Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – While their son prepared to chat with reporters on a Zoom call last Saturday in a room adjacent to Florida's locker room, Theresa and Kelly Pitts stood outside Vaught-Hemingway Stadium waiting for him to appear from inside the stadium's underbelly.

Theresa and Kelly traveled from their home on the outskirts of Philadelphia to watch the Gators play at Ole Miss in the season opener. What they saw was the finest game of their son's career. Actually, what the Pittses witnessed was the finest game by any Gators tight end in school history.

In Florida's 51-35 victory, junior Kyle Pitts caught eight passes for 170 yards and four touchdowns, rewriting the school record books in the span of four hours on an overcast afternoon in Oxford, Miss. The performance captured not only the attention of Gators fans, but of the national media and college football enthusiasts across the country who might not have otherwise seen the game if not for the revamped 2020 season due to COVID-19.

For those impressed by Pitts' performance – his stiff arm on Ole Miss linebacker Jacquez Jones during his 71-yard touchdown catch seemed resonate most with the social media crowd – Kelly Pitts sort of knows how they feel. A conductor for Amtrak during the workweek, Kelly grew up playing sports. He made the basketball team at the junior college he attended before the school dropped the sport.

By the time Kelly and Theresa settled into a family life that included daughter Tenae, a former track athlete at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and Kyle, sports became a larger part of their life as the kids got older.

In Kyle's case, Kelly recognized early that his son was a cut above the other kids when Kyle starting playing flag football around 6 or 7 years old.

"Not that he was some star-studded standout, but you could tell he was coordinated more than he should be for a kid that age,'' Kelly Pitts said recently from his home. "That's when I first noticed."

In a world where first impressions linger, Pitts didn't need long to win over Gators head coach Dan Mullen and offensive coordinator Brian Johnson. As a freshman in 2018, the 6-foot-6, 246-pound Pitts stood out at practice much the way he did to his father back during his flag-football days in Pennsylvania.

Johnson took notice then of Pitts' potential and is fortunate that in his first season as Florida's offensive coordinator, he has quarterback Kyle Trask and Pitts as primary weapons.

"It was in training camp his freshman year,'' Johnson said. "He continued to develop and grow, and now he's in a position where he's one of the best players in America."

Pitts dominated the Rebels in a way that woke up the old man-against-boys cliché. Pitts made plays down the field, at the line of scrimmage, beat linebackers and defensive backs, made adjustments with the ball in the air and beat single- and double-coverage.

He will try to do the same Saturday when the third-ranked Gators host SEC East rival South Carolina in the home opener at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

Former UF coach Will Muschamp, in his fifth season at South Carolina, considers Pitts the kind of player that can take over a game. In his time at UF, Muschamp had tight end Jordan Reed, the most dynamic player at the position for UF in recent years until Pitts arrived.

"They're, I think, very similar," Muschamp told beat reporters this week on a media teleconference. "As a defense, if you're calling defenses, you've got to account for where he is all the time. Dan does a good job of moving him around. He's not in one spot all the time and you've got to make sure you don't get in a bad matchup, and then sometimes that can limit you a little bit with what you can call. Because you like the call versus the team and the scheme, but then you don't like the call versus No. 84."

Mullen often uses "unicorn" when describing Pitts, one of those rare talents that come along and makes the game easier for one side and more difficult for the other. Unless the defense has a unicorn, Pitts is going to cause issues.

"We know he's a mismatch out there on the field,'' Mullen said.
 
When first-year Gators tight ends coach Tim Brewster replaced Larry Scott in the spring, he had seen all the tape on Pitts. He knew what kind pass catcher he had on the roster.

Brewster wanted to see whether Pitts shied away from blocking and the nuances of the game that make a complete player. Once again, Pitts made the kind of first impression that lingers.

"He has a great feel for the game,'' Brewster said. "There's nothing that this guy can't do. I'm just so impressed with all the facets of this kid. He's poised to have an amazing year."

To prepare for what many expect to be his final year with the Gators, Pitts spent time in Atlanta during the coronavirus pandemic to work on the fundamentals. He added a few pounds of muscle with the help of a nutritionist and refined his route-running at a training center that specializes in working with receivers.

Brewster is as impressed with Pitts' route-running as he is with his toughness and willingness to be a team player.

"I'm talking about the ability to stick his foot in the ground and create immediate separation,'' Brewster said. "I'm going to tell you; this guy is a complete guy. He's a well-mannered kid and he likes to have fun. Obviously, he's been raised by a wonderful mother and father."

Speaking of mom and dad, they are much like their only son. They don't gush or talk in hyperbole when asked about Kyle. They speak matter-of-factly and proudly, as if talking about an exam he passed last week rather than the potential of him being a first-round NFL draft pick next spring.

They say Kyle really took off at Archbishop Wood High, where he competed in track, dabbled in basketball and starred in football. He was around 6-feet tall as a freshman, then 6-2 as a sophomore, 6-4 as a junior and finally, 6-6 his senior year.

Recruiters came calling and Pitts decided to sign with Florida. Theresa and Kelly are not surprised by anything he's accomplished because, well, that's just Kyle.

"He is very focused on the task that he has in front of him,'' Theresa said. "He did handle his schoolwork just like he is now. We are very proud of him."

It's been a fast-paced journey for Pitts since stepping on campus. He worked as Van Jefferson's backup and mostly learned as a freshman. He led the team with 54 receptions last season. He broke long-standing school records in his first game this year.

What's next? Who is this guy? Is there anything to know about No. 84 other than he is a nightmare for defenses?

"As my late father said, he would never meet a stranger,'' Theresa said. "He is a quiet and outgoing person all in the same person. He is really silly. He's a jokester. You just got to watch him. He is just a good-hearted, genuine person."

The linebacker he stiff-armed at Ole Miss might feel otherwise. Same goes for every defensive coordinator who will study that film.

Like so many others, Kelly Pitts has watched his son's growth with an admiring eye. That coordinated kid he remembers racing past other kids in flag football is all grown up.

"If anything, he is being forced to mature faster,'' Kelly said. "Basically, he hasn't really gotten the chance to be a kid, so at this point, to see how he is maturing ahead of himself, that's kind of the cool thing to watch and see."