South Dakota is on the cusp of hosting its own version of Tight End University. 

In 2021, NFL stars George Kittle, Travis Kelce and Greg Olsen began hosting Tight End University, gathering tight ends for training, film study and networking to Nashville, Tennessee, each June. The event hosts more than 80-90 NFL tight ends, with proceeds going toward charities.

In South Dakota, the small-state pipeline of NFL tight ends continues to grow, with the next wave ready to carry the torch. From small towns to big, nine-man to 11-man football, and East River to West River, pride in the position runs statewide.

In the past week, a pair of nationally-ranked Class of 2027 tight ends have committed to play college football at FBS programs. On April 6, Lennox’s Drake Mikkelsen committed to Minnesota, and exactly one week later, Pierre’s Cooper Terwilliger committed to Penn State. 

That makes two South Dakota tight ends bound for the Big Ten in the fall of 2027 — an impressive feat for our rural state. It also continues a trend of South Dakota tight ends putting our prideful state on the football map. 

Currently, there are three (!) South Dakota high school graduates — Dallas Goedert, Tucker Kraft and Tip Reiman — playing tight end in the NFL. Goedert plays for the Philadelphia Eagles, Kraft for the Green Bay Packers, and Reiman for the Arizona Cardinals.

Goedert hails from Britton, Kraft comes from tiny Timber Lake and Reiman is from Rapid City. Goedert and Kraft, both former nine-man football players, were FCS All-Americans at South Dakota State University. Goedert, a Super Bowl champion, and Kraft, a rising star at the position, are among the NFL’s top tight ends. 

Reiman, a Sioux Falls O’Gorman graduate, walked on at Illinois before being selected in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

As Brandon Valley football coach Matt Christensen noted in an email, tight end Thomas Fidone grew up in Brandon before graduating from Lewis Central High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Fidone, a 2025 NFL Draft pick, currently plays for the New York Giants. He played college football at Nebraska. 

While their paths to NFL Sundays are unique, they represent only part of South Dakota’s tight end story. Several other South Dakotans are continuing to build on that legacy.

Sioux Falls Jefferson’s Eddie Whiting, a nationally-ranked Class of 2026 tight end, will play at Michigan State this fall. College football powerhouse North Dakota State University, which is making the move from FCS to FBS this fall, has Pierre’s Jett Zabel as a Bison tight end. 

Zabel is the younger brother of former NDSU All-American Grey Zabel, now an offensive lineman for the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. 

We can’t forget about Brandon Valley’s Austin Dowd, who received other Division I interest before committing to FCS power South Dakota State University in January. In Brookings, Dowd will look to continue the South Dakota tight end tradition in college. 

And with their college football journeys just beginning, South Dakota’s tight end legacy continues to be written.