Two-way talent

Jay Tully, a junior and three-year starter at strong safety, warns Whitworth College football fans against reading too much into his recent flirtation with the wide receiver position.

“Of course, it’s fun,” admitted the 6-foot-3, 210-pounder out of Mead High School. “Everybody likes to have their hands on the football. It’s everybody’s dream to score a touchdown, and this gives me a better chance.”

But Tully, who has become an integral part of the 17th-ranked and unbeaten Pirates’ five-wide offensive set this fall, insists his loyalties still ride with the defense – even after last Saturday’s 14-13 double-overtime road win over Wisconsin-Stout in which he caught the first touchdown pass of his college career.

“Just awesome” was the way Tully, the son of Pirates head coach John Tully, described his touchdown grab, which came from 4 yards out and tied the game at 7 with only 3 second left in regulation.

“But I’ve already told the coaches I’m not going to leave defense to play strictly offense. I just enjoy it too much. I really like the guys on the defensive side and the whole atmosphere over there.”

That doesn’t mean, however, that the coaches plan to cut back on Tully’s time in the slot.

“Jay was one of those guys we looked at as a freshman as either offense or defense,” explained Jason Tobeck, the Pirates’ wide receivers coach. “He’s got good hands and he catches the ball real well on either side of it.

“Our (offensive) package is fairly small for him, because he spends so much time with the defense. We try to factor in at practice – depending on the day – about 10 or 15 minutes where he works with the offense.

“He’s fairly natural at the position. And for what we ask of him and what little time we allow him to work on it, he’s doing really well.”

Tully, who was a quarterback for three seasons at Mead before becoming a two-way starter at safety and wide receiver as a senior, estimates he was in the slot for “between 15-20 plays” in Saturday’s win over Stout and claims his touchdown catch came on a play he had never run – even in practice – against a full defensive unit.

“They brought me over (from defense) one day for about five minutes and put the play in – just a little crossing pattern where our outside receiver comes and picks my guy,” Tully explained. “I’d probably only run it like three times in practice, going against just the cornerbacks, so it was interesting to hear them call that in.”

Tully played in the slot only sparingly in Whitworth’s first two games because of a nagging hip flexor injury, but caught three passes for 24 yards last Saturday. He said having played quarterback in high school has helped him in becoming a two-way player for the Pirates.

“But not as much as you’d think,” he added. “A little bit with the reads, maybe, but I’m still learning things like where to break your route off and how to beat a linebacker inside.

“I’m still a long way from the rest of our receivers.”

As a part-time wideout, Tully finds himself spending more time under the watchful eye of his father, who is also the Pirates’ offensive coordinator. It’s a situation, he admitted, that can be uncomfortable at times.

“He’s never coached me in anything else before, because he’s always been too busy,” Tully said of his father, who made stops at several different high schools and small colleges in the Pacific Northwest before taking over at Whitworth in 1995. “Something that really helped was being on defense before, because he wasn’t really coaching me, per se.

“But now that he is, I think he’s trying his hardest to just treat me the same as any other player.”

Tully, who also plays on the Bucs’ kickoff return and punt return teams, doesn’t expect his offensive participation to increase dramatically, no matter how much success he has as a receiver.

“I just don’t know how much more I’d be able to do,” he said, “because I don’t want to take any time off playing defense. I want to make sure I play the whole time there, and whatever extra I can do, I’ll do it on offense.”

Tully was a second-team All-Northwest Conference selection at safety last fall after leading the Pirates in tackles with 63. He also had two interceptions and broke up a pass.

Through three games this fall, Tully has had a hand in 19 tackles and has picked off two more passes. He will start at strong safety again on Saturday when the Bucs (3-0) take on Azusa Pacific (1-3) in a 1 p.m. non-conference game in the Pine Bowl.

In an effort to help keep him fresh for an occasional dance with the offense, Tully’s coaches have removed him from kickoff and punt coverage teams.

“That’s a couple of 65 yards sprints I don’t have to run, which is really nice,” he admitted. “And (defensive coordinator) Kirk Westre is always asking if I need a sub for a couple of series.

“But I’m kind of stubborn. I don’t ever want to come out on defense, so I’m probably not going to tell him if I do. Defense is what I love.”