http://onlineathens.com/sports/2017-01-0...-injustice

I know Coach Mackovic at Texas never gave scholarships to punters and relied on walk-ons. Georgia has had fits with place-kickers and has a good one who almost has a cult following with his giant black framed glasses, and Smart won't put him on.

For me, the first thing after a QB I would sign would be the best punter and best placekicker I could get. They can make all the difference in a close game. Punters can add 5 to 10 yards in field position every exchange.

(01-06-2017 09:41 AM)bullet Wrote:  http://onlineathens.com/sports/2017-01-0...-injustice

I know Coach Mackovic at Texas never gave scholarships to punters and relied on walk-ons. Georgia has had fits with place-kickers and has a good one who almost has a cult following with his giant black framed glasses, and Smart won't put him on.

For me, the first thing after a QB I would sign would be the best punter and best placekicker I could get. They can make all the difference in a close game. Punters can add 5 to 10 yards in field position every exchange.

I don't know if that would be the first thing I'd sign, but I definitely wouldn't want to rely on walk-ons. I'd try to find a good kicker, for sure. Alabama has shown us the importance of that...

A punter is one thing but you better have a good kicker.

A top-notch punter is both sufficiently valuable and sufficiently difficult to find that a really good one should be on scholarship. And college placekickers are often so inconsistent that if you find one who is really reliable, he deserves a scholarship. It's a mistake to think that you can replace a really good kicker with some random kid who just happens to be on campus and kicked in high school.

You have 85 scholarships, coach. How many "extra" do you need to have to cover for your recruiting mistakes? So many that you can't even use two on a reliable kicker and punter?

Recruiting kickers is an inexact science because most high school kickers kick off of a tee so most coaches are reluctant to us a scholarship on a player who may not be able to translate to the college game. Just about every team has a story about an all-everything high school kicker who simply couldn't get it done at the next level. Clemson has one in Alex Spence. He was a Shrine Bowl selection (supposedly the best players from North and South Carolina) his senior year and thus far in two seasons (redshirted his true freshman year) he has kicked one extra point and kicked off seven times. He was a recruited scholarship player and he's behind former walk-on Greg Huegel, a second team All-American last year.

If I were coaching I would probably do the walk-on to scholarship deal as well.

I try steering my kiddos who want to play FB into kicking as they seem to get hurt the least. #Mommabear I was surprised when one of my kiddos brought a Kohls kicking seminar/camp brochure home from elementary school. It stated that not only are more and more kickers and punters being offered scholarships and recruited earlier, but that guy who throws the ball back(sorry guys position name escapes me now) are also getting full rides. Insert dumb blonde joke here as I tend to follow the business of sports more so than the sports themselves. Again, the info is obviously geared at parents to sign their kids up, but that really kind of surprises me if true.

(01-06-2017 05:52 PM)gulfcoastgal Wrote:  I try steering my kiddos who want to play FB into kicking as they seem to get hurt the least. #Mommabear I was surprised when one of my kiddos brought a Kohls kicking seminar/camp brochure home from elementary school. It stated that not only are more and more kickers and punters being offered scholarships and recruited earlier, but that guy who throws the ball back(sorry guys position name escapes me now) are also getting full rides. Insert dumb blonde joke here as I tend to follow the business of sports more so than the sports themselves. Again, the info is obviously geared at parents to sign their kids up, but that really kind of surprises me if true.

Long Snapper.

there are camps for that as well.

One of my fraternity brothers had two sons - both were scholarship Long snappers in college

(01-06-2017 05:37 PM)Kaplony Wrote:  Recruiting kickers is an inexact science because most high school kickers kick off of a tee so most coaches are reluctant to us a scholarship on a player who may not be able to translate to the college game. Just about every team has a story about an all-everything high school kicker who simply couldn't get it done at the next level. Clemson has one in Alex Spence. He was a Shrine Bowl selection (supposedly the best players from North and South Carolina) his senior year and thus far in two seasons (redshirted his true freshman year) he has kicked one extra point and kicked off seven times. He was a recruited scholarship player and he's behind former walk-on Greg Huegel, a second team All-American last year.

If I were coaching I would probably do the walk-on to scholarship deal as well.

that's reasonable - prove it to get it. But this kid in Georgia DID prove it.

(01-06-2017 06:26 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  

(01-06-2017 05:37 PM)Kaplony Wrote:  Recruiting kickers is an inexact science because most high school kickers kick off of a tee so most coaches are reluctant to us a scholarship on a player who may not be able to translate to the college game. Just about every team has a story about an all-everything high school kicker who simply couldn't get it done at the next level. Clemson has one in Alex Spence. He was a Shrine Bowl selection (supposedly the best players from North and South Carolina) his senior year and thus far in two seasons (redshirted his true freshman year) he has kicked one extra point and kicked off seven times. He was a recruited scholarship player and he's behind former walk-on Greg Huegel, a second team All-American last year.

If I were coaching I would probably do the walk-on to scholarship deal as well.

that's reasonable - prove it to get it. But this kid in Georgia DID prove it.

And he probably will get a scholarship next year. The article says that Smart told them that he never puts anybody on scholarship mid year. Unless they can provide examples of Smart doing anything different with walk-ons they have their answer. The xample of incoming players and transfers are totally different animals.

(01-06-2017 06:52 PM)Kaplony Wrote:  

(01-06-2017 06:26 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  

(01-06-2017 05:37 PM)Kaplony Wrote:  Recruiting kickers is an inexact science because most high school kickers kick off of a tee so most coaches are reluctant to us a scholarship on a player who may not be able to translate to the college game. Just about every team has a story about an all-everything high school kicker who simply couldn't get it done at the next level. Clemson has one in Alex Spence. He was a Shrine Bowl selection (supposedly the best players from North and South Carolina) his senior year and thus far in two seasons (redshirted his true freshman year) he has kicked one extra point and kicked off seven times. He was a recruited scholarship player and he's behind former walk-on Greg Huegel, a second team All-American last year.

If I were coaching I would probably do the walk-on to scholarship deal as well.

that's reasonable - prove it to get it. But this kid in Georgia DID prove it.

And he probably will get a scholarship next year. The article says that Smart told them that he never puts anybody on scholarship mid year. Unless they can provide examples of Smart doing anything different with walk-ons they have their answer. The xample of incoming players and transfers are totally different animals.

But why should they be? Sounds like Smart is just being stubborn and stuck on Saban's way of doing things.

We also must keep in mind that kicking is so mental that it can be extremely difficult for a college coach to anticipate how a recruit will kick adjust to college. Just because you can boot it in high school doesn't mean you can when elite athletes are charging at you, on national TV, in a hostile away stadium, for a last-minute field goal or PAT, etc.

For example, in my high school class there was a guy who could boot forty-yarders without a tee on the freshman team in his sleep, but when they bumped him up to varsity he couldn't get it in between the uprights if his life depended on it. He settled down a little and became more consistent the next year or so, but after he missed a last-second chip shot in a district championship game our junior year he never played again, though IIRC he was also a really good golfer and wanted to work on that I think.

I understand coaches not risking a scholarship on a high school kicker who hasn't done the camps but a kid who can consistently kick under college conditions at camp.

My son's best friend was a good enough long snapper to get invited to the NFL specialists combine. The bad side is it is a rare year when as many as 10 slots open in the NFL.

(01-06-2017 09:41 AM)bullet Wrote:  http://onlineathens.com/sports/2017-01-0...-injustice

I know Coach Mackovic at Texas never gave scholarships to punters and relied on walk-ons. Georgia has had fits with place-kickers and has a good one who almost has a cult following with his giant black framed glasses, and Smart won't put him on.

For me, the first thing after a QB I would sign would be the best punter and best placekicker I could get. They can make all the difference in a close game. Punters can add 5 to 10 yards in field position every exchange.

When kickers become coaches kickers will get scholarships. And, in the Southeast where so many kids want to play walk-ons have always yielded a pretty good annual crop. A lot of kickers get a scholarship after they've proven themselves.