The Wideouts: Caleb Lyons
9/25/2015 4:30:00 PM | Football
Caleb Lyons enrolled at the University of Montana after a stellar high school career. He won two league championships in high school and was also named to the all-state team as a junior.
When he arrived in Missoula, he was dealing with an injury and ended up redshirting his freshman season.
"Redshirting was fun. I came in with an injury, partially tore my PCL, so it gave me time," Lyons said. "It was cool, I got bigger, faster, and I got to experience college for the first time."
The life of a redshirt athlete can be difficult, putting in all the hours without getting the payoff of taking the field on Saturdays. But Lyons was grateful for the chance to get settled in and adjusted to Missoula.
"It's pretty valuable, because coming in as a freshman that isn't used to college at all, it's a real big change from high school," Lyons said. "There are a lot of factors that go into it. I came from a city, coming here to a smaller city. There is a bit of a culture shock, there is being away from your family and getting used to a more intense weight room experience, stuff like that."
Now, Lyons has used his redshirt experience to get prepared for the upcoming season. He knows the tradition of Montana football is strong, as it was a major reason he committed to the Grizzlies. The massive crowds in Washington-Grizzly Stadium didn't hurt either.
"I started researching Montana, and the tradition, the winning, having so many Big Sky championships in a row, it was all that put together," Lyons said. "We average about 25,000, you can't go wrong coming here and doing that as opposed to playing in front of crowds of like 8,000."
Lyons has been able to get some playing time in his first full season with Montana, playing in the "Z" slot at wide receiver. He is very happy to be a part of coach Bob Stitt's high-tempo offense.
"The new system is great. We play fast, we get our athletes out in space, and we see what they can do," Lyons said. "We throw the ball up, we've obviously shown we can make plays in that way."
The "Z" slot is a position that isn't a part of a lot of programs' offensive schemes. The Grizzlies start Chase Naccarato at the position, with Lyons serving as the back-up. Lyons, who was a good returner in high school, thinks his skill-set is perfect for the position.
"Chase and I are really close with certain skills. We're basically a running back out in the slot," Lyons said. "In a sense, that's better for a running back because you have way more room. Chase and I are able to catch more than you'd think a running back would, and then you put people like us out on the hashes and let us do what we can do."
So what do the coaches want from Naccarato and Lyons out of the "Z" slot?
"Coaches harp on us all the time about making one person miss," Lyons said. "That's really our only job, make one person miss, that's it. If you make one miss, get six to 10 yards, you did your job."
Lyons knows where he stands on the depth chart and is comfortable with his position. As the season progresses, he just wants to make the most of every opportunity that is granted to him.
"I'm looking at it as a learning process," Lyons said. "I have someone ahead of me, so I'm just soaking up a lot of stuff. I'm grateful for the playing time I am getting, and I'm still trying to soak up everything so I can do more in the future."
When he arrived in Missoula, he was dealing with an injury and ended up redshirting his freshman season.
"Redshirting was fun. I came in with an injury, partially tore my PCL, so it gave me time," Lyons said. "It was cool, I got bigger, faster, and I got to experience college for the first time."
The life of a redshirt athlete can be difficult, putting in all the hours without getting the payoff of taking the field on Saturdays. But Lyons was grateful for the chance to get settled in and adjusted to Missoula.
"It's pretty valuable, because coming in as a freshman that isn't used to college at all, it's a real big change from high school," Lyons said. "There are a lot of factors that go into it. I came from a city, coming here to a smaller city. There is a bit of a culture shock, there is being away from your family and getting used to a more intense weight room experience, stuff like that."
Now, Lyons has used his redshirt experience to get prepared for the upcoming season. He knows the tradition of Montana football is strong, as it was a major reason he committed to the Grizzlies. The massive crowds in Washington-Grizzly Stadium didn't hurt either.
"I started researching Montana, and the tradition, the winning, having so many Big Sky championships in a row, it was all that put together," Lyons said. "We average about 25,000, you can't go wrong coming here and doing that as opposed to playing in front of crowds of like 8,000."
Lyons has been able to get some playing time in his first full season with Montana, playing in the "Z" slot at wide receiver. He is very happy to be a part of coach Bob Stitt's high-tempo offense.
"The new system is great. We play fast, we get our athletes out in space, and we see what they can do," Lyons said. "We throw the ball up, we've obviously shown we can make plays in that way."
The "Z" slot is a position that isn't a part of a lot of programs' offensive schemes. The Grizzlies start Chase Naccarato at the position, with Lyons serving as the back-up. Lyons, who was a good returner in high school, thinks his skill-set is perfect for the position.
"Chase and I are really close with certain skills. We're basically a running back out in the slot," Lyons said. "In a sense, that's better for a running back because you have way more room. Chase and I are able to catch more than you'd think a running back would, and then you put people like us out on the hashes and let us do what we can do."
So what do the coaches want from Naccarato and Lyons out of the "Z" slot?
"Coaches harp on us all the time about making one person miss," Lyons said. "That's really our only job, make one person miss, that's it. If you make one miss, get six to 10 yards, you did your job."
Lyons knows where he stands on the depth chart and is comfortable with his position. As the season progresses, he just wants to make the most of every opportunity that is granted to him.
"I'm looking at it as a learning process," Lyons said. "I have someone ahead of me, so I'm just soaking up a lot of stuff. I'm grateful for the playing time I am getting, and I'm still trying to soak up everything so I can do more in the future."
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