BGSU All-American Harold Fannin Jr. turns time at the University into a smashing success

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4. BGSU All-American Harold Fannin Jr. turns time at the University into a smashing success

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Like many top college football teams this fall, the Bowling Green State University Falcons do not possess a perfect record as they prepare to take on Arkansas State in the 68 Ventures Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, on Thursday.

As they head into their bowl game, the Falcons have shown that hard work, determination and trust in players can take a team far. The team's support and belief in a tight end from Canton, Ohio, is one reason they are where they are today.

When Harold Fannin Jr. first arrived at BGSU he was not a high school tight end. He was not deemed a "can't-miss" recruit over whom recruiting services fawned. Despite growing up in the shadow of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Fannin fell through the cracks of major college football.

But BGSU believed, and two years later, Fannin has become the first consensus All-American in the football program's history. The analytics website Pro Football Focus credits Fannin with forcing 31 missed tackles this year - the most it has ever tracked by a tight end - and gave him the highest grade of any football player at any Bowl Subdivision school.

He was the only tight end to be a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award - an accolade given to the nation's top pass catcher regardless of position - and won the Vern Smith Leadership Award as the best player in the Mid-American Conference.

ESPN's NFL Draft expert, Mel Kiper Jr., ranks Fannin as the top H-Back prospect in this year's draft.

For as much as he has starred on the field, Fannin isn't crazy about all the adulation he has received, preferring to give credit to everyone else.

"I feel like I can't take all the credit because the coaches obviously have been putting me in the right positions, and I have trust in my teammates," he said.

As he concludes his third season, Fannin said he found at BGSU what he hoped for in a college experience: the chance to be a do-it-all player who matured into one of the top players in the country.

"I'm a team player, and I wanted to be a jack-of-all-trades, in a way," Fannin said. "I'm a competitor, and tight end is a competitive position. I obviously had things I needed to work at, but I'd say I developed well here. I came here and got way bigger, got stronger and learned how to prepare, play football the right way."

Fannin ended up at BGSU in part because he was one of the students who fell behind academically during the pandemic, and missing work led most programs to back off in recruiting out of fear that he would not qualify.

But after conversations with his high school coach, the Falcons' staff knew Fannin was the type of person who they wanted in their program and that they had the ecosystem in which he could thrive.

As the No. 1 public university in Ohio for student experience and opportunities, BGSU is home to a number of resources for student-athletes, ranging from Student Athlete Services to a support system for student-athlete mental health to an athletics-focused Life Design program designed to help Falcons take a holistic approach to navigating Division I athletics.

Knowing they could support Fannin the student, there was only one question: Was he ready to switch to tight end?

A high school safety and wide receiver, Fannin said he believed his coaches when they explained their vision for him.

The staff showed Fannin their work with former Falcons tight end Quintin Morris, now a member of the Buffalo Bills, and he was ready.

"I was down with it. I like playing offense and I like scoring touchdowns, and that's what good tight ends do," Fannin said. "It was almost like driving a vehicle for the first time. You're nervous, and for me, I'd never really tried it before."

To say it was a success would be putting it mildly, but even labeling Fannin as just a tight end is selling him short. The Falcons lined him up in the backfield and gave him carries, and his first collegiate touchdown was actually a running play.

They asked him to pass block against defensive ends. They asked him to be a dynamic run blocker. They asked him to change games in open space like a wide receiver. He even completed a pass on a trick play.

And that only begins to cover it, BGSU head football coach Scot Loeffler said.

"Everyone from the NFL asks me, 'Can he play on special teams? Can he tackle?' I keep telling them, 'Please go watch his high school tape,'" Loeffler said. "He could go be the starting outside linebacker at Ohio State or Michigan right now. He could walk into those situations and start right now - that's how good of a football player [he] is."

Fannin has been nothing short of one of the best players in the country, breaking the BGSU records for receptions (100), yards (1,342) and touchdowns (nine) for a tight end and becoming the best player in the MAC.

The sky has been the limit, but with the NFL calling, people are asking Fannin a different sort of question three years after arriving on campus.

What's next for Harold Fannin Jr.?

"We'll see, man. We'll see," he said with a smile.