Arrowhead Pride
The young tight end has the college pedigree to tape to possibly make the rosters
We’re a few weeks into June, and the sweet melody of romance hums through the air like a cicada in the night—constant, electric, and impossible to ignore.
As we keep swiping through the Kansas City Chiefs organization, searching for someone worth a right swipe, Jake Briningstool popped onto the screen. It’s the 6-foot-6, 240-pound tight end from Clemson who looks like the love child of Ivan Drago and Catherine Trammell.
With fellow tight end Travis Kelce’s celebrity growing by the day and Noah Gray locked in as a dependable right-hand man, there might still be room in the tight end room for a new hot commodity.
And keep in mind, as with all the guys in this series: if an undrafted free agent makes the team and records any stats in the 2025 season, that’s a win.
Briningstool came out of Ravenwood High School in Brentwood, Tennessee, and while both his town and school sound like they were named by a CW showrunner for a teen drama packed with slow-motion football montages and hallway heartbreak, he was the real deal. A four-star recruit, Briningstool ranked among the top 100 players nationally in his class and was the No. 3 tight end prospect in the country.
For a while, it looked like he was destined to become a Michigan State Spartan — mainly because his dad played linebacker for them back in the day.
Jake said he understood at an early age how much family means, and that was reinforced when he went through the recruiting process. His dad, Tony, played linebacker at Michigan State from 1987-92, and both of his grandparents were Spartans. His grandparents went to Michigan St. His cousin, Garrett Briningstool, worked with Tom Izzo and the Spartan basketball team. His sister Julia is currently at Michigan St., and Jake lived in East Lansing, going to Michigan St. camps until 2012.
His first offer was from Michigan St., but the family let him choose his own course.
“They (Michigan St.) were my first Power Five offer coming out of my sophomore year. I think we visited up there plenty of times. We had a lot of good connections up there, but I think they’re going through a coaching change at the time,” Briningstool said. “The biggest thing for me was just trying to figure out the spot that fit me. I think one cool thing about my parents was they didn’t put any pressure on me to choose Michigan State. They didn’t put any pressure on me to do any of that. The only thing they said is I couldn’t visit Michigan.”
But ultimately, it was the pitch from head coach Dabo Swinney that lured him into Clemson orange. As a fun note, much like Kelce, Briningstool has a bit of a background throwing the ball, too, as you’ll see in the highlight below.
**The...
