101 Days of BC Football: Mike Naples, #89

Both of Boston College’s tight ends on the two-deep hail from New Jersey; at the top is Chris Pantale, but second is Mike Naples. This 6-4, 237 lb. junior comes from Branchburg in north central Jersey.

Naples played as a wide receiver and linebacker for Somerville High School the next town over; individual statistics are hard to find (and kind of irrelevant since it was several years ago), but his performance was good enough to warrant three stars from Rivals. Somerville, NJ is on the banks of the Raritan River like a certain state university, so one might think that he got an offer from them, but that’s not so. Rutgers looked at him, but Naples’ offers were from BC, Akron, Army, Cincinnati, ECU, and Vanderbilt.

Coming out of high school, he was always forecast as a tight end at this level because of his size and frame. He’s up to 237, which is a little less bulky than Pantale’s 255 but not necessarily terrible. He’s already a junior, so who knows if he’ll add any more mass.

Last season, Naples made his first — and only — career reception for eight yards. It was against NC State, as his BC bio page mentions five times. Being second on the two-deep, he’ll see a little bit of activity in games, but not as much as Pantale. For what it’s worth, he’s also second at the long snapper position.

Naples has a few other tight ends right behind him who are looking to climb the food chain, with redshirt freshman Brian Miller perhaps most prominent amongst them. When he gets his playing time, and I would imagine he’ll make appearances in most games, he’ll have to make the most of it.