Athletic ability, versatility have Courtney confident in move to tight end

This is not a typical transition that Florida State freshman Brian Courtney is making this spring.

Then again, there wasn't much typical about Courtney's high school career, either.

The Ashburn, Va., product played quarterback on offense, defensive end and other positions on defense, and he is switching to tight end now that he is officially a Florida State Seminole.

While that will mean a steep learning curve, considering he has never really run routes or had to block defenders before, the 6-foot-3, 230-pound athlete is eager to specialize in one area.

"I'm ready to lock in and do all the drills with one group," Courtney said, when he met with the local media for the first time this week. "And it's probably my first spring in a while where I'm actually allowed to hit people."

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Indeed, Courtney's coaches at Independence High weren't keen on him participating in tackling drills during practices because he was too valuable on offense.

As a true dual-threat quarterback, Courtney accounted for 6,885 yards of total offense and 75 touchdowns during his prep career. He also had games with multiple sacks on defense -- without ever getting any contact in practice.

"So I'm looking forward to that," he said.

The contact will be much different when he gets it, of course. Instead of rushing the passer, which he did very well in high school, Courtney now will be tasked with blocking defensive ends and linebackers.

To help with that transition, the freshman said he is working to gain 10 pounds with the help of strength coach Josh Storms and his staff. But he knows there is much more to the transition than that.

Not only is he learning how to run routes as a receiving option, but he also has never had to use proper footwork or hand placement to block for a running back or protect a quarterback.

In the past, he was the one running and throwing behind the blockers.

"I think the routes come a little more naturally, just being an athlete," Courtney said. "But the run-blocking has its own footwork and technique that you wouldn't really be able to experience unless you were playing tight end or [offensive] lineman."

While Courtney originally hoped to play quarterback on the college level, he only had a couple of offers to do that -- and they weren't from schools like Florida State.

FSU's coaches first spotted him at an Elite 11 Combine in Virginia, where he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.56 seconds and displayed impressive agility and strength numbers.

"Then they saw my film -- saw some of my defensive film -- and they saw some transferrable skills there," Courtney said.

Florida State would go on to be the first school to offer him a scholarship last spring, and he committed just a few weeks later.

Other schools, including the home-state Virginia Cavaliers, soon joined the recruiting process, but most offered Courtney the chance to play linebacker.

"I just thought tight end was the best fit for me, coming from quarterback," he said.

Courtney believes his quarterback background will help him in several ways. For starters, he is very comfortable dealing with pressure and stressful situations. He also has a solid knowledge of offensive football since quarterbacks need to know every player's assignment.

And because he was a dual-threat QB in high school, who also played defense, he is comfortable with moving around to different positions -- which FSU likes to do with its tight ends.

Courtney is already getting a taste of that in player-run practices.

"I'm pretty much already lining up everywhere," he said. "And that was part of Coach [Chris] Thomsen's pitch to me. He was saying, 'You're a versatile player.' ... That was a big part of why I was excited here. I didn't want to just be stuck on the line. I wanted to be able to move around and be versatile."

With FSU bringing back several experienced tight ends, including two-year starter Camren McDonald, the Seminoles won't need to rush Courtney into action. But he said head coach Mike Norvell promised him that the coaches won't hold him back, either.

"His big thing to me was he's not going to put any limits on what I can do," Courtney said. "He said he believed in me more than anyone. ... The whole staff was just really aggressive. Texts, emails, calls all the time. So I really felt like a priority to them throughout the whole recruiting process."

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