Indiana Tight End Aaron Steinfeldt is Ready for the Spotlight

Image: Indiana Athletics

Written by Ethan Roberts

Tight ends coach Kevin Wright took to the podium recently to examine how redshirt sophomore Aaron Steinfeldt has improved this offseason heading into his position battle in fall camp.

“He had a really good spring,” Wright said. “We challenged him to get into the best shape of his life and it’s really amazing to see at the end of the summer how he transformed his body. He’s leaner, he runs better, he’s moving better. He’s always had really good ball skills. I just like the way that he’s gone about his business and tried to take another step.”

Steinfeldt also took to the podium to discuss his main developmental projects in the offseason. He started by describing his focus on blocking.

“In spring ball I really focused on blocking,” Steinfeldt said. " Facing guys like Andre Carter and Myles Jackson really helped and propelled me into fall camp. Going from the summer and straight into fall camp is really hard, but I think today was probably my best day blocking.”

He also mentioned that he visited Indianapolis over the weekends to work on his passing game.

“(The) pass game has always been my strong suit and I think I have improved in that,” Steinfeldt said. “I have gone up to Indianapolis most weekends to work with a trainer and that has helped me a lot in defining routes, making sure my cuts are clean and everything is good. I have worked with my receivers [at Indiana] as well to help me out and make me a better overall tight end.”

He concluded with what he learned last season in his first year of playing time.

“The biggest thing was the speed and physicality of the game,” Steinfeldt said. “The guys on the defensive side of the ball are as big or bigger than you are-the defensive ends. A lot of times the nickels and linebackers are faster than you, so just learning the finesse. So, another thing I worked on over the summer was getting stronger. I did a lot of yoga in my free time, as well, to get a lot more flexible and be able to bend and use my length in certain ways.”

The starting tight end spot is currently charging ahead between redshirt sophomores James Bomba and Aaron Steinfeldt. Regardless of the results, Coach Wright has lamented that both players will likely get a substantial amount of playing time in the 2023 season.

“I think the buy in has been really good,” Wright said. “Going back to my first couple years, we played a lot of two tight end sets and so you’ve got every Saturday, counting special teams, five guys that are probably going to play.”