Tim Biere

Tim Biere set relatively modest expectations for his freshman debut as a college football player at Kansas University: He wanted to get in the game.

Biere managed to fulfill that goal. Just barely. He made it on the field for one play in this year’s season-opener, and he remembers it precisely, including his assignment against Florida International.

Double-tight-end set. Block on the back side.

Sure, it was only one of KU’s 88 offensive plays that evening, but Biere sounded genuinely satisfied just to contribute.

“It was pretty neat to get in there for the first game,” he said.

That was three weeks ago – when he was a little-used, third-string tight end – and he could count his game-action exploits on one finger.

Now, he should have a considerably more difficult time rattling off every play in which he has been involved on the field. Biere became the team’s starting tight end by week two and hasn’t relinquished that role since. He is listed as the starter for this week’s game between No. 19 Kansas and Sam Houston State.

“When the tight end was in, I was in,” Biere said of his team’s two games since opening night. “Pretty much every play.”

What could account for this rapid ascension in such a short time?

Ask his coaches, who still are glowing over Biere’s ability to pick up their complex offensive scheme so quickly.

“He’s just a guy that has a knack for playing that position,” KU coach Mark Mangino said. “He has good football aptitude. He’s not a guy who needs reps over and over and over. You teach him, he’ll do it.”

Biere has leapfrogged both Bradley Dedeaux and AJ Steward on the depth chart, and not simply for his blocking ability. Turns out, the 6-foot-4, 243-pound colossus wields a pretty good set of hands, too.

At Westside High in Omaha, Neb., he caught 50 passes in his career for 759 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Those skills began to manifest themselves in the first few weeks of Jayhawk practices in August.

“He made some great catches at camp that I was like, ‘Man, he can catch, too,'” sophomore wide receiver Johnathan Wilson said. “He’s a young guy, and he’s learning. I think he can have a good future here.”

KU offensive coordinator Ed Warinner took notice as well.

“He’s got really good hands, good receiving ability, good physical skills,” Warinner said of Biere. “We didn’t want to throw him in there too soon. We’ve just been bringing him along gradually, and he just keeps getting better and better.”

Biere’s skill set as a receiver revealed itself at a key moment on an early-game drive against South Florida last week. With the Jayhawks facing a third-and-seven at USF’s 46-yard-line, Biere lined up at tight end, found a seam in the defense and snared a 10-yard catch for a KU first down. On the very next play, quarterback Todd Reesing found Wilson for a 36-yard score to give Kansas a 7-0 lead.

It was Biere’s first reception since the last game of his high school career in October. And Biere can recite the route just as perfectly as his first blocking assignment against FIU, which probably says a thing or two about his attention to detail and his climb up the depth chart.

For Biere and his coaches, the hope is that reception No. 1 is the first of many more to come.

“For a freshman, as a player, we think he’s going to be outstanding for us,” Mangino said.