Fall Camp Preview: Special Teams

going way back when did you first start getting interested in kicking uh so it was actually my dad who got me into the kicking so grown I want to play football you know I play running back lineman some else not kicker like who wants to be a kicker you know uh but then playing soccer my whole life my dad's like hey like you're a kicker and I'm like n no I don't know about that so in eighth grade is when I started going to like Cole's camps I started getting ranked nationally and then it took off from there eighth grade ninth grade all that and then yeah that's when it took off and then junior year coach Wanger found me and the rest is history yeah does it take to kind of get discussed as one of the best kickers in the nation uh I think just a lot of hard work uh I know I like to be silly and loose and stuff like I think being loose helps a little bit but a lot of hard work I got a lot of guys in the team who hold me accountable um I want to get better I love doing the work so I think just day in and day out getting better getting better and shows on the field kind of an unforgiving position where it's you have that one moment in a game that you're in there you're kind of you're coming out there just for that one play just how important is being loose for you for that uh big time it's nice cuz uh EQ does a great job of having uh kicking Nets on both sides so if we're driving one way the other kicking Nets wide open so I like to get kicks and Reps in there before we go out but it's also you don't want to get you don't want to get too many kicks because you don't want your leg to get tired so it's find that happy medium uh it's really good you know you got Crawford and uh whoever the Long Snapper is Ryan or Allen they'll get uh warm on the side we'll get some dry swings we get all this stuff so we have a a really good plan before we go out there to execute do you have a personal favorite kick ah see it's tough cuz obviously you could look at Nebraska but I think just like Iowa like to put us up 1210 I think that was I think it's just my favorite just cuz we got the pig you know so I think yeah that's got to be my favorite mental whether whether you have you're on hot Street for culture to have just quick memory one way or the other yeah you know you're only as good as your last exactly yeah that's a big thing it's just like forgetting about the last kick um I I used to keyword used to read a lot of books on like uh mental health and stuff like that I used to see Dr Carly because kicking obviously is more mental than it is physical so you know if you do miss one forgetting about it moving on to the next one and it's great cuz like the guys around us and the guys around me like missing I I feel like it's inevitable like it's going to happen so having a good support system around you which I do this team you know we trust each other so it's just having that good camaraderie around you that really helps you success see and be uh at an elite level you mentioned the Iowa game I think it was the weather kind of impacting as well the wind just how does that play into how you approach kicks whether it's blowing one way or the other Yeah well yeah wind's a big factor uh that's something I can get better at is bringing the wind a little bit better uh cross pretty good at that but uh yeah it it it affects it more than you think like there may be a slight breeze but like the way my ball flight is where it's like a slight draw to the right if there's a wind going left to right it's going to push it more more than you think coach fle always does a good job of reminding me that like even if we're in the indoor and I hit a ball that's like hugging the right upright coach flex's like hey if there is wind it's it's pushing it right luckily there's no win in the indoor but uh yeah I mean looking at it pregame and it can change throughout the game too especially in our Stadium our stadium is kind of whirly so I mean it's just going out there pregame getting a feel for it and then executing on the field how coach he's awesome he uh like I said before he just brings a awesome View and insight into the specialist World he's worked with a lot of great Specialists he worked at Sebastian Janikowski arguably the greatest Lefty kicker of all time uh so just he gives me drills that he did with him he has Shane Eckler I think it's his name Hall of Fame punter who helps us or helps cof and uh Caleb McGrath with all these different drills and stuff like that so he an he been in this profession for what he's 62 like 40 years something like that so yeah he has a lot of experience and it it's helped me grow a lot so thank you coach Le and if you need a movie like I said before he's got some good movies yeah new game coming out football just how excited are you uh I'm excited to play as arante ursery 93 overall uh they only got him at 66 speed though so I don't know about that but it's going to be fun uh I got to buy the new Xbox cuz it's only at next gen but yeah it's going to be interesting uh when was the last one I was at like 2011 or something like that yeah so it's been it's been a long time it'll be fun you know everybody's looking forward to I think releases on Monday right it's a week it's like talking about having confidence and like support system around him you feeling that same Confidence from him in towards you 100% 100% yeah I I would say that I when it comes to practice and and game day and things like that I I seem to just get sort of tunnel vision I get really locked in and he's like the perfect balance to that he sort of says like he's logged in as well it's like a he knows how to switch on and switch off whereas I'm I can be to switched on sometimes and I guess get like ton of vision with it but yeah he's he's awesome the balance yeah absolutely yeah for sure and I think it it it works together especially in the field goal operation you've seen your name show up on some preon 10 what does that mean to you your potentially final year here yeah I mean it's it's always nice it's always nice to see a name floating around and things like that I don't know whether it's because there's a I've been here so long now that it's it's one of those things that that crops up but honestly like I haven't really thought a whole bunch of it I mean it's it's it's nice to have guys sort of mention a few things but that just means you got to perform and you got to live up to it right when you started the journey did you ever expect to be here this long I I I I always wanted to do the four years for sure but then as it turns out the you know the co year given the fifth year is is a blessing I mean if I could I'd probably just keep going until I couldn't anymore or someone B me out or something like that so um yeah but in in saying that you know it's really good to see some of the younger guys come through through and I mean Caleb's developed a lot and it's it's going to be good to see you know where that takes us this year as well what different is your Technique between yeah I mean situationally obviously but it's it's always nice to hit that bomb that just sort of travels the length of the field and and and and flips it and puts team in the best position but it it really depends on you know who's back there I mean we saw against Iowa that it it it can make a pretty big difference to a game of football depending on back there so knowing sort of what the defense might bring as well and that can sort of change like how long I might hold on to the ball how long I have to get rid of it how how long I've got to put it to where it needs to go in terms of the direction and obviously we all have a standard that wants to be you know pretty similar basically every time but the the skies are just a little bit more like it feels more Australian in that sense it's sort of just like playing catch or trying to place it on a little hat whereas when you have the whole field in front of you you're really aiming for like a specific spot that I'm just going to I want to hit this specific dime it's more about just hit a nice ball and and put the defense in a good position always yeah um similar to what Dagon sort of said had a ton of experience different perspective um his attitude towards understanding that you know not everything's going to be perfect as well is is is pretty beneficial as Specialists you know obviously you get judged on very few amount of reps it's not like I can if I drop the catch it's not like I can sort of get back up there and and have another opportunity I might have to wait 20 30 40 minutes and not saying wide receivers might get the ball again that game but it's just one of those things where it just feels a little bit different in that sense but um no he's awesome his his attitude and his knowledge is spectacular yeah for former a f would love to would love to put it in the back pocket or something like that um back to the specialist position considering yeah no doubt I mean that sort of that that took a dent for the uh for the camaraderie of the athleticism of the group but um no I mean I I'm with him I think if his that guy his foot wasn't there he was in but or he was in anyway apparently so yeah yeah there you go yeah but uh no yeah absolutely I mean provided there's there's a look there I think it would be something that would be be pretty cool to activate not not much for me I mean as an international it's it's a it's been a strange one I I know that there's rules that are evolving and allow me to potentially get some if not now moving forward but it got to the point where I was like this is my last year I I literally went to coach Flex off I said hey if I could get anything just like donate it back to a community or to some of the other players to make it happen because it's first of all I don't think it's going to be a whole bunch and second of all um if you know I'm not overly worried about about that point of view right now yeah student yeah yeah there's a lot of like there's only certain things like I can only work on campus if I wanted to work and it can only be a maximum of like 10 hours a week for up to yeah is I mean I know there's loopholes and things like that that could offer something I know there's some other schools that guys go back for the month of May or parts of June and and try and advertise back home which is perfectly legal but um at this point this late maybe if I was first second year about it I'm I'm pretty cool just locking in on the season that's ahead yeah did you get back I early last season no no I went back may 203 was the last time I went back so yeah parents came out last year they'll come out again for November mom's not looking forward to the cold I'm like Mom it's not that bad November's not that bad and you guys are probably like yeah it's not that bad she's like petrified she's got double coat boots like is it going to be snowing I'm like I don't know like maybe so we'll see we'll see but yeah they they'll come out in November and that's really the fix for me is seeing mom and dad so you