RedHawk Insider: Football Camp Practice No. 12

OXFORD, Ohio— Miami Football lists eight tight ends on its roster this season.

Six of them are either freshmen or redshirt freshmen. Add in redshirt sophomore Eric Karner, and that means the position group has exactly one upperclassman.

That's where Christian Ross comes in.

Ross, a 6-4 redshirt junior transfer from the University of Memphis, made 18 catches in 13 appearances for the Tigers last season before arriving in Oxford. The RedHawks will clearly lean heavily on his game experience this fall. So far in camp, Ross has looked the part of a playmaker that can help the offensive attack in multiple ways.

"When I was at Memphis, I was one of the younger ones in the room and had to wait two [or] three years to play, honestly," the Midland City, Ala. native said today. "Coming here, now I'm more of the older guy in the room with a couple of years of experience under my belt.

"I've been trying to come here and help [the younger guys], but also learn from them because they've been in this system."

Chuck Martin praised the overall ability in the tight end room, specifically mentioning Ross and 6-6 Brendan Loftus: "Really talented and they're doing a lot of really positive things," the veteran head coach said after practice. Still, the collective youth at the position means that consistency will be a work in progress as preseason practice continues – and that's been a message Martin has preached to not only the tight ends, but his entire team throughout fall camp.

"Today was good action, but it was still so inconsistent on both sides," Martin said after practice. "What's good is that when one side [either offense or defense] mucks it up, the other side is taking advantage of it...

"We've been getting big plays. We can't give up big plays. It's good we're getting them, but we can't give them up...

"Getting better, but we've got a long way to go."

The potential that's flashed in camp is exciting, both for Miami Football as a whole and the tight end room specifically, and Ross is excited to see what the team's upward trajectory and eventual finished product looks like this fall.

"[Our] ceiling is unreachable," said Ross. "We've got so much talent here. We've got a bunch of guys out of the portal and a bunch of competitive guys that [are] ready to go and ready to make a name for themselves."

Miami will be back on the practice field on Saturday morning, August 22 in Oxford for the program's annual Kickoff with the Community event. Admission is free.

INSIDE SLANT: Miami's tight ends need to be versatile and skilled at doing a lot of different jobs on offense, whether that means being called on to block or go out and catch a pass. It's like the 'Swiss Army knife' position in the RedHawks' scheme.

"It's so important," Loftus said. "Especially in this offense, I feel like they put all the trust in us to know everything. Whether they put us out wide, whether we're in line blocking – the trust we have to earn from the coaches to do all those jobs is super-important."

"Being well-rounded as a tight end is what you want because you don't want to be taken out for certain plays because you can't do certain things," Ross agreed. "You want to be in the game the whole time, as much as you can."

DEFENSIVE DEPTH: As camp winds down, we caught up with defensive coordinator Bill Brechin to get his perspective on what the defense has done well over the past few weeks.

"The biggest thing for our defense right now is the amount of depth we have," Brechin said. "We've got a lot of guys that I think can help us win games, and obviously you can only play 11 of them. But I see, even Week One, just using a lot of different guys in a lot of different places and trying to figure out who's best at certain jobs and who can get that done for us.

"We've got a lot of new faces, and I think [with] the growth from spring to fall camp, guys understand our defense better, and the communication's been better: Just understanding their assignments and being more solid.

"Right now, we're doing a really good job pass-rushing," Brechin continued. "I think that's something that stands out on tape: not just our D-line, but anybody blitzing – our linebackers, DBs.

"They've really put some pressure on the quarterback, and that's something we're going to have to do. We're going to have to get teams to third down and have success."

CLICK TO 'PICK': Something that doesn't happen very often in Miami's near-daily one-on-one drills that pair up a defender isolated on a receiver: A takeaway. Kaleb Martin got one today, reeling in an interception. Martin nearly added a second INT in a team period later, but Scoop Smith managed to knock the ball away from Martin on a deep route down the right sideline for an incompletion.

EYEBALL EMOJI: Mychal Yharbrough also had a good day on defense, coming up with a pair of physical pass deflections within a matter of minutes during a red-zone team period.

ABCs: Brendan Loftus, redshirt freshman tight end, jersey no. 81
Get to know a player on the 2026 Miami Football team in their own words.

Attributes and Adjectives: What are three words that describe you as a player or a person?
"Hard-working. I think I'm a good leader. And I've been picking up my physicality this camp, so I'll say physical."

Background Bio: What brought you to Miami? How did you get here?
"I'm from the suburbs of Chicago; I had a bunch of offers from this conference in high school. I mean, this just felt like home the second I stepped on campus. Fell in love with Coach Martin [and] the coaching staff. And yeah, it was an easy decision from there!"

Compare/Contrast: Who do you try and model your game after? "I'd like to say either [Travis] Kelce or [George] Kittle. They're great tight ends. I feel like they do it all. They're physical. They're good in the run. They're good in the pass."
And what sets you apart from other people at your position?
"I just think my length and the way I can use my body – my route running and the way I can catch the ball in different areas."

Drive and Desire: Why do you play the game? What drives you to excel?
"I just love to compete; I love football. I've been a hooper. I've been a football player. But it's just competing, and this is what brought me to college. And I'll compete any day of the week, whatever it is."

External Evaluation: Scouting report from a Miami coach or teammate.
"I would say he's a young guy that can do everything. He's a jack-of-all-trades that can do everything, whatever you need." -Christian Ross

Fun Facts: Share one or two interesting things about you that the average fan (or maybe even people on your team) might not know.
"That's a tough one...I'm the middle brother. I've got an older brother and a younger brother."

Golf Group: If you could assemble your dream foursome for a day at the golf course (anyone in the world past or present), who would you choose and why?
"I'd say Rob Gronkowski; I think he's a cool guy. Probably Tiger Woods. And maybe Johnny Manziel."

PLAY OF THE DAY: Quintin Simmons made a nice out-and-up move to get separation on the right side of the field and Caleb Heavner threw a perfect ball for a long touchdown pass, much to the delight of the offensive sideline.

MEET THE TEAM [LITERALLY?]: Saturday's Kickoff with the Community will not only give Miami fans a chance to interact with the RedHawks, but also learn some of the new faces that could be key contributors this season.

"They're going to see a great Miami team that's ready to come out in two weeks and light something up," Ross smiled.

Martin referenced the Simmons touchdown catch as he previewed the event, which he plans to wear a microphone for.

"Hopefully fans come, enjoy it and have a good time – hopefully kids can get to be around our players, which would be super-cool for me if I was a kid. Then, just get a sneak preview of what we'll look like and learn our new guys," said Martin.

"The last time they saw us was in the bowl game, and there are going to be a lot of guys that make plays Saturday [where they'll ask], 'Who is that guy?' Maybe they read about him in an article or a commitment [post], but they haven't really seen him on the field...

"We're going to try to do a good job communicating with the crowd Saturday. I'm going to mic up, so when, like if 'Q' makes that play...I'm going to try to highlight who [it is] so fans can get to know them. That's important nowadays because rosters turn over, so I think that will be pretty cool."

Yager Stadium gates open Saturday, Aug. 22 at 10 a.m., with practice scheduled to start at approximately 11:10 a.m.; more details are available here.

For more inside coverage of Miami Athletics, bookmark RedHawk Insider. Miss a fall camp report? Catch up with our daily MiamiRedHawks.com notebooks: Aug. 19 | Aug. 18 | Aug. 13 | Aug. 12 | Aug. 11 | Aug. 8 | Aug. 6 | Aug. 5

Season tickets and single-game tickets for the 2026 Miami Football season are on sale now! Call (513) 529-4295 for more information. Get your first look at the RedHawks on Saturday, Aug. 22 during Miami's annual Kickoff with the Community' event at Yager Stadium. The event is free and open to the public.

RedHawk Insider: Football Camp Practice No. 12

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Players Mentioned

Caleb Heavner

Eric Karner

Brendan Loftus

Kaleb Martin

Christian Ross

Quintin Simmons

Scoop Smith

Mychal Yharbrough

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