No one outside of the Towson football program knew what to expect from Carter Runyon when he transferred into the program last season.
The offensive lineman turned tight end from Fairfax, Va., had a respectable career at Division III Shenandoah, moving to his current position as a sophomore.
Runyon earned back-to-back All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference selections in his first two seasons with the Hornets — a third-team nod as an offensive lineman in 2021 and a second-team pick as a tight end in 2022. He was dominant in his first season at Towson last fall.
Runyon was named a first-team All-Coastal Athletic Association selection as a redshirt junior, recording a career-high 43 catches for 543 yards and four touchdowns. He was also named a second-team FCS All-American by the Associated Press.
Towson tight ends coach Tyson Wachenheim wasn’t shocked by Runyon’s production.
“I expect a lot out of the guys and we do set very high goals in our room,” Wachenheim said. “… Was it a surprise for him to have such a great year? Not really because that’s something that we expect. That’s the standard for the room. Our strength coaches were saying ‘Hey, this guy is different.’ Once we got into fall camp, he started learning the offense well and once he had the offense down, he just took off after that.”
Ask Runyon about being an All-American last year, however, and he would prefer to talk about his teammates.
Runyon has always prided himself on being a team-oriented player, remaining humble through his recent success. He has kept the same mentality he was raised with in Northern Virginia.
“I didn’t have any expectations,” Runyon said. “Towson gave me a great opportunity to come play here. I wanted to take full advantage of that. Come in, work really hard, and being an All-American is just the byproduct of that.”
Runyon’s transition to tight end was a multi-year process, but he has settled into the position now as a redshirt senior. Once a 300-pound lineman, he initially cut down to 250 pounds. He is now listed at 6-foot-6 and 235 pounds.
“Mobility was a big thing through that transition, becoming more mobile, more fluid with my movement,” Runyon said. “The weight change and everything was a big adjustment, but as of right now, I’ve got a pretty good feel for my body, how to move and everything like that. I think it’s coming together well.”
Runyon also made the adjustment of going from Division III to a Division I program in the CAA, one of the more competitive conferences in the FCS. Towson played a demanding schedule last season, including three games against ranked conference opponents and a season opener against an eventual eight-win Maryland team that smoked Auburn in the Music City Bowl last December.
Runyon got a taste of what the FCS level is all about and a further education on the blocking side of the tight end position, which he already had a good grasp of as a former lineman.
“Tight ends are usually giving up 20, 30 pounds to the guys they are blocking, so we need to be on top of our fundamentals, our technique, being on point like that,” Wachenheim said. “… He’s still just learning how to play tight end at this level. He’s got a really high ceiling, but there’s still a lot of things we need to work on.”
For a player who is still improving at a position that he has essentially learned on the fly — a position that wasn’t his natural position growing up with the game — turning in an All-American campaign is an incredible feat, especially in his first season of Division I ball.
Wachenheim has made sure to let Runyon know that. The coach continues to boost Runyon’s confidence as the tight end heads into his second season with the Tigers.
Towson went 5-6 overall and 4-4 in the CAA in Pete Shinnick’s first season as head coach a year ago. The schedule is once again difficult for Towson, with road matchups against Cincinnati, Villanova and North Dakota State in the first four weeks of the season.
The Tigers like to get as many players involved as possible on offense, but they will need a player like Runyon to make an instant impact. He and the coaches are confident he’ll do just that.
“I feel like we’re definitely more developed,” Runyon said. “It’s all [about] how we play and I definitely think we made a big jump from last year to this year. … Our big thing is that we’re going to come out and play great football and if we play great football, good things are going to happen.”
Photo Credit: ENP Photography