Courtesy photo Former Alvirne tighe end Brycen Yarmo makes his long-awaited Division I college debut this Wednesday for the University of Akron vs. Western Michigan.

Brycen Yarmo can’t wait for this Wednesday.

The current pandemic has shattered a lot of high school and college atheltes’ dreams, but Alvirne alum Yarmo will be living his Wednesday when the University of Akron football team takes on Western Michigan in its season opener.

Yarmo, who graduated from Alvirne in 2015, has been waiting ever since to play in a Division I football game.

That time is finally here.

“My whole life I’ve been dreaming about playing in (Division) I football,” the 6-foot-6, 250-pound Yarmo said.

And that’s why the former Broncos tight end has done a long journey full of twists and turns and a lot of work to stay on college coaches’ radar at all levels.

He will tell you he evolved into a more serious football player under former Bronco coaches Mark Phillips and then Tim Walsh. A devout Mormon, he played a post-grad year at Phillips Exeter, and then got recruited to Brigham Young University as a preferred walk on. But he never took a class there, as he went on a two-year mission trip to Colorado Springs, teaching his religious beliefs while also helping the homeless and underpriveleged.

But while he was away from school, the coaching staff that recruited him, which included former BYU great Ty Detmer, was replaced. He tried to make contact with the new regime, but never connected. One dream that didn’t come true.

“That was my goal since I was young,” he said. “I always thought BYU stood for Brycen Yarmo University. But things happen, that wasn’t God’s plan for me, but I couldn’t be happier with where I am right now, the opportunities presented before me to play and compete at D-I.”

After BYU didn’t pan out, while Yarmo was continuing his work in Colorado, his father Paul basically became his representative to schools, sending out emails to colleges to see what could happen.

The result of that was one of the better junior colleges for football in the country, Arizona Western Community College, offered him a scholarship to play there. “I was all in,” Yarmo said. “Their tight end the year before had committed to Tennessee.”

It seemed like the perfect spot. But because Yarmo had been on his mission and unable to train, instead of playing right away as expected, he had to be redshirted so he could train, because there wasn’t enough time between his arrival and the start of the season (two weeks).

“I practiced with the team and was just doing the best I could to get to where I was before,” he said.

But then the bottom fell out again. At the end of the season, it was announced the entire Arizona junior college football circuit was going to shut down due to funding, travel expenses, etc. That was it for the program.

“Another twist in the road,” Yarmo said.

What then? As one might expect, other junior college programs swooped in to recruit the athletes who no longer had a team. One school that came in was Coffeyville (Kansas) Community College in 2018. He transferred there, practiced with the CCC football team that spring, played there, and was back on the Division I radar.

Yarmo hadn’t played in a game in three years, but finally took the field in a competitive situation two falls ago.

“Honestly, it felt surreal,” Yarmo said. “But it felt like I was back to where I was supposed to be. I’d been looking forward to that moment for years.

“Being back on the field was an amazing feeling, but also kind of scary at the same time, because I was playing at a high level of competition that I had never played before. I was a couple of years removed from hitting and going crazy on the field. It was a little bit of an adjustment period.”

Yarmo started and played well in the game, the lead blocker for a 1,000-yard back who is now at Virgina Tech, Marco Lee. It was a lean year for Coffeyville, he wasn’t used much as receiver,catching just five passes. “It was a lot of work and grind throughout the season, but I’m playing football, doing the thing I love, and going to school and doing it for free. That’s all I could ask for.”

Yarmo only stayed at Coffeyville for one season, as one of the members of the coaching staff had a connection to Akron and suggested Yarmo pursue a spot there. He got an official visit, “and I was just so impressed with the program and the direction of the program and how they were trending up. It’s a new coaching staff with a lot of fire behind them.

“I’m just so excited now to have an opportunity to start right away, go right on the field and just operate at maximum capacity.”

Yarmo is on full scholarship, certainly rare for a player in this area on the Division I level. He signed his letter of intent last winter, and the day he put pen to paper “was kind of unbelievable. But you know what, I worked so hard and so long for this, it just felt it was what I was supposed to be doing.”

What did Yarmo like about Akron that he wanted to call it his home for the next couple of years?

“They have a real official pro-style offense,” Yarmo said, noting that the head coach, Tom Arth, was Peyton Manning’s backup for three seasons (2003-2005) with the Indianapolis Colts.

“His coaching style and execution and organization is just unmatched from what I’ve seen before,” Yarmo said. “I love the fire with all the coaches here, and the potential they saw in me.

“Not a lot of coaches have talked to me about how they could see me progress, and see me work on the field. They assured me I’d be one of the starting tight ends right away and that I’d be able to make an impact on this team as a main role player, which is what I really wanted.”

Yarmo is a redshirt sophomore, but techinically the year won’t count because of COVID, so after this year, he will still have three years of eligibility. Theoretically, Yarmo could get his MBA at Akron, “but we’ll have to see what happens. Three years is a long time.”

For Yarmo, given his nomadic history due to circumstances out of his control, three years would be an eternity.

But the near future will be a game on Wednesday. Yarmo hopes to get playing time as, because of all sorts of COVID restrictions, the team hasn’t had the regular practice/scrimmage ability, so bodies will be rotated in and out throughout the contest. But he expects to start.

Akron has been practicing four times a week for the last three weeks; prior to that, there were minimal group workouts with players wearing masks, etc.

“For awhile we thought we weren’t going to be able to play until spring,” Yarmo said.

But then the Mid-American Conference decided that a spring schedule wouldn’t be a good fit, making it tough for the players to get their bodies right for the following fall. So they came up with a six-game conference season.

“They made a decsion, they’re sticking to it and doing a pretty good job of executing it,” Yarmo said.

And now he’s in football heaven.

“I love it,” he said. “I’m blocking a lot, running a lot of routes, and the level of competition on this team, to win and just compete each and every single day is really prominent on this team, and I’m really enjoying it.”

Yarmo feels he’ll be used as more of a blocking tight end to start, but as his role progresses and the team does the same, he’ll be part of the passing attack as well.

He enjoys the blocking aspect of the position, but also the thrill of catching a ball in the end zone.

“Honestly I enjoy being able to move someone against their will so my running back can run right behind me and score a touchdown,” he said. “But there’s little better feelings than scoring a touchdown.”

He always looked up, obviously, to former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski and his dual style of play, blocking and receiving. But now he looks at 49er tight end George Kittle. “He has no weaknesses to his game,” Yarmo said. “He’s an elite tight end, so I kind of model after him.”

Yarmo looks back fondly at his days as a Bronco.

“I really enjoyed it at Alvirne and everywhere because they used me as more of a collegiate type of tight end, right across the line,” Yarmo said. “Going up against defensive ends, like I am now at practice. It’s really helped me develop into the player I am today.”

What makes a good tight end?

“I think a good tight end comes with a level head and just being able to work on every part of your game equally,” Yarmo said. “You can’t just work on catching balls because then your blocking will suffer and vice-versa.”

Yarmo is studying hard to be a success someday in the business world as a venture capitalist, but he also has aspirations to play the game he loves beyond the collegiate level.

This is his chance, as he gets game film against the best competition he’ll have faced – finally.

“Absolutely, that’s the goal right now,” he said.

But Yarmo is 23, an older player for not only college but also, by the time he’s done, the NFL. How does he think that will be looked at by pro scouts?

Hint: He looks at the success of another older NFL player today named Brady.

“Honestly, I don’t think that will be seen as a problem,” he said. “I look at some NFL players today and as long as I do my part, take care of my body, maybe buy Tom Brady’s book, the TB12 Method, and try to (play) as long as him, I think I can get it right.

“I have his book, I’ve been reading it, studying it and all that, and I try to live a healthy lifestyle and all that, but I don’t follow it to a ‘T’. Everybody’s body is different, you need to facilitate your own body.”

Besides business and football, Yarmo won’t leave behind the theme of his mission work, as he wants to start charities for the homeless as well as underprivelged kids “that don’t get the same opportunity as everyone else.

“I want to be able to do something good with my time and money when I get there.”

At Akron, most if not all of his classes are online even though he’s on campus (some others have actual in-person classes).

“It’s hard to stay motivated with no teacher in front of you,” he said.

But motivated he is, and perhaps that comes from the competition he sees at Division I level football practice. He can tell the difference.

“Just the efficiency and speed of play is another level,” he said. “Just one mess up and you’re going to be pulled from practice. You better get your head right and get back in and fix what you messed up. And just the amount of plays we get in a practice, we can get 76 plays in 30 minutes. We’re really going hard in this first game, I think we’ll be prepared.”

This will be the best competition Yarmo will have faced. No hesitation on his part, for sure.

“I’m ready for the challenge,” he said. “I’ve been working around the clock, each and every day this past summer, during quarantine, the past few years of my life. I feel I’m more ready than ever, more than I’ve ever been. … This has been my goal since high school, to be this type of player, this type of person. And I’m finally here.

“I can’t wait to show the world what I can do.”

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