Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Out-of-the-box slot target Gathings embraces attention to details
9/14/2022 5:54:00 PM | Football
The 6-4 wideout is a potent weapon for the MTSU offense
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Wide Receivers coach Shane Tucker says that when you walk into the Blue Raider wide receiver room, you know Izaiah Gathings is "the guy." On paper, on the weekly depth chart MTSU puts out, Gathings is certainly "the guy" most folks circle on their scout.
WR-Y 2 Izaiah Gathings 6-4 226 Sr.
In the Blue Raiders' scheme, WR-Y is a slot receiver, playing closer to the line. Playing in the slot requires precise movements and a good sense of not only the opposing team's players, as slot wideouts have to work through traffic more, but also your own center of gravity.
"In the slot, you've got to learn how to maneuver, work through linebackers and safeties, while outside is just one-on-one," said Gathings, who spent most of his snaps last season on the outside for MTSU. "A lot of people don't know how to maneuver in the slot like that."
The slot receiver archetype most fans think of is a short, speedy, shifty athlete with sure hands and good route running. There's not many 6-4 wide receivers in college football, period, but particularly ones that are thriving in the slot.
"It's easier for the smaller guys, because they can maneuver a little bit, they've got an easier path," Tucker said of playing receiver in the slot. "One thing about Izaiah is that he's a big guy, but he's a skilled guy. He's 6-4, he's 220, but he's twitchy just like the small guys."
The early results for the Gardner-Webb transfer in his second season in Murfreesboro have been exceptional, leading the team with 17 catches for 126 yards in just two games. For a player that was forced to battle for playing time behind three graduate student wideouts (C.J. Windham, Jarrin Pierce and Jimmy Marshall), the first two games of 2022 have been proof that he found the right spot to challenge himself at the next level.
"Coming into this year, when we were really trying to put the pieces where they were supposed to be in the puzzle, we thought he was a guy that could give us massive production at slot receiver," Tucker said. "There's not a guy that pays more attention to detail than Izaiah. He's mad at himself if he drops a practice rep. There are times where he goes home and he'll tell me, 'Coach, I went home and threw the ball 100 times in the air to myself.'"
By the summer before his senior year at Statesville High School, Gathings still had no offers to play college football.
It's kind of stunning to think about now, how the wide out that's already racked up 17 catches in just two games for MTSU this season wasn't on any college program's radar, or at least on their radar enough to have a college offer. But Gathings wasn't that surprised. His basketball skills, thanks to his former Big South Player of the Year father, Danny Gathings, were more honed at that point.
"I was more successful with basketball throughout my high school years," Gathings said. "Football, I was really raw. I didn't have the resources to actually learn how to play the receiver position."
But an offer, from Travis Cunningham, then an assistant coach at Gardner-Webb, eventually came, and Gathings was off to Boiling Springs, N.C., just outside of Shelby, N.C., which is usually described to folks outside of North Carolina as less than an hour northwest of Charlotte, N.C.
Gathings quickly made a name for himself with a breakout sophomore campaign, catching 71 passes for 1,046 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Runnin' Bulldogs. But after a four-game spring season during the 2020-21 school year, Gathings wanted to challenge himself even more. Thanks to the extra year of COVID eligibility, he had even more options.
"I wanted to go to the FBS level," Gathings said. "My goal in the end is to go to the NFL. Nothing against Gardner-Webb, but I wanted to challenge myself on a higher level."
The wideout saw offers roll in, having 10 offers in hand within the first 24 hours after putting his name in the transfer portal. Eventually, it came down to MTSU, Charlotte and Illinois, where a personal connection with Rick Stockstill and Kenneth Gilstrap helped seal the deal for the Blue Raiders.
Coming to Murfreesboro, however, proved to be the challenge Gathings looked for, as he found himself behind several veterans on the team's initial depth chart. But his work ethic, his connection with fellow big target Jimmy Marshall and his time with Chase Cunningham, then the No. 2 QB on the depth chart, on the practice fields with just the quarterbacks and the wideouts, kept him in the team's game plans, particularly after Cunningham took over as the starter.
Gathings played in 12 games in 2021, starting four games in the middle of the Blue Raiders schedule, finishing the bowl winning campaign with 24 catches for 302 yards and a touchdown. But more importantly, the skills and respect to keep building with the offense through the off-season.
"We put in so much work," Gathings said. "Last year when (Chase) was here, when I first got here, I told him 'Your time is coming. Our time is going to come and when our time comes, we're going to take off.' We've built a close bond together."
Cunningham, for his part, praises the type of player and teammate Gathings is, as well as his role in the lineup. And, similar to Jimmy Marshall, who as a big target at tight end in 2021 helped Gathings learn how to navigate in the slot, Gathings has been a reliable target for Cunningham to turn to early this season.
"I think they're a good change up for what we do in the offense," Cunningham said, referring to Marshall and Gathings similar roles in the offense.
For Gathings, there's so much still ahead in 2022. And as Tucker points out, his ability to line up at WR-X or WR-Z, the two outside wideout positions, or even at H-Back, gives offensive coordinator Mitch Stewart plenty of ways to utilize his sure hands on the field. Right now, though, the Statesville, N.C. native is focused on being present.
"I just want to take it one day at a time, one practice at a time, one game at a time, one rep at a time," Gathings said. "It's a blessing to be here right now."
WR-Y 2 Izaiah Gathings 6-4 226 Sr.
In the Blue Raiders' scheme, WR-Y is a slot receiver, playing closer to the line. Playing in the slot requires precise movements and a good sense of not only the opposing team's players, as slot wideouts have to work through traffic more, but also your own center of gravity.
"In the slot, you've got to learn how to maneuver, work through linebackers and safeties, while outside is just one-on-one," said Gathings, who spent most of his snaps last season on the outside for MTSU. "A lot of people don't know how to maneuver in the slot like that."
The slot receiver archetype most fans think of is a short, speedy, shifty athlete with sure hands and good route running. There's not many 6-4 wide receivers in college football, period, but particularly ones that are thriving in the slot.
"It's easier for the smaller guys, because they can maneuver a little bit, they've got an easier path," Tucker said of playing receiver in the slot. "One thing about Izaiah is that he's a big guy, but he's a skilled guy. He's 6-4, he's 220, but he's twitchy just like the small guys."
The early results for the Gardner-Webb transfer in his second season in Murfreesboro have been exceptional, leading the team with 17 catches for 126 yards in just two games. For a player that was forced to battle for playing time behind three graduate student wideouts (C.J. Windham, Jarrin Pierce and Jimmy Marshall), the first two games of 2022 have been proof that he found the right spot to challenge himself at the next level.
"Coming into this year, when we were really trying to put the pieces where they were supposed to be in the puzzle, we thought he was a guy that could give us massive production at slot receiver," Tucker said. "There's not a guy that pays more attention to detail than Izaiah. He's mad at himself if he drops a practice rep. There are times where he goes home and he'll tell me, 'Coach, I went home and threw the ball 100 times in the air to myself.'"
By the summer before his senior year at Statesville High School, Gathings still had no offers to play college football.
It's kind of stunning to think about now, how the wide out that's already racked up 17 catches in just two games for MTSU this season wasn't on any college program's radar, or at least on their radar enough to have a college offer. But Gathings wasn't that surprised. His basketball skills, thanks to his former Big South Player of the Year father, Danny Gathings, were more honed at that point.
"I was more successful with basketball throughout my high school years," Gathings said. "Football, I was really raw. I didn't have the resources to actually learn how to play the receiver position."
But an offer, from Travis Cunningham, then an assistant coach at Gardner-Webb, eventually came, and Gathings was off to Boiling Springs, N.C., just outside of Shelby, N.C., which is usually described to folks outside of North Carolina as less than an hour northwest of Charlotte, N.C.
Gathings quickly made a name for himself with a breakout sophomore campaign, catching 71 passes for 1,046 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Runnin' Bulldogs. But after a four-game spring season during the 2020-21 school year, Gathings wanted to challenge himself even more. Thanks to the extra year of COVID eligibility, he had even more options.
"I wanted to go to the FBS level," Gathings said. "My goal in the end is to go to the NFL. Nothing against Gardner-Webb, but I wanted to challenge myself on a higher level."
The wideout saw offers roll in, having 10 offers in hand within the first 24 hours after putting his name in the transfer portal. Eventually, it came down to MTSU, Charlotte and Illinois, where a personal connection with Rick Stockstill and Kenneth Gilstrap helped seal the deal for the Blue Raiders.
Coming to Murfreesboro, however, proved to be the challenge Gathings looked for, as he found himself behind several veterans on the team's initial depth chart. But his work ethic, his connection with fellow big target Jimmy Marshall and his time with Chase Cunningham, then the No. 2 QB on the depth chart, on the practice fields with just the quarterbacks and the wideouts, kept him in the team's game plans, particularly after Cunningham took over as the starter.
Gathings played in 12 games in 2021, starting four games in the middle of the Blue Raiders schedule, finishing the bowl winning campaign with 24 catches for 302 yards and a touchdown. But more importantly, the skills and respect to keep building with the offense through the off-season.
"We put in so much work," Gathings said. "Last year when (Chase) was here, when I first got here, I told him 'Your time is coming. Our time is going to come and when our time comes, we're going to take off.' We've built a close bond together."
Cunningham, for his part, praises the type of player and teammate Gathings is, as well as his role in the lineup. And, similar to Jimmy Marshall, who as a big target at tight end in 2021 helped Gathings learn how to navigate in the slot, Gathings has been a reliable target for Cunningham to turn to early this season.
"I think they're a good change up for what we do in the offense," Cunningham said, referring to Marshall and Gathings similar roles in the offense.
For Gathings, there's so much still ahead in 2022. And as Tucker points out, his ability to line up at WR-X or WR-Z, the two outside wideout positions, or even at H-Back, gives offensive coordinator Mitch Stewart plenty of ways to utilize his sure hands on the field. Right now, though, the Statesville, N.C. native is focused on being present.
"I just want to take it one day at a time, one practice at a time, one game at a time, one rep at a time," Gathings said. "It's a blessing to be here right now."
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