By, Matt Alkire
Like many receivers, Arundel
High School product Dillon Tighe has learned that it’s about more than just
speed and having good hands. To even continue pushing the envelope and being
amongst the best at your position you must not only sacrifice your body, but
play and practice with your soul on the line as well. At Arundel, being a
starting receiver has become more of a right of passage over the years than a
simple changing of the guards as it would be at other schools.
This is most likely why the
6-foot, 185-pounder has lived by the phrase “stronger than yesterday, weaker
than tomorrow” throughout his career. Tighe spoke about what those words have
meant to him while playing for the Wildcats.
“It’s a saying me and my
buddies Romeo Harris that graduated last year had together,” Tighe said. “Essentially,
we understood every day is another chance is to get better than the day before,
but at the same time if we didn’t keep working harder the next day we were
accomplishing nothing. That’s really the way I’ve approached my career as I’ve
always felt like an underrated player that gets overlooked. In a way, I’m
always proving to myself and others that I can play at a very high level.”
Tighe is from a high school
that demands elite performance. The Wildcat offense pretty much re-writes the
record books at will when it comes to passing in the State of Maryland. Alec
Lemon – who will enter the NFL Draft this year – still holds the state
receiving yards record. R.J. Harris attended New Hampshire and holds the state
record in receiving touchdowns. Former Arundel quarterback Billy Cosh (Houston)
held the state passing yardage record until it was broken just this year.
So playing with a chip on
your shoulder isn’t taboo or frowned upon, it’s necessary and encouraged.
Arundel is a team of aerial assassins who leave teams decimated in their wake.
Tighe is just another outstanding receiver in their stable of college bound
athletes.
“When you walk onto the team
after players like R.J. and Alec you do have a ton of pressure to put up big
numbers, but at the same time we’re all so different in our own way and it is
about team success in the end,” Tighe stated. “We definitely put our receivers
in positions to be very successful and exploit defenses. I’ve always been the
guy to work the slot and outside and really find holes to move the chains and
make plays with the ball in my hands. My teammate Tyler Young is our speed guy
on the outside that we go to for big plays. Everyone has their job in our
offense and that’s what it’s all about.”
When you watch Tighe in
action, you can see a lot of positives in his game. Perhaps the most impressive
thing about him is his hands. Tighe catches the ball away from his body, can
handle high velocity passes and also corrals passes one-handed when needed. Arundel
uses him mostly in the slot to create mismatches and he is a complete mismatch
for opponents both in man and zone coverage. He does a very good job of reading
a zone and hitting soft spots and sells his routes well, breaking off his stem
late and forcing corners to flip their hips so he can simply whisk by them.
When he gets the ball in his hands he also does a nice job of making people
miss in the open field, however because he is such a good route runner right now
he doesn’t need to do that too much at this point.
As for things to work on,
Tighe could use a college training regiment. He needs to add muscle mass –
especially in the lower body. That will help him become more explosive off the
line and increase his top end speed. He could play inside or outside at the
next level, but either way I’d like to see him become a more sudden athlete in
every way.
After watching Ryan Burbrink
work the slot at DeMatha High School years ago and go to Bowling Green where
he’s been successful, Tighe is different, but offers the same type of
weapon.
Upper Hand asked him what he
thinks his best qualities are as a receiver. At the same time, we looked for
him to be critical of himself in what he could work on.
“I think I’m a very good
route-runner that has great hands,” Tighe offered. “I’ve worked on my
route-running for years and also take pride in my football intelligence in
terms of reading what’s out there in coverage and reading where I might find a
soft spot to sit. Another thing I do think I do a pretty good job at is making
people miss with the ball in my hands after the catch with my ability to change
directions quickly.”
“One thing I could definitely
work on is trying not to make too much out of a play when I get the ball in my
hands in the open field. I have a tendency to try and do too much at times.
Getting in and out of my routes quicker and off the line with more burst is
something that I want to work on as well. I’ve never been in a position to have
to go up and get the ball before, so I definitely need to work on jump ball
situations as well too.”
Frankly, not far off of our
assessment as far as this young man is concerned.
Tighe has had a number of
schools check in on him so far. He camped at Massachusetts, Penn State,
Maryland and James Madison – among others. He has been receiving a good amount
of attention from schools at the Division I-A and I-AA levels with quite a bit
coming from the Patriot League because of his outstanding grades (4.19 core
GPA, 1450 SAT).
He’s pretty specific in what
he’s looking to do when he gets to school.
“While I’m undecided, I guess
I am decided as I’d like to go into either Kinesiology or Political Science,”
Tighe explained. “If I went the path of Kinesiology I’d like to be a trainer at
the college level and with Political Science it leaves me so many paths in
terms of both public and private sector work that I could do. Government really
fascinates me.”
“In terms of the type of
school, I’m not particular but I guess it would be nice to be closer to home.
I’m not picky about weather or smaller things like that. It’s just about
finding an atmosphere that feels like a second family to me really. I look for
the type of coaches that can be somewhat of a father figure and that will talk
to you and care about things other than just football.”
The prolific pass catcher has
a pretty simple wish list actually – he broke it down for us.
“I just want an opportunity
to prove myself at the next level. It really goes back to being felt a little
overlooked, so I have that drive to get to the college level and keep driving
every day to get better and prove myself every day by helping my future
teammates.”
As a senior, Tighe hauled in 51 passes for 680 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also averaged 37.5 yards per kick return.
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