Troy Mangen, an Ohio tight end, brings his three-sport athleticism to the same place his father and uncle played and captained the Bobcats.
Troy Mangen’s father and uncle were Bobcats.
They were also linebackers and named captain in their careers.
His father, Mike, still holds the record for the most career tackles (513) tallied from 1981-84, and his 171 tackles during his junior season still stands as the second-most in a single season at Ohio.
His uncle, Doug, was two years younger and redshirted during his first year, but he tallied the eighth-most career tackles in program history, with 404, including a second-best 40.0 going for loss. Also, his 73 solo tackles during his redshirt sophomore season were fifth all-time.
And now, Troy has continued to carry the torch at Ohio.
Mangen heard of his family members’ times at Ohio because his mother, Teri, is also an Ohio alumna, but he wasn’t set on coming to Athens just to keep the legacy alive.
Mangen’s family would bring him down to Athens for games when he was younger, where his father could catch up with old teammates, but he still wasn’t sold on the Bobcats until he was able to come and see what it was all about when he was in high school.
“We took him down for several football games, one or two a year until he started playing,” Troy’s father, Mike Mangen, said. “I don’t think that there was any doubt in his mind that if everything panned out, that’s where he would want to go.”
Ohio’s recruiting, special teams and tight ends coach Brian Haines said that although Mangen’s bloodlines ran thick and he liked what Ohio was all about, he still wasn’t a ‘slam dunk’ for the coaching staff to claim, but Mangen said that Ohio felt like the right choice for him in the end.
Mangen recalled talking to Bowling Green, Boston College and a couple other Mid-American Conference schools before choosing Ohio.
“Ohio was the choice because it felt like the right choice,” Mangen said. “(My parents) pretty much left it up to me. I definitely think it’s cool that we both ended up going to the same place.”
His father said he’s never seen him as happy as he was at that moment.
“Once he committed, I can say this proudly and confirming it: I never saw a kid smile as much as he did,” said Mike, who coached Troy at Northmont High School in Clayton. “He knew he made the right decision, coach Solich and coach Haines were the top-of-the-line for Troy.”
Mangen was a three-sport athlete in high school, as he played football, basketball and baseball. His unmatched athleticism and ability to “be a giant” on the football field is what turned heads for Bobcats coaches.
“There was just no question about his athleticism,” Haines said. “What really played into us recruiting Troy was Troy being a great athlete and a great student in the classroom. Once you found out about his uncle and his father, you thought that might help our chances out and it made the recruiting process very enjoyable for everybody.”
His father always told Troy and his brother Clay, a tight end at Wittenberg, “you get out of it what you put into it” and to aim for people’s respect.
Respect can only get you so far, but like his father used to explain: the most important value to Troy has become working hard at everything he does.
His starting quarterback for four of this year’s first eight games, redshirt sophomore JD Sprague, praised Mangen’s progressions as not only receiver, but as a blocker.
Although Derrius Vick started to begin the season, Sprague and Mangen worked on their chemistry and fundamentals throughout the offseason, and Sprague said they would text each other to get out and throw the football all winter and summer.
“He has a really good work ethic, he’s always ready to go. It seems like he’s never really that bummed out, he’s always ready to focus on getting better,” Sprague said. “He’s a young guy and he still can get a lot stronger, but I think he holds his own out there. Nobody can be perfect but I never question whether Troy is going to give it his all.”
Mangen saw action in all 13 games last season, and started four, tallying 12 yards and a touchdown and adapting to the physical blocking responsibilities of a collegiate tight end — something that he said was one of the biggest changes from high school to college.
Last season, he learned from Anthony Talbert, a former tight end who is now a graduate assistant coach who works with the wide receivers.
Talbert said last year he was as a liaison between Mangen and the coaches to try and get rid of the freshman jitters, and this year he has become a critic of Mangen, trying to help him improve after every game.
“I am actually inspired watching him play. He plays with such tenacity and such a love for the game,” Talbert said. “I admire him for that because I think he does it better than I did.
“Troy’s a great player to have on a team, a great leader, he’ll be a captain one day and hopefully he can play 10-plus years in the league — the league as in the NFL.”
Although the NFL is every football player’s dream, Mangen’s current goal is to help lead the Bobcats to their ultimate prize of a MAC Championship.
“I just wanted to be the best tight end I could be,” Mangen said. “The dream was to be All-MAC, but really whatever I can do to help the team is the biggest to me.”
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