’re making. This is what you’re reading. Basketball is a little bit more free in a sense that you can kind of go play, so that’s been an adjustment.”
So when basketball season rolls around, will Lohner join the Runnin’ Utes? Lohner does have one more season of eligibility left.
“I’m 100% football right now,” he said. “My goal is to help this team in any way that I can. My goal at the end of day is when a Big 12 championship.”
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