Paso Robles’ Josh Oliver powers Vikings to a big win
Paso Robles’ Josh Oliver as a Raven.
Oliver helps Vikings dominate Falcons after injury return
– Former Paso Robles High School Bearcat Josh Oliver returned to the lineup of the Minnesota Vikings Sunday and helped the Vikings beat the Atlanta Falcons 42-21. Oliver missed two games with an ankle injury but was back on the field Sunday for the big win over the Falcons. Josh caught one pass for 26 yards in the victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Minnesota.
So far, the 27-year-old tight end has 20 receptions, good for 242 yards and three touchdowns. In the NFL, Oliver is regarded as the best blocking tight end in football, but he can also catch the ball. He’s now 6-foot-5 and 259 pounds. Despite missing two games, he has exceeded last year’s stats in both yards and touchdowns. But the 2024 season is far from over.
Oliver continues to excel 10 years after helping the Paso Robles Bearcats win the CIF championship in 2014. Coach Rich Schimke says Oliver played a key role in the Bearcats’ (13-1) victory over Newbury Park 13-10. The Bearcats captured the CIF title on a muddy field at a packed War Memorial Stadium.
Schimke knew Oliver as a high school football player, but he also knew Josh in the classroom. Oliver took Schimke’s course in Advanced Placement statistics. Rich says, “Josh was very intelligent. He paid great attention to detail. His writing was immaculate.”
Coach Rich Schimke (center) says Oliver played a key role in the Bearcats winning the CIF championship in 2014.
Two years earlier, Rich brought Oliver and five other Paso Robles High School sophomores up to varsity. As a freshman, Oliver played quarterback, but Schimke moved him to tight end. “He had huge hands. He could catch the ball one-handed. He could jump vertically on the basketball court and stuff the ball in the basket. He had great athletic ability, but his attention to detail led to his continued improvement on the field.”
Oliver was selected 2014 CIF Southern Section Northern Division defensive player of the year. He had 13 sacks and two interceptions as a senior.
After Paso Robles High School, Oliver played for the San Jose State Spartans. He learned a great deal playing for San Jose State coach Brent Brennan, who played wide receiver for UCLA before he became a coach. Brennan coached receivers at Cal Poly from 2001 to 2004. Several years later at Oregon State, Brennan coached All-American receiver Brandin Cooks.
Cooks won the Fred Biletnikoff Award in 2013 as the best Division I wide receiver in college football. At San Jose State, Brennan coached Oliver and fellow Bearcat Bailey Gaither, who played wide receiver. After his success with the Spartans, Brennan became head coach of the Arizona Wildcats. One of his incoming recruits at Arizona is a left-handed quarterback from Los Gatos High School, Scottie Brennan, who is also his son.
Oliver also has relatives who have enjoyed great success in sports. His uncle, Clancy Oliver, was an NFL defensive back for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1969 to 1970. His second cousin, Darren Oliver, was a Major League pitcher from 1993 to 2013. Josh’s dad, Rene Oliver, was an all-conference first-team cornerback at Cal Poly in 1987 and 1988.
After playing for San Jose State, Oliver was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars, but an injury kept him off the field for most of the 2019 season. He played for the Baltimore Ravens for two seasons. Then in 2023, he signed with the Vikings.
In March of 2023, he signed a three-year, $21 million contract with the Vikings. A San Luis Obispo newspaper reporter asked Josh what he was buying with that money. Still modest and level-headed, Oliver told him, “Well, I bought some stocks.” He reportedly bought the investments through a local stockbroker who has worked with his family for several decades.
From a Paso Robles High School football player to a well-paid player in the NFL, Oliver has not forgotten what he learned from Rich Schimke in AP statistics at Paso Robles High School. He’s still paying attention to detail.
The Vikings are now 11-2 this season. Josh Oliver is healthy, so he may play a key role for the Vikings in the upcoming NFL playoffs.
