Nathaniel Eberly-Rodriguez has been the walking embodiment of getting a lot of information and taking it to heart.
That approach has helped the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga tight end not only in his football journey, but in his life journey.
The 6-foot-5, 240-pounder from Petoskey, Michigan, played his first four college seasons at Wayne State — an NCAA Division II program in Detroit — before transferring to UTC in spring 2024 and moving up to D-I competition with the Football Championship Subdivision’s Mocs. Eberly-Rodriguez came to Chattanooga with a bachelor’s degree and is currently studying in a graduate program for business management.
He seemed like a natural replacement at tight end for Camden Overton, who was at UTC for the 2022 and 2023 seasons before transferring out, but Eberly-Rodriguez spent most of his first season injured, which limited him to six games and two catches in 2024. Now healthy, he’s ready to show what he’s capable of.
For a moment, he thought he’d caught the second touchdown pass of his collegiate career (and first for the Mocs) in UTC’s Southern Conference opener against The Citadel last weekend at Finley Stadium. It was waved off due to a penalty, though, and the lost opportunity seemed to take some of the wind out of the Mocs’ sails in the 28-10 defeat that dropped them to 1-4 overall going into Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. game at Virginia Military Institute (1-3, 0-0).
Eberly-Rodriguez has a perspective that is both surprising (consider the Mocs’ struggles as the regular season’s midpoint approaches) and expected (playing college football for six years requires a certain measure of dedication).
“It’s been very fulfilling,” he said of career. “It makes me feel like a lot of people that have put a lot of work in me get to share in that success. I think about my mom, think about my dad, I think about players that taught me, being a freshman in high school with guys that didn’t get the opportunities I got. It’s extremely rewarding to be able to talk to those guys.
“One of the best pieces of advice a coach gave me was to pray not for easier times, but pray to be a stronger man. This has kind of been a culmination of all that. I feel like I’m a stronger man for everything I’ve been through, and the product on the field is kind of a bonus. I’m really proud of who I am right now.”
That wasn’t even the best piece of advice he has received, which would probably be to “use school as much as they’re going to use you” — and because of all he’s been through, he’ll leave UTC with a master’s degree.
As for the football aspect, last year his position group still included Jay Gibson — whose final seven of eight college seasons were spent at UTC, where he’s currently an offensive analyst on seventh-year head coach Rusty Wright’s staff — but now Eberly-Rodriguez is the veteran, by far, in a room otherwise filled with underclassmen.
“Last year was hard for him. He just wasn’t physically built yet to be able to handle what he was going to have to handle,” tight ends coach Zeb Speir said. “Last spring he got his butt kicked pretty good, but he just kept coming back out and swinging and getting better, and then halfway through fall camp, something just clicked physicality-wise. He just pulled his trigger, wasn’t playing hesitant. He probably understood the offense better, understood the speed of the game better, and he just pulled his trigger.
“He’s been a physical guy for us, a reliable guy for us, and it’s good to have an older guy in the room that’s seen some football, seen some life, more than those younger guys. He’s been a great addition to our football program.”
As the Mocs head to VMI this weekend with hopes of beginning a turnaround, their veteran tight end will still be looking for that elusive first touchdown in a UTC jersey. While the penalty may have ruined his touchdown celebration last week, that play was a moment no one in his family will ever forget – even if it didn’t count.
“It was something that a lot of guys could relate to because they see something in my journey, not being on the field all the time, but still grinding, still being here,” he said, noting that his grandmother told him after the game that she “still saw him score.”
“When I scored, I felt like all the guys wanted to be there, wanted to celebrate me,” he added. “I’ve had a lot of comments on how good it felt to watch me score, and our room really celebrated it. I’m just real thankful for everything my family has done. I’m really thankful for Coach (Wright) for giving me an opportunity, and I just hope I’m representing Chattanooga right.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.