Friday Features: FIT’s Hughes inspired by former GSC standout
By Maurice Patton
Ask any football player in the Gulf South Conference who recorded the biggest play in the most recent Super Bowl, and they can tell you without hesitation.
Florida Tech tight end
Gabe Hughes wouldn’t mind achieving the same type of notoriety as former West Alabama standout defensive back
Malcolm Butler by hearing his name called in next spring’s NFL Draft.
The 6-4, 240-pounder isn’t making that status a priority as the Panthers head into this weekend’s season opener with visiting Newberry, but it’s a part of the thought process.
“If I don’t have a good season, if we don’t have a good season, it won’t happen,” Hughes said recently. “I’m not worried about anything but the first game.”
Coming off a junior campaign during which he caught 23 passes for 492 yards and six touchdowns – including an 80-yarder against Valdosta State – to earn first-team all-GSC honors, the ex-Western Michigan recruit has worked his way onto the radar of professional decision-makers.
“His height, weight, measurables seem to fit into that category that NFL teams like to see in a tight end,” said
Steve Englehart, who was hired as coach at Florida Tech two years before the program began competition in 2013 – Hughes’ first season. “Tight end, people thought was a dying position for a while; now it’s the ‘in’ thing.
“You get a tight end that can run 4.5 (seconds in the 40-yard dash), run down and stretch the field, he tends to be a mismatch on linebackers and safeties. Gabe fits some of those characteristics.”
A native of Lighthouse Point, Fla., Hughes played as a true freshman at Western Michigan. However, the combination of family, weather and a coaching change saw him back in the Sunshine State after just one semester.
“My mom had some health problems, and I wanted to be back closer to where they could see me play,” he said. “The coaching change, with (Bill) Cubit getting fired sealed the deal. (P.J.) Fleck’s a good guy, but he just didn’t win me over.”
Meanwhile, joining Englehart’s budding staff at Florida Tech was former Central Oklahoma receivers coach
Austin Silvoy, who had recruited Hughes out of high school. The previous relationship between the two paid off on both ends, as Hughes found a new home and the Panthers found a gamechanger. As a sophomore, Hughes earned all-conference honors with 19 receptions for 186 yards and a touchdown while playing in 11 of the team’s 12 games.
“It was a great thing for us, and fortunately it’s been a really good thing for Gabe as well, I think,” Englehart said. “Last year, he averaged 20 yards per catch. That’s a pretty productive player.”
With pro prospects on the horizon, Hughes has a pretty good idea of what he needs to address to get there from his interactions with NFL scouts that have been on the Florida Tech campus.
“They just tell me to have a good season as a team and do as much as I can to get better individually at the same time,” he said. “Being aggressive in the running game, cleaning up my routes in the passing game – everything else I feel like are strong points for me. I’ve been trying to work on those things going into camp and going into the season.”
Despite this being the Panthers’ third year of existence, Hughes doesn’t see that as a reason for the team to not be a factor in the GSC race.
“I don’t look at us as a new program any more,” he said. “This is our third year. We’ve been in close games before and we’re ready to win them. We’ve had to fight for everything we’ve gotten the last couple of years, and we’re still fighting for it.
“We’re just another team in the Gulf South Conference, trying to go to the playoffs.”
And Englehart will take motivation anywhere he can find it.
“Having a scout at our practice every day is kind of a good thing: You don’t have to worry about them practicing hard,” he said. “It’s obviously good for our program, publicity and things like that. I think the main thing is to maintain focus on our goals for the season, and Gabe does a great job of that. I think they know, Gabe’s going to have a better chance if we do well as a team.”
Butler’s emergence, and Hughes’ rise, both reinforce what most coaches at the Division II level stress to their players.
“It’s just a validation of what a lot of coaches at this level try to sell,” Englehart said. “If you have the ability, the scouts will find you. It validates Division II, that there are really good players. Sometimes you just have to have an opportunity and be in the right place at the right time.”
“It’s always good to see a guy come from where you came from when you’re at a smaller school,” Hughes said. “To excel on a stage like that is unbelievable. I can’t imagine how he feels, making a play in a situation like that. Hopefully I can follow in his footsteps, or close to it.”
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12/12/2014 - CBU Men's Basketball Making Noise.
12/19/2014 - Dickey Says UWG Football 'Right on Schedule'.
12/26/2014 - Youngsters Lead UWF Women.
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1/23/2015 - Basketball Court at Delta State Named For a 'Legend'.
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2/13/2015 - VSU's Courtney Albritton Rewriting Record Books.
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4/10/2015 - Early Lessons Boost UWG's Tyler Gunnin.
4/17/2015 - Delta State Football Hopes (Spring) Practice Makes Perfect.
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