Logan Frederick went from two-sport all-state pick in high school, to junior college basketball player, to college wide receiver, to All-America pick at tight end. Utica athletics photo

By Gavin Grech 
Utica Football

Most athletes spend their whole lives working to be great at one sport. Utica tight end Logan Frederick is not most athletes. Frederick had the choice to be a collegiate athlete in one of two sports: basketball or American football.

"From a young age, I feel like I just was always interested in it, and I thought it was really cool, and I thought, from watching it on the TV, I always wanted to do it, at least with basketball," Frederick said, "With football, it was just from watching TV, and my dad played... You know, I just wanted to kind of be like my dad."

Despite deciding to focus on one sport following his high school career, Frederick eventually committed to an array of career-altering decisions, all of which would lead him to go from being a non-factor, to a three-time All-American in the sport he once chose to leave behind. 

This is the story of how a local kid from Rome, New York, went from being a juco basketball player, to becoming the most successful tight end in Utica football history.

Born in Rome, a matter of miles from Utica University, Frederick’s family lived in Georgia, then Virginia, where he went to high school. "The South is different," Frederick said, "In Virginia … the further south you go, the better people are at football. It's just how it is." In 10th grade, Frederick would decide to increase his repertoire and began playing basketball. His main inspiration to play sports when he was younger was his dad, who played football, basketball and baseball, which always inspired him. "I remember… his favorite number, and, like, me wearing that number. Frederick said, I think I just wanted to always kind of be like my dad."

As he continued to grow in age and stature, Frederick continued to hone his craft in both sports. Throughout high school, he enjoyed a solid career in each sport, but his senior season would propel him to the next level.

Right before his senior year, he and his family moved back to New York, landing in Little Falls, which placed the dual-sport dynamo back in the state’s Section III. This is when Frederick had a huge breakout season, gaining a New York State Class C second-team all-state nod in addition to being named Mohawk Valley Player of the Year as a wide receiver on the football field, while also being named all-state in basketball that same year.

Frederick noted that the competition and the volume of his targets in the Little Falls offense compared to his high school in Virginia were key to his breakout. "The offense that I was on in Virginia was more of a run-heavy offense, and I would probably catch the ball maybe like four times a game," Frederick said,  "Then I moved to New York, and I'm probably catching the ball like 12 times a game. Yeah, it was definitely a different level of competition and maybe just volume of getting the ball."

He also dominated on the court, alongside his brother Colton. Despite being a standout in both sports, Frederick eventually graduated from high school and had to narrow his focus down to one sport as he moved on to the next level.

Frederick had excelled so much in his senior year during the football and basketball seasons that he had the option to play either sport in college. For Frederick, the decision was easy, as football came with other challenges that basketball didn't. "I came out of high school my senior year, and I got hurt." Frederick said, "I ended my season like that. And I think I didn't want to keep scaring my mom and, you know, getting hurt and this and that. I also wanted to save money."

He was offered a spot on the men’s basketball roster at Herkimer Community College, but the thrill of football was always in the back of his mind.

"I just missed it," Frederick said, "I don't know. I just wanted to come back and play football. I mean, part of it is, I'm just such a competitive person." He would also bring up how the level of collegiate basketball is different, and he thought he had a better chance at success with football.

"I'm not bad at basketball, but like, there is just another level to it in college. It's ridiculous," Frederick said, "I really wanted to play a lot at the collegiate level, and I think I had a better chance of that when playing football."

Now that Frederick had his mind on football again, the question became, where would he continue his career? The main priority was that the school needed to have a good physical therapy program. Thankfully, Utica fit the bill, and Frederick knew it would be the place for him right from the very first visit.

"Everybody was super welcoming. It was easy to have conversations with everybody, Frederick said, "I think that part is super important to me. I am very personable. I like talking to people.

"Shout out like Izzy Maldonado and all of them, and shout out Coach (Joe) Gerbino… honestly, Gerbino was leaving as I was being recruited, and he's still doing whatever he can for this program," Frederick said, "I think that's a testament to what this program means to a lot of different people. Or just like the school in general. People really care about everybody, and I think that's what just drew me here, you know?"

With that, Frederick was again running routes on the football field, but his road to playing would not come without some adversity along the way.

"It was definitely stressful," Frederick said, I hadn't played football in a whole year. So that part was tough. But I felt like I kind of got back into it eventually." Frederick would say that his first season was him getting back into the groove of football, and he would give credit to his wide receiver coach, Dom Walborn: "I miss him dearly because he changed my game to a whole other level. I would say without him, I would not be in the position that I am today."

For his first two seasons, Frederick did not get varsity playing time and realized he only had one more guaranteed season left. With his time ticking away, the tall wideout would sense that a major change was needed, as he found it difficult enough to balance being an athlete with the rigorous schedule of the physical therapy program. Frederick eventually found himself at the point where he wanted to get on the field, no matter what position. This is when he had the realization that if he wasn't seeing success at one position, it might be time to make a change. This is when Frederick decided to make the shift to tight end. 

Logan Frederick overcame numerous hurdles to get to where he is today. Utica athletics photo

The thought was always there, and he was already having conversations with one of his best friends, fellow wideout Bryce Palmer, about it. "He believed in my ability to do something that I had never done before," Frederick said. "I really look back at it, and I couldn't appreciate that more." The conversation that made him ready to switch was the one he had with former player-turned assistant coach Matt Kaires.

Kaires, now the tight end coach at Utica, had just wrapped up his playing career, and had a fresh outlook on the future of the position within the program, giving his insight to Frederick. "So Kaires and I are playing Siege, and he thinks it is a great idea for me to switch to tight end," Frederick said, "So we would run through these like imaginary scenarios, and he would pretend to be Coach Faggiano." Frederick noted that these conversations gave him the courage he needed to approach the Pioneers' head coach with his plan.

These imaginary scenarios would make him more comfortable going into this huge conversation with Blaise Faggiano, as Frederick heard that the Pioneers' head coach had already been waiting for him to go into his office to ask for the switch. "Bz (Braeden Zenelovic) and Coach Clowes, they all encouraged me to switch", Frederick said, "I wanted to do anything I could to be on the field, so… I walked my happy butt in there, and I told Coach Faggiano."

Frederick had finally made the commitment to switch to tight end, but there were ups and downs with the transition before hitting the ground running.

The transition from receiver had its ups and downs, with the biggest learning curve being blocking. "It's just a different level of blocking," Frederick said, "blocking inside the box is just a different level. You have to bring a different sense of toughness compared to what you're doing as a receiver blocking a corner who is 120 pounds. You know what I mean? I'm sitting there with my 200-pound self blocking a guy who weighs 260 pounds. That's tough."

It was tough for that aspect of Frederick's game to adapt, but he improved on it a lot. The receiving part was never in doubt for him, as he realized how much of a match-up nightmare he truly was for safeties and linebackers alike. "There's no disrespect to linebackers or anything like that. But, like, I've been running routes as a receiver," Frederick said, "Linebackers are not supposed to be guarding guys like that. It's just not how it works."

After two years, Frederick finally got his chance, and he never looked back. He helped lead the greatest receiving corps in program history. His two best friends, Bryce Palmer and Antonio Cianfarani, both made first-team all-conference, but Frederick took the country by storm. In 10 games, he caught 74 passes for 867 yards and 12 receiving touchdowns. His most prolific games of that season were Cortland, Alfred, and St John Fisher as he had eight-plus catches, 124-plus yards, and a touchdown-plus in each game.

Frederick had officially turned belief into reality using an incredible work ethic. Even Faggiano noticed the massive amount of work that the now all-star tight end put into his switch, as the Pioneers' head coach would list Frederick among his top players to watch during the pre-season, despite the tight end not seeing significant time before this campaign.

Frederick went on to be named a D3football.com fourth team All-American and was first team D3football.com All-Region 2. He was First Team All-ECAC, Empire 8 Torchbearer, and All-Empire 8 First Team Offense. He took home these accolades, not just because he was one of the top tight ends in the whole country, but also because he was the best football student-athlete in the entire Empire 8, as he excelled with the highest GPA from the top two teams in the league.

"I think it was surreal," Frederick said, " I was playing basketball when I came here, and then I was playing receiver. I didn't play at all. And then I switched to this position, and suddenly, I'm winning national tight end of the week three times…. I go from literally being second, third in the depth chart to being... a top three tight end in the country. That is just surreal."

Even with all these accolades, the thing that made him enjoy all of this the most was being able to do it with his best friends on the field and his family watching it all happen. "It was so cool to experience that with my family and my friends," Frederick said, "Like, people who believe that I was capable of doing great things on the football field, and finally being able to find that. I think that was special… the chemistry that Me, Bryce, Chin (Cianfarani), and Tyler (Szalkowski) had on that field was special," Frederick said, "There was nothing better than going out there every single game, and playing my heart out, because I knew that I had to do it for those guys."

With that, it would have been a great way to cap off an incredible athletic career, but the urge to keep playing and the chance at a championship were on his mind. Frederick, with all his success, had the tough decision of coming back as balancing football and physical therapy would be at its hardest during his final year of school. But the decision to come back and play again was also the reason he came to Utica in the first place: the people.

"I was worried, and I didn't know if I wanted to come back because of how rigorous the PT program is … but you know, when they made it obvious that they would work with me and that they were going to do things for me to help me be successful in both ways, then I had no issue with saying that I'm going to be back, you know?" Frederick said, "I think it would be a disservice not to come back and, like, show them the respect that they deserve for what they've given me."

With Frederick coming back, he is very excited about what the team could do next season.

Gavin Grech is a sports communications major at Utica and an offensive lineman on the Pioneers football team.